Bible Education and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Founding-era Americans of the 1700s, like the early Puritans, strongly encouraged education and the teaching of the Bible in schools. Early Americans believed education–Bible education, in particular–was essential in a free republic such as the United States. Teaching the Bible was, they thought, an effective means to encourage religion and morality—and, ultimately, self-government—among the people. In fact, schools had originally been formed by the Puritans in the 1600s to teach children to read and learn the Bible. Later, in the new nation, the Founders continued to encourage the teaching of religion and morality in schools through the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
Many founding-era Americans articulated their support for education and the teaching of religion and morality in schools. Founder and President John Adams, for example, wrote of the need for education in a free society: “Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people….” Founder Benjamin Rush, a proponent of public education, supported the teaching of the Bible in schools for its moral importance. He asserted that Bible education among youth is “the best means of awakening moral sensibility in their minds” and that all youth should be “carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion” as “the most essential part of education.” Rush affirmed the civic and social benefits of teaching morality and religion, namely Christianity, in schools. He considers, …
Bible education was important, early Americans thought, to prepare citizens for their civic responsibilities and self-governance, to perpetuate the American republic. Knowledge and practice of the moral principles of the Bible prepared citizens to govern themselves and their country wisely and virtuously. Moreover, it was important that citizens understood that the rights, freedoms, and laws of the new republic were founded on God-given unalienable rights, the Law of Nature, and a Bible-based philosophy and worldview. As such, the Founders intended for education, religion, and morality to work together among the people to guarantee good government and liberty. Without such virtue and knowledge among the people, a free nation, they believed, could not successfully endure. They therefore saw the Bible as essential to education and lamented what would happen if it was neglected.
During the ratification of the U. S. Constitution, many founding-era Americans wanted the new government to encourage morals and values and thus self-governance. One Massachusetts delegate Charles Turner urged Congress to adopt a bill to promote Bible and moral education. He stressed the importance of such education so that people could develop their natural, moral conscience or the “law unto themselves” of Romans 2:14-15: …
After the Revolutionary War, when the United States acquired new western territory, the Confederation Congress was concerned about immorality and corruption in the new territories and stressed the importance of teaching the Bible, morality, and religion in these regions. They thus enacted a law that encouraged education for the teaching of religion and morality in schools, known as the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This ordinance required all new states to build schools. Article III of the ordinance stated:
Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.
The Confederation Congress adopted the Northwest Ordinance during the same period that the U. S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and First Amendment were drafted and adopted. (The ordinance was reapproved in 1789 by the first U. S. Congress under President George Washington.) Since Congress adopted both this ordinance and the First Amendment, they did not view government encouragement of moral education as a violation of the First Amendment’s No Establishment Clause. The No Establishment Clause permitted the national government’s encouragement of the teaching of religion and morality in schools. Indeed, early Americans naturally identified education with the teaching of the Bible and morals, observes A. James Reichley in his Religion in American Public Life, “almost as a matter of course.”
Founding-era Americans enacted the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 in the new nation of the United States because they highly valued education and the teaching of morality and the Bible in schools to young people. For they knew that such education was important for the development of virtuous citizens who could exercise self-governance in their lives and who could sustain a free, just society. They also knew that virtue is best instilled through religion. Clearly, early Americans strongly supported the presence and principles of virtuous religion and morality in all aspects of American life and society.
Contributed by AHEF and Angela E. Kamrath.
—–
Related blogs/videos:
1. Why and how did schools begin in the United States?
2. How the Great Awakening Effected Church and Society: Education, Missions, Humanitarianism, Women, & the Gospel
3. The Coming Crisis of Citizenship: Higher Education’s Failure to Teach America’s History and Institutions
4. Civic Knowledge: Americans’ Increasing Ignorance of American History & Government Can No Longer Be Ignored
5. The Need and Legal Right to Teach Religious History in Public Schools
6. American History & Western Civilization Challenge Bowl (AHWCCB)
Poster: Declaration of Independence
—–
Activity: The Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide, Unit 8, Part 3, Activity 5: Encouraging Moral and Religious Education in America Today, p. 309, 390-391. MS-HS. www.americanheritage.org
Encouraging Moral and Religious Education in America Today
Purpose/Objective: Students learn about the American Founders’ belief in and emphasis on the need for a moral, virtuous citizenry in order for the nation’s self-governing republic to succeed. Students examine the Founders’ aims and means to encourage morality and virtue among citizens including moral education, Bible literacy, churches, and religion in society, and the free exercise of religion.
