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The Fifty Five Delegates to the
Constitutional Convention
The colonists were familiar with deist thinking. But
deism never gained a strong foothold in America. The first Great Awakening, the
religious revival of the 1740s, was partially responsible for cutting short the
spread of deism,
In many states at the time of the Constitutional Convention, confessed deists
were not allowed to hold public office. Deism was generally held in low esteem,
as such laws indicate. Additionally, Deism as practiced at the time of America's
founding was far different from what we find in our country today, and it
certainly was not atheism. As but one example, Benjamin Franklin at eighty, reminded his colleagues of the National Convention (in moving
unsuccessfully that there should be daily prayers before business) how in the
beginnings of the contest with Britain '' we had daily prayers in this room Do
we imagine we no longer need assistance?
I have lived now a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I
see of this truth, that God rules in the affairs of men." That is hardly the
statement of a modern Deist.
Thirty-nine of the delegates signed the Constitution, and sixteen were
non-signing delegates.
New Hampshire
John Langdon, Congregationalist, signing delegate
Nicholas Gilman, Congregationalist, signing delegate
Massachusetts
Elbridge Gerry, Episcopalian, non-signing delegate
Rufus King, Episcopalian, signing delegate
Caleb Strong, Congregationalist, non-signing delegate
Nathaniel Gorham, Congregationalist, signing delegate
Connecticut
Roger Sherman, Congregationalist, signing
delegate, also signed the Declaration of Independence
William Samuel Johnson, Presbyterian and Episcopalian, signing delegate
Oliver Ellsworth, Congregationalist, non-signing delegate
New York
Alexander Hamilton, Episcopalian, signing
delegate
John Lansing, Dutch Reformed, non-signing delegate
Robert Yates, Dutch Reformed, non-signing delegate
New Jersey
William Paterson, Presbyterian, signing
delegate
William Livingston, Presbyterian, signing delegate
Jonathan Dayton, Presbyterian and Episcopalian, signing delegate
David Brearly, Episcopalian, signing delegate
William Churchill Houston, Presbyterian, non-signing delegate
Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin, Deist, signing delegate,
also signed the Declaration of Independence
Robert Morris, Episcopalian, signing delegate, also signed the Declaration of
Independence
James Wilson, Episcopalian/Presbyterian, signing delegate, also signed the
Declaration of Independence
Gouverneur Morris, Episcopalian, signing delegate
Thomas Mifflin, Quaker/Lutheran, signing delegate
George Clymer, Quaker/Episcopalian, signing delegate, also signed the
Declaration of Independence
Thomas FitzSimmons, Roman Catholic, signing delegate
Jared Ingersoll, Presbyterian, signing delegate
Delaware
John Dickinson, Quaker/Episcopalian, signing delegate
George Read, Episcopalian, signing delegate, also signed the Declaration of
Independence
Richard Bassett, Methodist, signing delegate
Gunning Bedford, Presbyterian, signing delegate
Jacob Broom, Lutheran, signing delegate
Maryland
Luther Martin, Episcopalian, non-signing delegate
Daniel Carroll, Roman Catholic, signing delegate
John Francis Mercer, Episcopalian, non-signing delegate
James McHenry, Presbyterian, signing delegate, President of the Baltimore Bible
Society
Daniel of St Thomas Jennifer, Episcopalian, signing delegate
Virginia
George Washington, Episcopalian,
signing delegate
James Madison, Episcopalian, signing delegate
George Mason, Episcopalian, non-signing delegate
Edmund Jennings Randolph, Episcopalian, non-signing delegate
John Blair, Presbyterian and Episcopalian, signing delegate
James McClung, Presbyterian, signing delegate
George Wythe, Episcopalian, non-signing delegate
North Carolina
William Richardson Davie, Presbyterian, non-signing delegate
Hugh Williamson, Presbyterian/Deist (?), signing delegate
William Blount, Episcopalian and Presbyterian, signing delegate
Alexander Martin, Presbyterian/Episcopalian, non-signing delegate
Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr., Episcopalian, signing delegate
South Carolina
John Rutledge, Episcopalian, signing delegate
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Episcopalian, signing delegate
Pierce Butler, Episcopalian, signing delegate
Charles Pinckney III, Episcopalian, signing delegate
Georgia
Abraham Baldwin, Congregationalist
William Leigh Pierce, Episcopalian, non-signing delegate
William Houstoun, Episcopalian, non-signing delegate
William Few, Methodist, signing delegate
John Langdon,
a Congregationalist, was a founder and the first president of the New Hampshire
Bible Society. While Governor of New Hampshire he issued an official
Proclamation for a General Thanksgiving in which he said:
"The munificent Father of Mercies,
and Sovereign Disposer of Events, having been graciously pleased to relieve the
United States of America from the Calamities of a long and dangerous war:
through the whole course of which, he continued to smile on the Labours of our
Husbandmen, thereby preventing Famine (the most inseparable Companion of War)
from entering our Borders; - eventually restored to us the blessings of Peace,
on Terms advantageous and honourable...."
