by David Barton
147. Charles Buck, A Theological Dictionary Containing Definitions of All Religious Terms (Philadelphia: Edwin T. Scott, 1823), p. 582.
148. “An Answer to the Question, Why do you attend a Unitarian Church?” (Christian Register Office, circa 1840).
149. I. Daniel Rupp, An Original History of the Religious Denominations at Present Existing in the United States (Philadelphia: J. Y. Humphrys, 1844), p. 711.
150. Dictionary of American History, James Truslow Adams, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1940), p. 345.
151. Rupp, Original History, pp. 704-705.
152. Noll, Hatch, Marsden.
Chapter 17 Religion and Morality: The Indispensable Supports
1. George Washington, Address of George Washington, President of the United States … Preparatory to his Declination (Baltimore: Christopher Jackson, 1796), pp. 22-23.
2. John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles Frances Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1854), Vol. IX, p. 229, to the Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts, October 11, 1798.
3. John Adams, Works, Vol. IX p. 401, to Zabdiel Adams, June 21, 1776.
4. John Adams, Works, Vol. IX p. 636, to Benjamin Rush, August 28, 1811.
5. John Quincy Adams, Letters of John Quincy Adams to His Son on the Bible and its Teachings (Auburn: James M. Alden, 1850), pp. 22-23.
6. Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1908), Vol. IV, p. 74, to John Trumbull, October 16, 1778.
7. Samuel Adams, The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams, William V. Wells, editor(Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1865), Vol. I, p. 22, essay published in The Public Advertiser, 1748.
8. Samuel Adams, Writings, Vol. IV, p. 124, to James Warren, February 12, 1779.
9. Independent Chronicle (Boston), February 22, 1787, Fisher Ames writing as Camillus; see also Fisher Ames, The Works of Fisher Ames, Seth Ames, editor (Indianapolis: Liberty Classics, 1983), Vol. I, p. 67.
10. Charles C. Jones, Biographical Sketches of the Delegates from Georgia to the Continental Congress (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1891), pp. 6-7.
11. Bernard C. Steiner, The Life and Correspondence of James McHenry (Cleveland: Burrows Brothers Co., 1907), p. 475, from Charles Carroll, November 4, 1800.
12. Connecticut Courant, June 7, 1802, p. 3.
13. Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore and Mason, 1840), Vol. X, p. 297, to Messrs. The Abbes Chalut and Arnaud, April 17, 1787.
14. Nathanael Greene, The Papers of General Nathanael Greene, Richard K. Showman, editor (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1976), Vol. I, p. 182, to Catherine Ward Greene, January 13, 1776.
15. The Independent Chronicle (Boston: Nathaniel Willis) on November 2, 1780, Vol. XIII, p. 4, from John Hancock’s Inaugural Address as Governor of Massachusetts; see also Abram English Brown, John Hancock, His Book (Boston: Lee and Shepard Publishers, 1898), p. 269.
16. Patrick Henry, Patrick Henry: Life, Correspondence and Speeches, William Wirt Henry, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1891), Vol. I, p. 82, from a handwritten endorsement on the back of the paper containing the resolutions of the Virginia Assembly in 1765 concerning the Stamp Act.
17. Henry, Correspondence, Vol. II, p. 592, to Archibald Blair, January 8, 1799.
18. Henry, Correspondence, Vol. II, p. 185, from George Mason, May 6, 1783.
19. Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Ellery Bergh, editor (Washington, DC: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1904), Vol. XII, p. 315, to James Fishback, September 27, 1809.
20. Richard Henry Lee, The Letters of Richard Henry Lee, James Curtis Ballagh, editor (New York: MacMillan Co., 1914), Vol. II, p. 411, to Martin Pickett, March 5, 1786.
21. Bernard C. Steiner, One Hundred and Ten Years of Bible Society Work in Maryland, 1810-1920 (Baltimore: Maryland Bible Society, 1921), p. 14.
22. Gouverneur Morris, A Diary of the French Revolution (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1939), Vol. II, p. 172, April 29, 1791.
23. Morris, Diary, Vol. II, p. 452, to George Gordon, June 28, 1792.
24. Jared Sparks, The Life of Gouverneur Morris (Boston: Gray and Bowen, 1832), Vol. III, p. 483, “Notes on the Form of a Constitution for France.”
25. United States Oracle (Portsmouth, NH), May 24, 1800; see also The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1800, Maeva Marcus, editor (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), Vol. III, p. 436.