Suggested Readings:
1) Chapter 8 of Miracle of America reference/text. Students read sections Introduction to 8.2, 8.5, 8.8-8.10, 8.12-8.13, 8.17-8.20, & pp. 288-296.
2) Related blogs/videos (see above).
Think Aloud:
Have students read passages related to the central ideas of this part of the unit. Use a think-aloud strategy to encourage students to address questions related to the issue of moral education in America. Have students note their responses and questions as they share ideas. Teachers may use the think-aloud rubric listed in the online resources section at americanheritage.org to assess student understanding as they think aloud and respond to their own and others’ questions about the ideas presented. See primary source quotes from chapter. See also “Miracle of America Primary and Secondary Source Quotes” handout in “Supporting Resources” section of the course guide, pp. 390-391.
1. What does the Northwest Ordinance say about moral and religious education? What role does the government have, if any, on this issue?
2. Does government (national, state, and/or local) today play a role in encouraging (not in enforcing or regulating) moral and religious education in society? Do you think it should/should not perform this role? What did the American Founders and early Americans think?
3. Do you think moral, religious, and/or Bible-based education is necessary today? Why or why not? Can our nation be strong without virtuous citizens? Why or why not? What did the American Founders and early Americans think?
—–
To download this whole unit, sign up as an AHEF member (no cost) to access the “resources” page on americanheritage.org. To order the printed binder format of the course guide with all the units, go to the AHEF bookstore.
Copyright © American Heritage Education Foundation. All rights reserved.
American Revolution Debate: The Lawfulness of Defensive War
In the 1700s, many patriot American colonists and clergymen justified their fight for liberty in the American Revolution with Judeo-Christian thought and ideas. One argument they cited was the justness or lawfulness of defensive war. They believed that defensive war was just and lawful before God to preserve their lives, liberty, rights, and property.
Clergymen often cited the Bible for examples and explanations to support defensive war and the preservation of their freedoms and rights. In his 1775 sermon, “Defensive War in a Just Cause Sinless,” early American minister Rev. David Jones of Pennsylvania asserted that the oppressed have a duty to defend their liberties based on the Old Testament. Jones compared the American Revolution to a number of defensive wars in the Old Testament. Some of these wars involved…
In one instance, Jones considered Genesis 14 in which Abram, who was later called Abraham, armed himself and his servants to rescue his nephew Lot who had been taken captive by four kings. The godly Melchizedeck, a high priest of God and a Christ figure, praised Abram’s battle success, saying in Genesis 14:19-20, “‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor or heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.’” “This passage,” observed Jones, “proves not only that this [support for defensive war] was Abram’s belief, but also that Melchizedeck, priest of the most high God and the brightest type of Christ, was fully of the same opinion. Therefore, it may be admitted as evidence in favor of a defensive war.” Jones concluded from these examples that…
In his 1775 sermon, “A Self-Defensive War Lawful,” Pastor Rev. John Carmichael of Pennsylvania also believed resistance was justified under certain unavoidable circumstances. Carmichael reasoned that when Jesus tells His followers to “turn the other cheek” in the New Testament, it is a proverbial expression. It means that “we should be ready to put up with a good deal of ill-usage before we create disturbance, yes, that we should do anything consistent with our own safety.” When Jesus teaches us to “love your enemies,” Carmichael further explained, he “can’t possibly [have] meant that we should love them better than ourselves—that we should put it in the enemy’s power to kill us, when we have it in our power to save our own life by killing the enemy.” Jesus does not intend, he explains, “to forbid us to use lawful and proper means of self-preservation.” In the case of the American Revolution, observed Carmichael, Americans had born Britain’s abuses patiently, but now they needed to defend their freedoms and way of life.
