The Names of our Fathers
So who were the Founding Fathers? History sees the founding fathers as that group of men who lead America into its existence. More specifically, most historians would name those men who signed the Declaration of Independence and those men who drafted the Constitution. At the head of this group of men, some of the most prominent founding fathers would be George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin (those names we more easily recognize.)
Other names who may be familiar are: Samuel Adams, John Hanncock, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Rush, Thomas Paine, and Alexander Hamilton. There are dozens more who go unheard of, men like Charles Carroll, John Witherspoon, John Jay, and Gouverneur Morris.
Who were these men and what was their significance? They were the ones who indelibly left their fingerprints on our nation. The ones who formed and created it. It is because of their foresight that we are here today. That the great American Experiment was a glowing success that set the standard for the rest of the world for centuries to follow.
But who were they? There were so many... David Brearly, John Dickinson, Gabriel Duvall, George Mason, John Morton, Robert Treat Paine, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Gunning Bedford, Elias Boudinot, Daniel Boone, Jares Iredell, James Kent, Timothy Pickering.... The names can go on and on and on...
But who were they? The text books say they were atheists... and deists. What are deists? Those who believe God created the universe, then left it to it’s own vices. Like a wind-up toy, he wound it and let it go, not interfering with the world any longer.
“The Founding Fathers were at most deists... and were a very thin veneer on their society.” ~ wrote Goron Wood in an article in American Heritage
“The early presidents and patriots were generally Deists or Unitarians, believing in some form of impersonal Providence but rejecting the divinity of Jesus and the relevance of the Bible.” ~ Steven Morris.
This is blatantly false. Their best examples they use to defend these repugnant fallacies are Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, and indeed, if any of the Founders fit the description of a deist, it would be these two...
“I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.” ~Thomas Jefferson.
“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 men. 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 labour in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel” ~ Benjamin Franklin at the Constitutional Convention before suggesting they pray before every session.
Deists indeed.
But what did the founders say about deism? Did they truly believe such things? Hopefully the last two quotes remove all doubt of that...
“The rising greatness of our country... is greatly tarnished by the general prevalence of deism which, with me, is but another name for vice and depravity... I hear it is said by the deists that I am one of their number; and indeed that some good people think I am no Christian. This thought gives me much more pain than the appellation of Tory, because I think religion of infinitely higher importance than politics... Being a Christian... is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast. ~ Patrick Henry
“I anticipate nothing but suffering to the human race while the present systems of paganism, deism, and atheism prevail in the world.” ~ Benjamin Rush
The attempt by the rulers of a nation to destroy all religious opinion and to pervert a whole people to atheism is a phenomenon of profligacy... to establish atheism on the ruins of Christianity is to deprive mankind of its best consolations and most animating hopes and to make a gloomy desert of the universe.” ~ Alexander Hamilton on the French Revolution.
Who were they? They were certainly not atheists or deists.
“Bad examples to youth are more rare in America, which must be comfortable consideration to parents. To this may be truly added, that serious religion, under its various denominations, is not only tolerated, but respected and practised. Atheism is unknown there; infidelity rare and secret; so that persons may live to a great age in that country {America} without having their piety shocked by meeting with either an atheist or an infidel.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Take their word for it.
Jared Williams
Signers of the Declaration of Independence: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry, Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery, Robert Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott, William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross, Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas M’Kean, Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Chares Carol, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson Jr, Francis LIghtfoot Lee, Carter Braxton, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Thomas Lynch, Arthur Middleton, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton.
Signers of the Constitution of the United States of America: George Washington, George Read, Gunning Bedford Jr, John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom, James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, John Blair, James Madison Jr., William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson, John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler, William Few, Abraham Baldwin, John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman, Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King, William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, Alexander Hamilton, William Livingston, David Brearley, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, William Jackson
First six Presidents of the United States of America - George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams
This is not a complete list of Founders. There were also those who were involved in the Continental Congress, the Articles of Confederation and many others who worked behind the scenes to make things happen.
Other names who may be familiar are: Samuel Adams, John Hanncock, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Rush, Thomas Paine, and Alexander Hamilton. There are dozens more who go unheard of, men like Charles Carroll, John Witherspoon, John Jay, and Gouverneur Morris.
Who were these men and what was their significance? They were the ones who indelibly left their fingerprints on our nation. The ones who formed and created it. It is because of their foresight that we are here today. That the great American Experiment was a glowing success that set the standard for the rest of the world for centuries to follow.
But who were they? There were so many... David Brearly, John Dickinson, Gabriel Duvall, George Mason, John Morton, Robert Treat Paine, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Gunning Bedford, Elias Boudinot, Daniel Boone, Jares Iredell, James Kent, Timothy Pickering.... The names can go on and on and on...
But who were they? The text books say they were atheists... and deists. What are deists? Those who believe God created the universe, then left it to it’s own vices. Like a wind-up toy, he wound it and let it go, not interfering with the world any longer.
“The Founding Fathers were at most deists... and were a very thin veneer on their society.” ~ wrote Goron Wood in an article in American Heritage
“The early presidents and patriots were generally Deists or Unitarians, believing in some form of impersonal Providence but rejecting the divinity of Jesus and the relevance of the Bible.” ~ Steven Morris.
This is blatantly false. Their best examples they use to defend these repugnant fallacies are Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, and indeed, if any of the Founders fit the description of a deist, it would be these two...
“I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.” ~Thomas Jefferson.
“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 men. 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 labour in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel” ~ Benjamin Franklin at the Constitutional Convention before suggesting they pray before every session.
Deists indeed.
But what did the founders say about deism? Did they truly believe such things? Hopefully the last two quotes remove all doubt of that...
“The rising greatness of our country... is greatly tarnished by the general prevalence of deism which, with me, is but another name for vice and depravity... I hear it is said by the deists that I am one of their number; and indeed that some good people think I am no Christian. This thought gives me much more pain than the appellation of Tory, because I think religion of infinitely higher importance than politics... Being a Christian... is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast. ~ Patrick Henry
“I anticipate nothing but suffering to the human race while the present systems of paganism, deism, and atheism prevail in the world.” ~ Benjamin Rush
The attempt by the rulers of a nation to destroy all religious opinion and to pervert a whole people to atheism is a phenomenon of profligacy... to establish atheism on the ruins of Christianity is to deprive mankind of its best consolations and most animating hopes and to make a gloomy desert of the universe.” ~ Alexander Hamilton on the French Revolution.
Who were they? They were certainly not atheists or deists.
“Bad examples to youth are more rare in America, which must be comfortable consideration to parents. To this may be truly added, that serious religion, under its various denominations, is not only tolerated, but respected and practised. Atheism is unknown there; infidelity rare and secret; so that persons may live to a great age in that country {America} without having their piety shocked by meeting with either an atheist or an infidel.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Take their word for it.
Jared Williams
Signers of the Declaration of Independence: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry, Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery, Robert Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott, William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross, Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas M’Kean, Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Chares Carol, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson Jr, Francis LIghtfoot Lee, Carter Braxton, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Thomas Lynch, Arthur Middleton, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton.
Signers of the Constitution of the United States of America: George Washington, George Read, Gunning Bedford Jr, John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom, James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, John Blair, James Madison Jr., William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson, John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler, William Few, Abraham Baldwin, John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman, Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King, William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, Alexander Hamilton, William Livingston, David Brearley, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, William Jackson
First six Presidents of the United States of America - George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams
This is not a complete list of Founders. There were also those who were involved in the Continental Congress, the Articles of Confederation and many others who worked behind the scenes to make things happen.