Rufus King, an
Episcopalian, was a member of the Continental Congress, aide to General Sullivan
in the War for Independence, minister to England, and a U.S. Senator. At a
convention considering amendments to the New York Constitution in 1821 he said:
"[In our laws...by the oath which
they prescribe, we appeal to the Supreme Being to deal with us hereafter as we
observe the obligation of our oaths. The Pagan world were and are without the
mighty influence of this principle which is proclaimed in the Christian system -
their morals were destitute of its powerful sanction while their oaths neither
awakened the hopes nor fears which a belief in Christianity inspires."
Nathaniel Gorham,
a Congregationalist, helped write the Massachusetts's Constitution, which
required:
"Any person chosen governor, or
lieutenant-governor, cousellor, senator, or representative, and accepting the
trust, shall before he proceed to execute the duties of his place or office,
take, make, and subscribe the following declaration, viz. 'I, ____, do declare,
that I believe the Christian religion, and have a firm persuasion of its
truth.'"
Such a religious test was
Constitutional until 1947 when the Supreme Court rewrote the Constitution by
making the First Amendment apply to the states, not just the federal government.
Roger Sherman, a
Congregationalist, was the only Founder to sign the Articles of Association, the
Declaration, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. He was a member
of the committee that drafted the Declaration and the First Amendment. He also
drafted the creed of the White Haven Congregationalist church, which he
attended. Sherman, John Adams, and George Wythe drafted the instructions to
American embassy to Roman Catholic Canada in 1776, which said:
"You are further to declare that
we hold sacred the rights of conscience, and may promise to the whole people,
solemnly in our name, the free and undisturbed exercise of their religion.
And...that all civil rights and the right to hold office were to be extended to
persons of any Christian denomination."
William Samuel Johnson,
Episcopalian, son of Anglican (Episcopalian) minister Samuel Johnson and
president of Columbia University from 1787-1800. In his remarks to the first
graduating class at Columbia after the War for Independence he said:
"You this day, gentlemen, assume
new characters, enter into new relations, and consequently incur new duties. You
have, by the favor of Providence and the attention of your friends, received a
public education, the purpose whereof hath been to qualify you the better to
serve your Creator and your country...."
"Your first great duties, you are
sensible, are those you owe to Heaven, to your Creator and Redeemer. Let these
be ever present to your minds, and exemplified in your lives and conduct."
"Imprint deep upon your minds the
principles of piety towards God, and a reverence and fear of His holy name. The
fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and its consummation is everlasting
felicity. Possess yourselves of just and elevated notions of the Divine
character, attributes, and administration, and of the end and dignity of your
own immortal nature as it stands related to Him."
"Reflect deeply and often upon
those relations. Remember that it is in God you live and move and have your
being, - that in the language of David He is about your bed and about your path
and spieth out all your ways, - that there is not a thought in your hearts, nor
a word upon your tongues, but lo! He knoweth them altogether, and that he will
one day call you to a strict account for all your conduct in this mortal
life."