Americans held strong opinions about revolution against Britain. Many patriots supported revolution and independence from Britain based on examples from the Bible that supported the defense of one’s life, freedom, rights, property, and way of life. In fact, the phrase “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God” became a motto of the American Revolution. As a result, many Americans asserted the justness, morality, and necessity of defensive war. Consequently, many also favored the forming of an American military. In a sermon on 2 Chronicles 13:12, Rev. William Emerson, chaplain in the Revolutionary Army, expressed, “Our military preparation here for our own defense is not only excusable but justified in the eyes of the impartial world. Nay, for should we neglect to defend ourselves by military preparation, we never could answer it to God, to our own consciences, or to the rising generations.”
Contributed by AHEF and Angela E. Kamrath.
—–
Related articles/videos:
1. The Principle of Popular Sovereignty
2. The Pilgrims Identified with the Israelites
3. The Puritans Identified with the Israelites and Practiced Covenants
4. Great Awakening Effects: Unity, Democracy, Freedom, and Revolution
5. The American Revolution: An Introduction
6. The Bible was the Most Cited Source of the American Founding Era
7. The American Revolution was sometimes called the “Presbyterian Rebellion”
8. American Revolution Debate: Submission to Authority
9. American Revolution Debate: God Desires Freedom, Not Slavery, for His People
10. How the American Revolution shed light on the Moral Problem of Slavery
11. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense: God’s Opposition to Absolute Rule
12. American Revolution Debate: The American Quest for a New, Bible-Inspired Republic
13. American Revolution Debate: The Principle of Civil Covenants
14. American Revolution Debate: Obedience to God Over Man
15. American Revolution Debate: Ancient Israel’s Resistance to Oppression & Divided Kingdom
16. American Revolution Debate: The Lawfulness of Defensive War
17. Freedom: The Most Important Characteristic of America
18. The Law of Nature: The Universal Moral Law of Mankind
Poster: Declaration of Independence
—–
Activity: The Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide, Unit 6, Part 2, Activity 3: Bible-Based Justification for Revolution, p. 219, 359. MS-HS.
Bible-Based Justification for Revolution
Purpose/Objective: Students examine the Bible-based arguments made by Patriot Americans in support of revolution against Britain. Students learn about the influence of the Bible during the Founding era.
Suggested Readings:
1) Chapter 6 of Miracle of America reference/text. Students read sections 6.1 to 6.12.
2) Essay/Handout: Principles of the American Revolution by Angela E. Kamrath found in the “Supporting Resources” of the Miracle of America HS Teacher Course Guide, pp. 354-356, or in the “Miracle of America Snapshots” handout under member resources at americanheritage.org.
3) Related blogs/videos (see above).
Patriot Revolutionary Chart:
In your own words, explain/describe the following biblical principles or arguments used by many patriot Americans to justify/support the American Revolution. Students may include the sources/thinkers who promoted each argument. Provide relevant scripture verse(s) for each argument. See the “Bible-Based Justification for Revolution” Patriot Chart in the “Supporting Resources” section of the course guide, p. 359.
—–
To download this whole unit, sign up as an AHEF member (no cost) to access the “resources” page on americanheritage.org. To order the printed binder format of the course guide with all the units, go to the AHEF bookstore.
Copyright © American Heritage Education Foundation. All rights reserved.
When Great Britain’s policies became more intrusive in the American colonies and as the American Revolution unfolded in the mid-1700s, patriot Americans sought to protect their rights and freedoms as Englishmen. As it became clear to the colonists that they would not be afforded their rights, they ultimately sought independence from British rule. One argument of the colonists in support of freedom and independence from Britain was the assertion that God, in creating mankind, made all men equal in value and dignity and bestowed on them the natural rights of life and liberty. Just prior to the revolution, the Great Awakening, a Christian evangelical revival, had strengthened these beliefs. The American Founders thus acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence of 1776 that “all men are created equal.” As it were, slavery had also become a fairly common practice in colonial America by this time, just as it existed in other parts of the world. Some colonists in America depended on slaves, largely African-American, for crop labor. With the onset of revolution, the issue of slavery became a more frequent topic in American political writings, particularly in New England and the middle colonies. As calls by colonists for freedom from British oppression increased, so did calls by many colonists to end the slave trade. In this way, the American Revolution began to draw more attention to the moral problem of slavery in colonial and early America.
