| The Founders’ Declarations |
|
|
|
| by Tara Ross | Sat, Jul 4, 2009, 10:52 AM |
|
Some early Americans initially thought that America’s birthday would be celebrated on July 2, rather than July 4. The 2nd was the day on which the Continental Congress first declared America to be free from Great Britain. Although the wording for the formal Declaration of Independence was approved on the 4th, that subsequent event apparently seemed anticlimactic to at least some of its participants.John Adams, then a congressional delegate from Massachusetts, wrote to his wife Abigail, "The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival." Well, he was wrong. But his prediction was off in more ways than one. Adams concluded his paragraph to Abigail with an observation that America’s birthday "ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this continent to the other from this Time forward forever more." Many modern Americans tend to remember the "Pomp and Parade," while forgetting the "Acts of Devotion to God Almighty." Such an attitude conflicts with the attitude of the founding generation, which viewed the latter as an indispensible aspect of the Revolution that they had declared. When independence was declared, an even more central player in the founding, George Washington, was not in Philadelphia. He had already been appointed Commander-in-Chief and was serving at the head of the American army. His general orders of July 2, 1776, echoed the spirit of the deliberations then occurring in Philadelphia. "The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves," Washington declared, "The fate of unborn Millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this army." He concluded by exhorting his army to "rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions." Washington would reiterate this theme during his years at the head of the American army, often encouraging his troops to rely upon divine assistance. Sometimes he went so far as to order them to attend divine services or to participate in days of prayer and thanksgiving.The first two Presidents of the United States, Adams and Washington, were not alone in their views that America would need divine assistance to win the Revolution and to establish a new nation—and that public gratitude to God for his help would be appropriate in upcoming years.The First Congress readily passed a resolution calling upon then-President Washington to recommend a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. The sponsor of the resolution, Congressman Elias Boudinot of New Jersey, declared that the people should have the opportunity of "joining, with one voice" in "acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God." Washington issued a thanksgiving proclamation, as had been requested, in a matter of days. This same Congress, it will be remembered, had just finished endorsing a constitutional amendment prohibiting itself from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion" in the new nation. Apparently, neither the Congress nor President Washington viewed the official proclamation of public thanksgiving to be at odds with Americans’ right to religious freedom.Even Thomas Jefferson, who famously introduced the phrase "separation between Church & State" into American constitutional discourse, supported the idea of public reliance upon the Almighty. Not only did he attend church services in the U.S. Capitol, but he spoke of God in his public speeches. In his second inauguration address, for instance, he noted: "I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land, and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with his providence, and our riper years with his wisdom and power; and to whose goodness I ask you to join with me in supplications . . . ." America’s birthday is an occasion worthy of "Pomp and Parade" and "Illuminations from one End of this continent to the other," as President Adams envisioned. But it is also much more than that. It is an occasion for recognizing that Americans owe a debt of gratitude for the blessings of freedom and liberty that they have been given. Americans should never forget that America’s founding was (to quote Washington) "little short of a standing miracle." If the Father of our Country were here today, he would no doubt join in the fireworks and barbeques. But then he would remind us of our duty to join, publicly, in "grateful adoration to that divine Providence, which hath rescued our Country from the brink of destruction, [and] which hath crowned our exertions with the fairest fruits of success." We should remember his words as we celebrate America’s 233rd birthday today. 
Bookmark
Email This
Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
|
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