"Remember, too, that you are the
redeemed of the Lord, that you are bought with a price, even the inestimable
price of the precious blood of the Son of God. Adore Jehovah, therefore, as your
God and your Judge. Love, fear, and serve Him as your Creator, Redeemer, and
Sanctifier. Acquaint yourselves with Him in His word and holy ordinances."
"Make Him your friend and
protector and your felicity is secured both here and hereafter. And with respect
to particular duties to Him, it is your happiness that you are well assured that
he best serves his Maker, who does most good to his country and to
mankind."
Alexander Hamilton,
an Episcopalian, not only signed the Constitution but wrote 51 of the 85
Federalist Papers with Madison and Jay. He believed agreement on the
Constitution could not have been obtained "without the finger of God."
Although he agreed to
duel with Burr, he told others that his duty as a
Christian would prevent him from shooting and in his dying words claimed "a
tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord
Jesus Christ." When he was killed he was planning the creation of "The
Christian Constitutional Society," as he explained in an 1802 letter to
James Bayard:
"I now offer you the outline of
the plan they have suggested. Let an association be formed to be denominated
'The Christian Constitutional Society,' its object to be first: The support of
the Christian religion. Second: The support of the United States."
William Paterson,
a Presbyterian, was a state attorney general, Governor of New Jersey, and a
Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He studied law after attending the College of
New Jersey, though, given his interests, if he was alive today he might have
earned a
criminal justice degree online. The town of Paterson, New Jersey was named in
his honor. As a Supreme Court Justice, a newspaper account of his visit to the
federal court in Portsmouth, New Hampshire shows he opened court in this
fashion:
"On Monday last the Circuit Court
of the United States was opened in this town. The Hon. Judge Paterson presided.
After the Jury were impaneled, the Judge delivered a most eloquent and
appropriate charge....Religion and morality were pleasingly inculcated and
enforced as being necessary to good government, good order, and good laws, for
'when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice [Proberbs 29:2].'...
After the [jury] charge was delivered, the Rev. Mr. Alden addressed the Throne
of Grace in an excellent and well adapted prayer."
William Livingston,
a Presbyterian, was a delegate to both Continental Congresses, the first
Governor of New Jersey, and a Brigadier General in the militia. He published
articles defending Christianity in The Independent Reflector and offered this
resolution in Congress on March 16, 1776, passed without objection:
"We earnestly recommend that
Friday, the 17th day of May next, be observed by the colonies as a day of
humiliation, fasting, and prayer, that we may with united hearts confess and
bewail our manifold sins and transgressions, and by a sincere repentance and
amendment of life appease God's righteous displeasure, and through the merits
and mediation of Jesus Christ obtain His pardon and forgiveness."
David Brearly,
an Episcopalian, served as a colonel in the War for Independence, Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and was appointed to the federal bench by
George Washington.
He was a warden of St. Michael's
Church, a delegate to the Episcopal General Convention in 1786, and helped
compile the Protestant Episcopal Prayer Book.
Benjamin Franklin,
"I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing
proofs I see of this truth -- God Governs in the Affairs of Men, And if a
Sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, Is it possible that an
empire can rise without His aid?
"Except the Lord build the house, They labor in vain who
build it." "I firmly believe this." Benjamin Franklin, June
28, 1787
Constitutional Convention
James Wilson,
"Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that
law which is divine....Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are
twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run
into each other."James Wilson, a signer of the Constitution and an
original Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court
In 1776 William
Blount, a Presbyterian, helped draft the Tennessee
Constitution which said:
Article VIII, Section II: No person who
denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall
hold any office in the civil department of this State.
Article XI, Section IV: That no
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public
trust under this State.
The quotation shows the Founders did
not consider a belief in God to be a "religious test," which in the
history of England in the century before our Constitution meant allegiance to a
particular denomination.
Equally important, modern political
scientists now understand that man's rights arise from the prohibition's of
God's moral rules, and the branch of modern mathematics known as Game Theory has
now proven that it is not rational to follow God's rules unless one believes in
a God who can see into the hearts and in the existence of eternal rewards and
punishments. Evidently our Founders understood these ideas innately, though our
own science has only recently been able to demonstrate them rigorously.
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