During the Revolutionary War, an increasing number of early Americans asserted that slavery violated God’s moral law and natural, human rights. Slaves were often bought and sold as property and considered by others to have no rights or dignity. Also, children and descendants of slaves were typically considered slaves as well. Many clergymen and Christian or moral-minded colonists increasingly protested the practice of slavery. For example, …
Growing numbers of colonial and early Americans also spoke out against slavery in response to the American revolutionary cause for freedom from British oppression. Richard Wells of Philadelphia asked in 1774 how Americans could “reconcile the exercise of SLAVERY with our professions of freedom. … What arguments can we advance in slaves’ favor which will not militate against ourselves, whilst England remains superior by land and sea?” If colonists disengaged in the practice of slavery, he said, it would “breathe such an independent spirit of liberty, and so corroborate our own claims, that I should dare to hope for an intervening arm of Providence to be extended in our favor.”[5] Levi Hart posed, “When, oh when shall the happy day come, that Americans shall be consistently engaged in the cause of liberty?” To Rev. Samuel Hopkins of Rhode Island, a student of Great Awakening theologian Jonathan Edwards, the causes of American liberty and of slavery were the same. In 1776, he sent a pamphlet to the Continental Congress asking how Americans, so adverse to enslavement by British Parliament, could overlook the slavery of African-Americans “who have as good a claim to liberty as themselves.” America’s struggle for liberty, he thought, could never be fully realized while slavery continued. He warned of God’s judgment and called for repentance.[6]
While the slave trade did not end at this time, revolutionary and religious influences helped to encourage voices and efforts to abolish the institution in America as early as 1767. In 1771 and 1774, the Massachusetts legislature voted to abolish the slave trade (though the law was vetoed). Rhode Island and Connecticut declared that imported slaves would be freed. Delaware prohibited the importation of slaves. Pennsylvania ended the slave trade by taxation. In 1775, the Quakers formed the first anti-slavery society in the western world. In 1776, the Continental Congress voted to prohibit the importation of slaves into the thirteen colonies. Slavery was, says Bernard Bailyn in his Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, “subjected to severe pressure as a result of the extension of revolutionary ideas, and it bore the marks ever after. As long as the institution lasted, the burden of proof would lie with its advocates to show why the statement ‘all men are created equal’ did not mean precisely what it said: all men, ‘white or black.’”[7]
Slavery was not abolished prior to or during the American Revolution likely due to the growing use of slaves for crops and the war which occupied the attention of Americans.[8] This social, moral ill would see and take more time, attention, events, and history. It would come to the forefront of the nation in the American Civil War of the mid-1800s.[9] Yet the Revolutionary War helped to shed increasing light on the issue of slavery and the need to uphold for every citizen the principle in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal.”
—–
[1] Samuel Cooke, A Sermon Preached at Cambridge, 30 May 1770 (Boston, 1770), 41-42, quoted in Bernard Bailyn, Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, enlarged ed. (Cambridge, MA: Belknap/Harvard U Press, 1967, 1992), 239.
[2] Benjamin Rush, “On Slave Keeping,” 1773, in The Selected Writings of Benjamin Rush (New York, 1947), 17, quoted in Bernard Bailyn, Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, enlarged ed. (Cambridge, MA: Belknap/Harvard U Press, 1967, 1992), 239.
[3] John Allen, An Oration on the Beauties of Liberty, or The Essential Rights of the Americans, 1772, quoted in Bernard Bailyn, Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, enlarged ed. (Cambridge, MA: Belknap/Harvard U Press, 1967, 1992), 240-241. In Isaiah 58:6, God instructs the Israelites through the prophet Isaiah, “‘Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?’”
