From the library of congress: proof of our nations Christian heritage:
Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation’s founding and subsequent history:
Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation’s founding and subsequent history:
- Whereas the first act of America’s first Congress in 1774 was to ask a minister to open with prayer and to lead Congress in the reading of 4 chapters of the Bible;
- Whereas Congress regularly attended church and Divine service together en masse;
- Whereas in 1776, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence with its 4 direct religious acknowledgments referring to God as the Creator (“All people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”), the Lawgiver (“the laws of nature and nature’s God”), the Judge (“appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world”), and the Protector (“with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence”);
Whereas upon approving the Declaration of Independence, John Adams declared that the Fourth of July “ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty”;
Whereas 4 days after approving the Declaration, the Liberty Bell was rung;
Whereas the Liberty Bell was named for the Biblical inscription from Leviticus 25:10 emblazoned around it: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof”;
Whereas in 1777, Congress, facing a National shortage of “Bibles for our schools, and families, and for the public worship of God in our churches,” announced that they “desired to have a Bible printed under their care & by their encouragement” and therefore ordered 20,000 copies of the Bible to be imported “into the different ports of the States of the Union”;
Whereas the 1783 Treaty of Paris that officially endied the Revolution and established America as an independent begins with the appellation “In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity”;
Whereas, from 1787 to 1788, State conventions to ratify the United States Constitution not only began with prayer but even met in church buildings;
Whereas in 1795, during construction of the Capitol, a practice was instituted whereby “public worship is now regularly administered at the Capitol, every Sunday morning, at 11 o’clock”;
Whereas in 1789, the first Federal Congress, the Congress that framed the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment, appropriated Federal funds to pay chaplains to pray at the opening of all sessions, a practice that has continued to this day, with Congress not only funding its congressional chaplains but also the salaries and operations of more than 4,500 military chaplains;
Whereas in 1789, on the same day that Congress finished drafting the First Amendment, it requested President Washington to declare a National day of prayer and thanksgiving, resulting in the first Federal official Thanksgiving proclamation that declared “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”;
Whereas in 1800, Congress enacted naval regulations requiring that Divine service be performed twice every day aboard “all ships and vessels in the navy,” with a sermon preached each Sunday;
Whereas in 1800, Congress approved the use of the just-completed Capitol structure as a church building, with Divine services to be held each Sunday in the Hall of the House, alternately administered by the House and Senate chaplains;
Whereas in 1853, Congress declared that congressional chaplains have a “duty … to conduct religious services weekly in the Hall of the House of Representatives”;
Whereas by 1867, the church at the Capitol was the largest church in Washington, DC, with up to 2,000 people a week attending Sunday service in the Hall of the House;
Whereas in 1853, the United States Senate declared that the Founding Fathers “had no fear or jealousy of religion itself, nor did they wish to see us an irreligious people . . . they did not intend to spread over all the public authorities and the whole public action of the nation the dead and revolting spectacle of atheistical apathy”;
Whereas in 1864, by law Congress added “In God We Trust” to American coinage;
Whereas in 1870, the Federal Government made Christmas (a recognition of the birth of Christ, an event described by the U.S. Supreme Court as “acknowledged in the Western World for 20 centuries, and in this country by the people, the Executive Branch, Congress, and the courts for 2 centuries”) and Thanksgiving as official holidays;
Whereas America’s first Presidential Inauguration incorporated 7 specific religious activities, including—
(1) the use of the Bible to administer the oath;
(2) affirming the religious nature of the oath by the adding the prayer “So help me God!” to the oath;
(3) inaugural prayers offered by the President;
(4) religious content in the inaugural address;
(5) civil leaders calling the people to prayer or acknowledgment of God;
(6) inaugural worship services attended en masse by Congress as an official part of congressional activities; and
(7) clergy-led inaugural prayers, activities which have been replicated in whole or part by every subsequent President;
Whereas President Jefferson not only attended Divine services at the Capitol throughout his presidency and had the Marine Band play at the services, but during his administration church services were also begun in the War Department and the Treasury Department, thus allowing worshippers on any given Sunday the choice to attend church at either the United States Capitol, the War Department, or the Treasury Department if they so desired;
Whereas Thomas Jefferson urged local governments to make land available specifically for Christian purposes, provided Federal funding for missionary work among Indian tribes, and declared that religious schools would receive “the patronage of the government”;
Whereas President Andrew Jackson declared that the Bible “is the rock on which our Republic rests”;
Whereas President Abraham Lincoln declared that the Bible “is the best gift God has given to men . . . But for it, we could not know right from wrong”
Whereas all sessions of the United States Supreme Court begin with the Court’s Marshal announcing, “God save the United States and this honorable court”;
Whereas a regular and integral part of official activities in the Federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, was the inclusion of prayer by a minister of the Gospel;
Whereas the United States Supreme Court has declared throughout the course of our Nation’s history that the United States is “a Christian country”, “a Christian nation”, “a Christian people”, “a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being”, and that “we cannot read into the Bill of Rights a philosophy of hostility to religion”;
Whereas Justice James Wilson, a signer of the Constitution, declared that “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”;
Whereas Justice William Paterson, a signer of the Constitution, declared that “Religion and morality . . . [are] necessary to good government, good order, and good laws”;
Whereas some of the most important monuments, buildings, and landmarks in Washington, DC, include religious words, symbols, and imagery;
Whereas in the United States Capitol the declaration “In God We Trust” is prominently displayed in both the United States House and Senate Chambers;
Whereas images of the Ten Commandments are found in many Federal buildings across Washington, DC, including in bronze in the floor of the National Archives; in a bronze statue of Moses in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress; in numerous locations at the U.S. Supreme Court, including in the frieze above the Justices, the oak door at the rear of the Chamber, the gable apex, and in dozens of locations on the bronze latticework surrounding the Supreme Court Bar seating;
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