In the presence of God, Amen. We...do by these presents solemnly and mutually in ye presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves into a civil body politic.” -- The Mayflower Compact, 1620
We “...enter into a combination and confederation together to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ which we now profess.” -- The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1638
“Whereas the glory of Almighty God and this good of mankind is the reason and the end of government and therefore government itself is a venerable ordinance of God....” -- The Great Law of Pennsylvania Colony
“The rights to freedom being the gift of God Almighty...The rights of the colonists as Christians may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the great Law Giver which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.”-- Samuel Adams, 1772
1777 - The First Continental Congress appropriate funds to import 20,000 Holy Bibles as “the great political textbook of the patriots.”
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men....” -- The Declaration of Independence, 1776
“Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the event is in the hand of God.” -- George Washington, 1787
“God who gave us life, gave us liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson “Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed conviction that the liberties are the gift of God?” – Thomas Jefferson Memorial
“I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this....” -- Benjamin Franklin, 1787
“...the propitious smiles of heaven cannot be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which heaven itself has ordained....” – George Washington’s Inaugural Address, 1787
“Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” -- Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1789
“and let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.” -- Washington’s Farewell Address, 1797
“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.” -- Patrick Henry
“The first and almost only Book deserving of universal attention is the Bible. The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of Civil Government with the principle of Christianity.” -- John Quincy Adams
“Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” – John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States 1789-1795
“It is the duty of all nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.” -- Abraham Lincoln, 1861
“...that we here highly resolve...that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that the government of the people...shall not perish from the earth.” -- Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, 1863
“Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teaching of the Redeemer of Mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise: and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian...This is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour there is a single voice making this affirmation...we find everywhere a clear recognizance of the same truth. These and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation.” -- The Supreme Court of the United States, 1892
"The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them." --Thomas Jefferson: Rights of British America, 1774. ME 1:211, Papers 1:135
"[These are] the rights which God and the laws have given equally and independently to all." --Thomas Jefferson: Rights of British America, 1774. ME 1:185, Papers 1:121
"God... has formed us moral agents... that we may promote the happiness of those with whom He has placed us in society, by acting honestly towards all, benevolently to those who fall within our way, respecting sacredly their rights, bodily and mental, and cherishing especially their freedom of conscience, as we value our own." --Thomas Jefferson to Miles King, 1814. ME 14:197
"I have no fear, but that the result of our experiment will be, that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master. Could the contrary of this be proved, I should conclude either that there is no God, or that He is a malevolent being." --Thomas Jefferson to David Hartley, 1787. ME 6:151
"[God has bestowed] reason ... as the umpire of truth." --Thomas Jefferson to Miles King, 1814. ME 14:197