[4] Levi Hart, Liberty Described and Recommended (Hartford, CT: 1775), v, 9 ff., 15, 16, 20-23, quoted in Bernard Bailyn, Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, enlarged ed. (Cambridge, MA: Belknap/Harvard U Press, 1967, 1992), 243. In John 8:34-36, Jesus tells the Jews, “‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son [of God] makes you free, you shall be free indeed [brackets mine].’”
[5] Richard Wells, A Few Political Reflections (Philadelphia, PA: 1774), 79-83, quoted in Bernard Bailyn, Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, enlarged ed. (Cambridge, MA: Belknap/Harvard U Press, 1967, 1992), 239-241.
[6] Samuel Hopkins, Slavery of the Africans, in The Works of Samuel Hopkins, vol. 2, ed. Sewall Harding (Boston, MA: Doctrinal Tract and Book Society, 1852), 571.
[7] Bernard Bailyn, Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, enlarged ed. (Cambridge, MA: Belknap/Harvard U Press, 1967, 1992), 246.
[8] H. Richard Niebuhr, The Kingdom of God in America (Middleton, CT: Wesleyan U Press, 1988), 121.
[9] For an overview of the biblical verses and arguments used to both denounce and support slavery prior to the American Civil War in the 1800s, see Bruce Feiler, America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story (New York: William Morrow, 2009), 153-157.
—–
Contributed by AHEF and Angela E. Kamrath.
This essay is available as a printable PDF handout in the member resources section on americanheritage.org. Simply sign up and login as a member (no cost), go to the resources page, and look under Miracle of America articles.
Related articles/videos:
1. The Principle of Popular Sovereignty
2. Great Awakening Emerges in Early America, Impacting Religion, Society, Politics
3. Great Awakening Principle: The Judeo-Christian Law of Love
4. Great Awakening Principle: The Dignity of the Human Being
5. Great Awakening Principle: All Men Equal Before God
6. Great Awakening Principle: Happiness
7. Great Awakening Effects: Education, Missions, Women, & the Gospel
8. Great Awakening Effects: Unity, Democracy, Freedom, and Revolution
9. The American Revolution: An Introduction
10. The Bible was the Most Cited Source of the American Founding Era
11. The American Revolution was sometimes called the “Presbyterian Rebellion”
12. American Revolution Debate: Submission to Authority
13. American Revolution Debate: God Desires Freedom, Not Slavery, for His People
14. How the American Revolution shed light on the Moral Problem of Slavery
15. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense: God’s Opposition to Absolute Rule
16. American Revolution Debate: The American Quest for a New, Bible-Inspired Republic
17. American Revolution Debate: The Principle of Civil Covenants
18. American Revolution Debate: Obedience to God Over Man
19. American Revolution Debate: Ancient Israel’s Resistance to Oppression & Divided Kingdom
20. American Revolution Debate: The Lawfulness of Defensive War
21. Freedom: The Most Important Characteristic of America
Poster: Declaration of Independence
—–
Activity: The Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide, Unit 6, Part 2, Activity 3: Bible-Based Justification for Revolution, p. 219, 359. MS-HS.
Bible-Based Justification for Revolution…
—–
To download this whole unit, sign up as an AHEF member (no cost) to access the “resources” page on americanheritage.org. To order the printed binder format of the course guide with all the units, go to the AHEF bookstore.
Copyright © American Heritage Education Foundation. All rights reserved.
Prior to and during the American Revolution, American colonists of the 1700s intensely debated whether it was biblical to go to war with Britain. The “loyalists” of King George III and Britain opposed revolution. The “patriots” supported revolution. One argument of the patriots in support of resistance to Britain was the Bible-based view that God desires freedom—literal and spiritual—rather than bondage and slavery for His people.
Like the American Puritans of the early 1600s, Americans of the revolutionary era compared themselves to the ancient Israelites, God’s people, in the Old Testament of the Bible. They cited the Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt and their coming into the Promised Land of Canaan in the book of Exodus. When Pharaoh of Egypt refused to obey God and free the captive Israelites, God sent plagues upon Egypt until Pharaoh let the people go. Such acts of God, patriots believed, demonstrated that God ordains liberty for His people. Much like the Israelites’ Promised Land, colonists saw America as the “Promised Land” of civil and religious liberty for God’s believers.
