scholarsofamericanliberty

S.O.A.L. Position Paper

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 01:40:43 GMT

Political Parties and Partisanship

The Founding Fathers were men of vision, foresight, and students of history. Perhaps nothing demonstrates that better than their reluctance to include political parties in the formation of America. The Founders feared political party allegiance could lead to fighting and ultimately tear the country apart and in many ways it has.

As HISTORY online puts it… “In 1787, when delegates to the Constitutional Convention gathered in Philadelphia to hash out the foundations of their new government, they entirely omitted political parties from the new nation’s founding document.

This was no accident. The framers of the new Constitution desperately wanted to avoid the divisions that had ripped England apart in the bloody civil wars of the 17th century. Many of them saw parties—or “factions,” as they called them—as corrupt relics of the monarchical British system that they wanted to discard in favor of a truly democratic government.”

George Washington’s family left England to escape civil war conflicts over religion & political power, Alexander Hamilton referred to political parties as “the most fatal disease” of popular governments and James Madison wrote that a “well-constructed Union” should be able to “break and control the violence of factions i.e. political parties.”

Thomas Jefferson, assigned as a diplomat to France, missed sharing his thoughts at the Constitutional Convention, but he believed it was a mistake not to provide for different political parties since in his opinion men were “naturally divided into two parties”.

George Washington believed having different points of view would make for better government which is why he chose Jefferson for his Cabinet. With Jefferson as secretary of state and Hamilton as Treasury secretary, competing visions for America developed and just like that, the nation’s first two political parties were born.

Supporters of Hamilton’s vision of a strong central government—many of whom were Northern businessmen, bankers, and merchants who leaned toward England in matters of foreign affairs—would become known as the Federalists.

Jefferson favored limited federal government and keeping power in the state and local hands. His supporters tended to be small farmers, artisans, who traded with and were sympathetic to France. They were the Anti-Federalists.

When Washington stepped aside as president in his 1796 farewell address, he urged Americans to always place the interests of the nation over their political and regional affiliations. He warned of the divisive influence of parties on the workings of democracy saying:

“The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.”

The two-party system we know today was established with the rise of Andrew Jackson’s Democratic Party in 1828 and locked in with the 1854 founding of the Republican Party.

Now in the 2020’s, the rancor and political divide has expanded to the point that some political pundits are cautioning of the possibility of another civil war. The battle over ideological differences in America’s fiscal, social, political, and cultural issues plays out in the headlines daily.

S.O.A.L.’s mission is not to add fuel to that fire or to create or recruit new members for any particular political party. Instead, S.O.A.L. seeks to provide accurate historical information about the founding of America and how our system is designed to work so that whatever path a student may take they will be armed with the knowledge and the action steps required to help preserve Liberty for the next generation.

John Adams said, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Morality and virtue are the foundation of our republic and necessary for a society to be free."

The John Adams Academy defines virtue as “an inner commitment and voluntary outward obedience to principles of truth and moral law.

Private virtue is the character to govern oneself according to moral law at all times. Public virtue is the character to voluntarily sacrifice or subjugate personal wants for the greater good of other individuals or the community.”

Many of the founders spoke of the importance of moral virtues like charity, justice, courage, temperance, reverence, prudence, and honesty which are necessary for the individual to “act in accordance with wisdom.”

S.O.A.L.’s mission is to help create the next generation of informed and engaged citizens, regardless of any party affiliation, who will act to help preserve Liberty for the next generation.

S.O.A.L. Position Papers

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 01:34:51 GMT

Religion:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” - First Amendment To The U.S. Constitution

S.O.A.L. is an education and scholarship organization, not a religious organization, but our curriculum will accurately portray the founding father’s thoughts on religion as their beliefs in God helped to shape their views on what America could and should be like.

The question of whether America was founded as a Christian nation is a topic of debate among historians, scholars, and policymakers.

The Founding Fathers of the United States came from diverse religious backgrounds. Most were Protestants. The largest number were raised in the three largest Christian traditions of colonial America— Anglicanism (as in the cases of John Jay & George Washington) Presbyterianism and Congregationalism (as in the case of John Adams)

Other Protestant groups included the Society of Friends (Quakers), the Lutherans, the Dutch Reformed, and three Founders of Roman Catholic heritage.