26. David Ramsay, An Oration, Delivered in St. Michael’s Church Before the Inhabitants of Charleston, South-Carolina, on the Fourth of July, 1794 (Charleston: W. P. Young, 1794), p. 19.
27. David Ramsay, The History of the American Revolution (Dublin: William Jones, 1795), Vol. II, p. 636.
28. Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas and Samuel Bradford, 1798), p. 8, “On the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic.”
29. Benjamin Rush, Letters of Benjamin Rush, L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton: American Philosophical Society, 1951), Vol. I, p. 505, “To American Farmers About to Settle in New Parts of the United States,” March 1789.
30. A Selection of Orations and Eulogies … In Commemoration of the Life … of Gen. George Washington, Charles Humphrey Atherton, editor (Amherst: Samuel Preston, 1800), p. 81, oration by Jeremiah Smith, February 22, 1800.
31. Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (Boston: Hillard, Gray, and Co., 1833), Vol. III, pp. 722-723, §1865.
32. Story, Commentaries, Vol. III, p. 727, §1869.
33. John Sanderson, Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence (Philadelphia: R. W. Pomeroy, 1824), Vol. IX, p. 333, Thomas Stone to his son, October 1787.
34. Washington, Address … Preparatory to his Declination, p. 23.
35. George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, John C. Fitzpatrick, editor (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1936), Vol. XIII, p. 118, General Orders, October 21, 1778.
36. Washington, Writings (1939), Vol. XXIX, p. 410, to Marquis de Lafayette, February 7, 1788.
37. George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Ferdinand Andrews, 1838), Vol. XII, p. 167, to the Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church in North America, October, 1789.
38. Washington, Writings (1940), Vol. XXXV, p. 416, to the Clergy of Different Denominations Residing in and Near the City of Philadelphia, March 3, 1797.
39. Daniel Webster, The Works of Daniel Webster (Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1853), Vol. II, p. 615, address delivered at the Laying of the Cornerstone of the Addition to the Capitol, July 4, 1851.
40. Daniel Webster, Works, Vol. I, p. 44, Discourse Delivered at Plymouth, December 22, 1820.
41. Noah Webster, History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1832), p. 6.
42. Noah Webster, History, p. 339, ¶53.
43. James Wilson, The Works of the Honourable James Wilson, Bird Wilson, editor (Philadelphia: Bronson and Chauncey, 1804), Vol. I, pp. 104-106, “Of the General Principles of Law and Obligation.”
44. John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. IX, p. 231, “The Druid.”
45. John Witherspoon, The Works of the Rev. John Witherspoon (Philadelphia: William W. Woodard, 1802), Vol. III, pp. 41-42, 46, “The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men,” May 17, 1776.
46. Journals of the American Congress: From 1774 to 1788 (Washington, DC: Way and Gideon, 1823), Vol. III, p. 85, October 12, 1788.
47. Runkel v. Winemiller, 4 H. & McH. 429, 450 (Md. 1799).
48. People v. Ruggles, 8 Johns. 290, 295-296 (1811).
49. Updegraph v. Commonwealth, 11 Serg. & Rawle 394, 406-407 (Pa. 1824).
50. Vidal v. Girard’s Executors, 43 U.S. 127, 200 (1844).
51. City Council of Charleston v. S. A. Benjamin, 2 Strob. 508, 520 (S.C. 1846).
52. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives Made During the First Session of the Thirty-Third Congress (Washington, DC: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1854), H. Rep. 124, p. 8, March 27, 1854.
53. Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U.S. 457, 469 (1892).
54. Ruggles at 546.
55. Commonwealth v. Sharpless, 2 Serg. & Rawle 91, 103 (Pa. 1815), (Yeates, J., concurring).
56. Updegraph v. Commonwealth, 11 Serg. & Rawle 394, 398-399, 405 (Pa. 1824).
57. City of Charleston at 523.
58. Reports of Commitee of the House of Representatives, p. 8.
59. B. F. Morris, Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 328.
60. Thomas Jefferson, Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, editor (Boston: Gray and Bowen, 1830), Vol. III, p. 509, to Benjamin Rush, April 21, 1803, Jefferson’s “Syllabus of an Estimate of the Merit of the Doctrines of Jesus, Compared with Those of Others.” See also William Linn, The Life of Thomas Jefferson (Ithaca, NY: Mack & Andrus, 1834), p. 265.