Various American ministers drew a connection between the Israelites and the American colonists. Rev. Stephen Johnson of Connecticut warned in 1766 that enslaving God’s people is a great sin in God’s sight, violating mankinds’ natural rights and hindering God’s covenant with His people. In a 1776 sermon, Rev. Samuel Cooper of Boston (like Puritan John Cotton and his God’s Promise to His Plantation) cited 2 Samuel 7:10 and the idea that the American people had a just cause for freedom from Britain based on God’s promise and covenant with them. 2 Samuel 7:10 says, “I [God] will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously.” Patriot Americans cited God’s desire for liberty for the Israelites as support for their own revolutionary cause.
Patriot Americans also supported the revolutionary cause from the New Testament. The New Testament used words like “slavery,” “bondage,” “deliverance,” “freedom,” and “liberty” to describe the believer’s spiritual freedom from sin in Christ. Ministers used such terms to compare spiritual liberty with political liberty, and thus to support civil liberty. Ministers cited Galatians 5:1 in which the Apostle Paul declares, “Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1 was often invoked during the American Revolution and became an American motto. The Bible’s principle of spiritual liberty became an American principle of religious and civil liberty.
With these Bible-centered arguments, the American patriots justified the revolutionary cause and freedom from Britain. They believed that God desires freedom—both spiritual and civil—for His covenant people and expects His people to seek and defend it.
Contributed by AHEF and Angela E. Kamrath.
—–
Related articles/videos:
1. The Principle of Popular Sovereignty
2. The Pilgrims Identified with the Israelites
3. The Pilgrims’ Mayflower Compact was a Covenant
4. The Puritans Identified with the Israelites and Practiced Covenants
5. The Puritans Elected Representatives to Govern in their American Colonies
6. Why the Puritans Favored Limited Government
7. Thomas Hooker as the “father of American Democracy”
8. Why Thomas Hooker Favored Democracy over Aristocracy
9. Great Awakening Effects: Unity, Democracy, Freedom, and Revolution
10. The American Revolution: An Introduction
11. The Bible was the Most Cited Source of the American Founding Era
12. The American Revolution was sometimes called the “Presbyterian Rebellion”
13. American Revolution Debate: Submission to Authority
14. American Revolution Debate: God Desires Freedom, Not Slavery, for His People
15. How the American Revolution shed light on the Moral Problem of Slavery
16. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense: God’s Opposition to Absolute Rule
17. American Revolution Debate: The American Quest for a New, Bible-Inspired Republic
18. American Revolution Debate: The Principle of Civil Covenants
19. American Revolution Debate: Obedience to God Over Man
20. American Revolution Debate: Ancient Israel’s Resistance to Oppression & Divided Kingdom
21. American Revolution Debate: The Lawfulness of Defensive War
22. Freedom: The Most Important Characteristic of America
Poster: Declaration of Independence
—–
Activity: The Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide, Unit 6, Part 2, Activity 3: Bible-Based Justification for Revolution, p. 219, 359. MS-HS.
Bible-Based Justification for Revolution
Purpose/Objective: Students examine the bible-based arguments made by Patriot Americans in support of revolution against Britain. Students learn about the influence of the Bible during the Founding era.
Suggested Readings:
1) Chapter 6 of Miracle of America reference/text. Students read sections 6.1 to 6.12.
2) Essay/Handout: Principles of the American Revolution by Angela E. Kamrath found in the “Supporting Resources” of the Miracle of America HS Teacher Course Guide, pp. 354-356, or in the “Miracle of America Snapshots” handout under member resources at americanheritage.org.
3) Related blogs/videos (see above).
Patriot Revolutionary Chart:
In your own words, explain/describe the following biblical principles or arguments used by many patriot Americans to justify/support the American Revolution. Students may include the sources/thinkers who promoted each argument. Provide relevant scripture verse(s) for each argument. See the “Bible-Based Justification for Revolution” Patriot Chart in the “Supporting Resources” section of the course guide, p. 359.