Christian principles and values have influenced the nation's history, culture, and laws and many of the Founding Fathers referenced Judeo-Christian ethics in their writings and speeches. Christian organizations played a significant role in various social and political movements throughout American history, but the United States was not explicitly founded as a Christian nation in the sense of establishing Christianity as the official state religion. Instead, the Founding Fathers sought to create a government that embraced pluralism and protected religious freedom for all citizens, regardless of their faith.

An article in Britannica Online says, “On the surface, most Founders appear to have been orthodox (or “right-believing”) Christians. Most were baptized, listed on church rolls, married to practicing Christians, and frequent or at least sporadic attenders of services of Christian worship. In public statements, most invoked divine assistance.

Seven men are said to have been the principle Founding Fathers: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.

For some perspective, here are a few quotes from these Founders that reference God and Religion.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

“Americans rouse - be unanimous, be virtuous, be firm, exert your courage, trust in Heaven, and nobly defy the enemies both of God and man!”

“I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man.”

JOHN JAY

The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts. April 9, 1784

JAMES MADISON

It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage...Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe. June 20, 1785

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Enduring the slow and frustrating progress during the 1787 Continental Congress, Franklin sought to present a history lesson of Divine Intervention on behalf of the colonies and to remind his peers to invoke God’s help and wisdom as they plotted out the future for America.

Franklin began – “Mr. President, The small progress we have made after 4 or five weeks close attendance & continual reasonings with each other -- our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many noes as ays, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding…..

how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings?

In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine Protection. -- Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered.

All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor.

To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance.

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 they labor 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…

I therefore beg leave to move -- that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that service.” 1787

Despite his personal and persuasive attempt, the Congress did not vote on Franklin’s request…but all knew just where Franklin stood.

GEORGE WASHINGTON

Washington survived numerous life & death close calls during the French and Indian War and was well aware that God was looking out for him as he wrote to his brother John in 1755.

"By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability and expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, altho' death was leveling my companions on every side."

Washington also believed the hand of God was at work on America’s behalf during the Revolutionary War and believed it was obvious for all to see and acknowledge.

“The Man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude towards the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested on our behalf.” 1789

Washington would reiterate throughout his career, that when it came to religion, everyone had freedom of conscience or the right to believe—or not—as they saw fit. Thomas Jefferson certainly agreed.

THOMAS JEFFERSON

Jefferson strongly believed in the principle of religious freedom. He considered it a fundamental human right for individuals to practice their religion (or choose not to) without interference from the government. He famously wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1777, which was passed into law in 1786 and became a precursor to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”

JOHN ADAMS

Perhaps the strongest endorsement of Heavenly Influence in the formation of America and its government comes from the second President John Adams. In 1789 he wrote that moral and religious values were at the heart of the principles embedded in the Constitution.

Adams wrote, “While our country remains untainted with the principles and manners which are now producing desolation in so many parts of the world; while she continues sincere, and incapable of insidious and impious policy, we shall have the strongest reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned us by Providence.

But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another, and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation while it is practicing iniquity and extravagance, and displays in the most captivating manner the charming pictures of candor, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in rapine and insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world; because we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.

Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” 1798

AMERICA SPEAKS

According to an average of all 2023 Gallup polling, about three in four Americans said they identify with a specific religious faith. By far the largest proportion, 68%, identify with a Christian religion, including 33% who are Protestant, 22% Catholic and 13% who identify with another Christian religion or simply as a "Christian."

Seven percent identify with a non-Christian religion, including 2% who are Jewish, 1% Muslim and 1% Buddhist, among others. Twenty-two percent of Americans said they have no religious preference. The Founding Fathers envisioned an America welcoming to all and accepting each with their individual beliefs without interference from the government.

Seventy-one percent say religion is “very” or “fairly” important in their lives but that number has declined in recent years and church attendance is declining as well. Will America’s declining faith in religion affect our national future? Time will tell.

Until then, S.O.A.L.’s mission is not to evangelize or recruit for any particular religion but to accurately tell the story that reveals religion’s important role in the founding of America as witnessed by its incorporation into the First Amendment to the Constitution.

S.O.A.L.’s mission is to help create the next generation of informed and engaged citizens, religious or not, who will act to help preserve Liberty for the next generation.