61. John Quincy Adams, Letters … to His Son, p. 62.
62. Zephaniah Swift, The Correspondent (Windham: John Byrne, 1793), p. 119.
63. Jones, Biographical Sketches, pp. 6-7.
64. Witherspoon, Works (1815), Vol. VII, pp. 118-119, Lecture 14, on Jurisprudence.
65. James Otis, The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved (London: J. Williams and J. Almon, 1766), p. 4.
66. Robert Winthrop, Addresses and Speeches on Various Occasions (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1852), p. 172, Address Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Bible Society in Boston, May 28, 1849.
67. Daniel Webster, Works, Vol. I, pp. 41-42, speech at Plymouth, Dec. 22, 1820.
68. Rush, Essays, p. 112, “Defense of the Use of the Bible as a School Book.”
69. Alexis de Tocqueville, [Democracy in America.] The Republic of the United States of America and Its Political Institutions, Reviewed and Examined, Henry Reeves, translator (New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1851), Vol. II, p. 130.
Chapter 18 Returning to Original Intent
1. The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America (Boston: Norman and Bowen, 1785), p. 81, Pennsylvania, 1776, Chapter II, Section 10.
2. The Constitutions of the Sixteen States (Boston: Manning and Loring, 1797), p. 257, Vermont, 1792, Chapter II, Section XII.
3. Constitutions (1785), p. 146, South Carolina, 1776, Section 13.
4. Constitutions (1797), p. 274, Tennessee, 1796, Article VIII, Section II.
5. Reports of the Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of 1821, Assembled for the Purpose of Amending the Constitution of the State of New York (Albany: E. and E. Hosford, 1821), p. 575, Rufus King, October 30, 1821.
6. Matthias Burnet, An Election Sermon, Preached at Hartford, on the Day of the Anniversary Election, May 12, 1803 (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1803), pp. 7-9.
7. John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1850), Vol. II, p. 294, diary entry for February 9, 1772.
8. Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907), Vol. III, p. 286, to John Scollay, April 30, 1776.
9. James Madison, The Papers of James Madison, Henry Gilpin, editor (Washington, DC: Langtree and O’Sullivan, 1840), Vol. III, p. 1391, August 22, 1787.
10. The Debates in the Several State Conventions, Jonathan Elliot, editor (Washington, DC: 1836), Vol. I, p. 374, Luther Martin, January 27, 1788.
11. Chandler Robbins, A Sermon Preached Before His Excellency John Hancock, Esq Governour; His Honor Samuel Adams, Esq. Lieutenant Governour; the Honourable the Council, and the Honourable the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, May 25, 1791, Being the Day of General Election (Boston: Thomas Adams, 1791), p. 32.
12. The Daily Advertiser (New York), May 1, 1789, p. 2; see also American State Papers: Documents Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States, Walter Lowrie and Matthew St. Calire Clarke, editors (Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1833), Vol. I, p. 9, April 30, 1789.
13. Madison, Papers (1840), Vol. II, p. 985, June 28, 1787.
14. Thomas Jefferson, Notes on State of Virginia (Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1794), Query XVIII, p. 237.
15. An example of this is demonstrated in the anecdote where, having concluded their work on the Constitution, Benjamin Franklin walked outside and seated himself on a public bench. A woman approached him and inquired, “Well, Dr. Franklin, what have you done for us?” Franklin quickly responded, “My dear lady, we have given to you a republic – if you can keep it.” Taken from “America’s Bill of Rights at 200 Years,” by former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, printed in Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. XXI, No. 3, Summer 1991, p. 457. This anecdote appears in numerous other works as well.
16. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, The Federalist on the New Constitution (Philadelphia: Benjamin Warner, 1818), p. 53, #10, James Madison.
17. John Adams, Works, Vol. VI, p. 484, to John Taylor, April 15, 1814.
18. Fisher Ames, The Works of Fisher Ames (Boston: T. B. Wait & Co., 1809), p. 24, Speech on Biennial Elections, January 1788.
19. Ames, Works, p. 384, “The Dangers of American Liberty,” February 1805.
20. Gouverneur Morris, An Oration Delivered on Wednesday, June 29, 1814 (New York: Van Winkle and Wiley, 1814), pp. 10, 22.