—–
To download this whole unit, sign up as an AHEF member (no cost) to access the “resources” page on americanheritage.org. To order the printed binder format of the course guide with all the units, go to the AHEF bookstore.
Copyright © American Heritage Education Foundation. All rights reserved.
Prior to and during the American Revolution, American colonists of the 1700s intensely debated whether it was biblical to go to war with Britain and defend their rights and freedoms. Those who opposed revolution were called “loyalists” or “Tories” of King George III and Britain. Those who supported revolution were often called “patriots” or “Whigs” after the pro-reform political party in England. What both sides agreed on was that the Bible was central to this discussion.
While many colonists believed the Bible commanded obedience to authority and opposed resistance, many others believed resistance was consistent with the Bible and Christian teaching. Both loyalist and patriot Americans used biblical themes to oppose or defend revolution. Many voices in the colonies contributed to the debate over revolution including loyalist and patriot clergy, political leaders, and colonists. They largely debated over justification of war based on Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 with regard to the biblical mandate to submit to civil authority. Incidentally, German reformer Martin Luther had presented these verses in his 1523 treatise during the Protestant Reformation, titled Secular Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed, as the basis for civil government. French reformer John Calvin had also presented these verses in his work on reformed Christian doctrine, his 1536 Institutes of the Christian Religion, to indicate the honor and obedience that men are to afford to their governors.
The Apostle Paul in Romans 13:1-5 writes:
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience sake.
The Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:13-17 writes:
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
The Loyalist Position
To loyalists, Romans 13 taught unlimited submission to lawful civil authority and government, almost without exception. Such was the historical view of the church. Loyalists supported obedience to authority regardless of the government’s form or actions. Finding the British government lawful (according to English law), they opposed revolution and resistance to Britain.
Loyalists pointed out that the early Christians in the Bible remained subject to authorities even when those authorities were evil or tyrannous. For the early Christians did not speak of or arrange political rebellion. Such was the submission, they believed, that all Christians should properly take at all times. One loyalist, Rev. Jonathan Boucher, alluding to Romans 13, reflected the loyalist view when he preached in 1763 to 1775 that resistance was inconsistent with the Bible and church doctrine, saying, “To resist against a lawful government is to oppose the ordinance of God, and to injure and destroy institutions most essential to human happiness.” He pressed men to submit even if the authority was evil: …
The Patriot Position
The patriots, on the other hand, opposed passive obedience and unlimited submission to civil authorities and government, based on the same Bible verses. While they believed that good, moral civil authority and government is God-ordained and should be submitted to, as the Bible says, they did not believe the Bible supported total submission to evil, tyrannous authorities that violated God’s moral law and did not properly represent or benefit the people. Romans 13, they pointed out, speaks of submission to an authority that is “not a terror to good works, but to evil” and is a “minister to you for good.” 1 Peter 2 likewise speaks of submission to a government that punishes evildoers and praises those who do good. Therefore, these verses, they believed, clearly do not call for submission to immoral, unjust authorities. In fact, in revealing the moral purpose of civil government, the verses actually support resistance to unjust governments. As such, the patriots believed resistance to tyrannical authority is a natural, God-given human right.
One outspoken clergyman who represented well the patriot view, Congregationalist preacher Rev. Jonathan Mayhew of Boston, believed resistance to tyranny was a Christian duty. His 1750 Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission was one of the most widely-read sermons of the revolutionary era in support of resistance based on the Bible. Reflecting reformed political thought, it set off a public debate in Boston newspapers on the issue of Christian obedience to authority.
Mayhew argued from Romans 13 that Christians are called to submit to just governments regardless of their form—monarchy, aristocracy, or republic. However, tyrannous, oppressive governments that ruin nations and lives are not to be absolutely submitted to because they contradict the Law of Nature, reason, and the purpose of government in the Bible. “Rulers have no authority from God to do mischief,” Mayhew argues. “It is blasphemy to call tyrants and oppressors God’s ministers. They are more properly ‘the messengers of Satan to buffet us’ [2 Corinthians 12:7].” He elaborates: …
Mayhew asserted that contrary to the idea that people should submit to evil authorities, people have a duty to defend against tyranny and injustice for the good of society and to guard the people’s God-given freedoms. For God does not desire His people to live under oppression.
