Justice Story was quite mistaken.
Of the greatest leaders of our American Republic, only Ronald Reagan was unquestionably a Christian. Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln were all Deists.
Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli, unanimously approved by the US Senate on June, 7, 1797, reads:
"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; ..."
Like all ratified treaties, this language is the law of the land here in the USA.
The seemingly endless struggle of Christian fundamentalists to rewrite history, with the aim of establishing Chritianity as the official state religion of the United States, is quite tiresome. They should at least stop asking why so few Jews vote Republican. The reason may be that they don't wish their children to be forced to recite Christian prayers in the public schools, as used to be the case not so long ago. Apparently American Jews fear Christian fundamentalists even more than Yassir Arafat.
You need to check your facts. All the men you listed considered themselves Christians.
Protestant ministers were the class most fervently Whig, as all the British commanders noted. But to taken the case of Lincoln, it is anachronistic to speak of him as a Deist, if only because of the role that Providence played in his last thinking. Even so, Lincon was out of sorts with the religiosity of his period. Story reflects the opinion of his time as we can confirm by reading Tocqueville. During the first half of the 19th century, as Ray Billington pointed out, the Protestant religion became unoffically established religion, and for more than a century thereafter the Establishment of the country was Protestant. You are confused by the fact that that Establishment has now become
indifferent or hostile to the churches.
I'll tell you something else that's tiresome--members of minority religions (or no religion) telling Christians that listening to a Christian prayer at a high school graduation or commemorative ceremony is a "shocking violation" of their religious and civil rights. Just because the government has no right to endorse any particular religion (or demomination) doesn't mean that someone else has the right to repress it.
Not so. They were Christians.
If you want the entire story check out Tree Farm Communication's web site which handles Michael Medved's historical tapes.
"Apparently American Jews fear Christian fundamentalists even more than Yassir Arafat."
Huh?