21. John Quincy Adams, The Jubilee of the Constitution. A Discouse Delivered at the Request of the New York Historical Society, in the City of New York, on Tuesday, the 30th of April 1839 (New York: Samuel Colman, 1839), p. 53.
22. Benjamin Rush, The Letters of Benjamin Rush, L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1951), Vol. I, p. 523, to John Adams, July 21, 1789.
23. Noah Webster, The American Spelling Book (Boston: Isaiah Thomas and Ebenezer T. Andrews, 1794), p. 154.
24. Witherspoon, Works (1815), Vol. VII, p. 101, Lecture 12 on Civil Society.
25. Zephaniah Swift, A System of the Laws of the State of Connecticut (Windham: John Byrne, 1795), Vol. I, p. 19.
26. See, for example, Benjamin Rush, Letters, Vol. I, p. 498, to John Adams, January 22, 1789.
27. Noah Webster, History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1832), p. 6.
28. George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1859), Vol. V, p. 24; see also Baron Charles Secondat de Montesquieu, Spirit of the Laws (Philadelphia: Isaiah Thomas, 1802), Vol. II, pp. 17-23, and ad passim.
29. Rush, Letters, Vol. I, p. 454, to David Ramsay, March or April 1788.
30. William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (Philadelphia: Robert Bell, 1771), Vol. I, pp. 42-43.
31. James Wilson, The Works of the Honourable James Wilson, Bird Wilson, editor (Philadelphia: Lorenzo Press, 1804), Vol. I, pp. 103-105, “Of the General Principles of Law and Obligation.”
32. Alexander Hamilton, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, Harold C. Syrett, editor (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961), Vol. I, p. 87, February 23, 1775, quoting William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (Philadelphia: Robert Bell, 1771), Vol. I, p. 41.
33. Rufus King, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, Charles R. King, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1900), Vol. VI, p. 276, to C. Gore, February 17, 1820.
34. John Adams, The Papers of John Adams, Robert J. Taylor, editor (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1977), Vol. I, p. 83, “An Essay on Man’s Lust for Power, with the Author’s Comment in 1807,” August 29, 1763.
35. William J. Bennett, American Education Making It Work (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1988), p. 10.
36. T
he Common School Almanac (New York: American Common School Society, 1839), p. 1, Maxim 11.
37. Thomas Jefferson, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Bergh, editor (Washington, DC: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Assoc., 1904), Vol. XIV, p. 384, to Charles Yancey, January 6, 1816.
38. John Adams, Papers, Vol. I, p. 81, from “‘U’ to the Boston Gazette,” August 29, 1763.
39. John Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890), Vol. I, pp. 163-164, Charge to the Grand Jury of Ulster County, September 9, 1777.
40. Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Jonathan Elliot, editor (Washington, DC: Printed for the Editor, 1836), Vol. II, p. 200, Samuel Huntington, January 9, 1788.
41. Edward C. Reynolds, The Maine Scholars’ Manual (Portland, ME: Dresser, McLellan & Co., 1880), preface.
42. Pat Robertson, America’s Dates with Destiny (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986) p. 95.
43. H. R. Warfel, Noah Webster, Schoolmaster to America (New York: MacMillan Co, 1936), pp. 181-82.
44. Rush, Letters, Vol. II, p. 1103, to John Adams, September 4, 1811.
45. Thomas Clarkson, Memoirs of the Private and Public Life of William Penn (London: Richard Taylor and Co., 1813) Vol. I, p. 303.
46. United States Oracle (Portsmouth, NH), May 24, 1800; see also The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1800, Maeva Marcus, editor (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), Vol. III, p. 436.
47. Noah Webster, History, pp. 336-337, ¶ 49.
48. Noah Webster, Letters to a Young Gentleman Commencing His Education (New Haven: S. Converse, 1823), pp. 18-19, Letter 1.
49. Robbins, Sermon, p. 18.
50. Burnet, Election Sermon, pp. 16, 27.
51. Samuel Adams, Writings, Vol. III, pp. 236-237, to James Warren, November 4, 1775.
52. Collections of the New York Historical Society for the Year 1821 (New York: E. Bliss and E. White, 1821), pp. 32, 34, “An Inaugural Discourse Delivered Before the New York Historical Society by the Honorable Gouverneur Morris,” September 4, 1816.
53. Witherspoon, Works (1815), Vol. IV, pp. 266-267, “A Sermon Delivered at a Public Thanksgiving after Peace.”