American Founder John Adams commented that Mayhew’s sermon revealed “the principles and feelings which produced the Revolution.” One early historian called it the “morning gun of the revolution,” and modern historians affirm that it was an impetus of the American Revolution.
Americans on both sides of the Revolutionary War debate held to arguments that centered on the Bible. With their different interpretations of scripture, loyalists believed war with Britain was unbiblical while patriots believed God supported their liberty cause. Ultimately, the colonists were compelled to fight for their freedom, declared their independence from Britain based on God-given equality, natural rights, and consent of the governed, and founded one of the freest nations in history, the self-governing nation of the United States.
Contributed by AHEF and Angela E. Kamrath.
—–
Related articles/videos:
1. The Principle of Popular Sovereignty
2. The Pilgrims Identified with the Israelites
3. The Pilgrims’ Mayflower Compact was a Covenant
4. The Puritans Identified with the Israelites and Practiced Covenants
5. The Puritans Elected Representatives to Govern in their American Colonies
6. Why the Puritans Favored Limited Government
7. Thomas Hooker as the “father of American Democracy”
8. Why Thomas Hooker Favored Democracy over Aristocracy
9. Early Americans supported Religious Tolerance based on God as Judge of Conscience
10. Great Awakening Effects: Unity, Democracy, Freedom, and Revolution
11. The American Revolution: An Introduction
12. The Bible was the Most Cited Source of the American Founding Era
13. The American Revolution was sometimes called the “Presbyterian Rebellion”
14. American Revolution Debate: Submission to Authority
15. American Revolution Debate: God Desires Freedom, Not Slavery, for His People
16. How the American Revolution shed light on the Moral Problem of Slavery
17. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense: God’s Opposition to Absolute Rule
18. American Revolution Debate: The American Quest for a New, Bible-Inspired Republic
19. American Revolution Debate: The Principle of Civil Covenants
20. American Revolution Debate: Obedience to God Over Man
21. American Revolution Debate: Ancient Israel’s Resistance to Oppression & Divided Kingdom
22. American Revolution Debate: The Lawfulness of Defensive War
23. Freedom: The Most Important Characteristic of America
Poster: Declaration of Independence
—–
Activity: The Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide, Unit 6, Part 1, Activity 4: Sermons on the Revolution Debate, p. 207, 358. MS-HS.
Sermons on the Revolution Debate
Purpose/Objective: Students learn about the historical context of the American Revolution, the influence of the Bible during the Founding era, and the Bible-centered debate on revolution between loyalists and patriots.
Suggested Readings:
1) Chapter 6 of Miracle of America reference/text. Students read sections 6.1 and 6.3 in particular.
2) Essay/Handout: Principles of the American Revolution by Angela E. Kamrath found in the “Supporting Resources” of the Miracle of America HS Teacher Course Guide, pp. 354-356, or in the “Miracle of America Snapshots” handout under member resources at americanheritage.org.
3) Related blogs/videos (see above).
Debate Comparison Chart:
Review with students sermons excerpted in Chapter 6.3 of the Miracle of America sourcebook as well as other primary sources in the chapter. These may be copied and distributed to the class. Have students read them either aloud, to themselves, or alone. Then discuss. Other primary sources in the chapter should also be studied and discussed as time permits. These primary sources will give students firsthand knowledge of some of the arguments and interpretations of colonists. Students may create a comparison chart to outline and organize arguments from the two opposing viewpoints. This activity may be completed from part 2 of this unit after examining the patriots’ arguments in depth. See the “Bible-Centered Debate on Revolution” Comparison Chart in the “Supporting Resources” section of the course guide, p. 388.
—–
To download this whole unit, sign up as an AHEF member (no cost) to access the “resources” page on americanheritage.org. To order the printed binder format of the course guide with all the units, go to the AHEF bookstore.
Copyright © American Heritage Education Foundation. All rights reserved.