“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” —John F. Kennedy
Happy belated birthday America! Even belated wishes can be full of meaning. In fact, belated wishes can sink in deeper after the celebrations are done and one has time to reflect.
For some years, I have read a daily devotional Give Him 15. Its’ primary focus is prayer for the United States. I enjoy being a part of a community whose daily focus I can tap into and support in prayer. As a part of this focus comes education on our nation’s history.
Today I am sharing portions of a recent post from Give Him 15. By looking at some of the great declarations and statements made by American Founders, and realizing the role my ancestors played in coming to this nation, the details I read in history books come to life.
These Quotes
…are powerful, inspiring, demonstrate their faith, and confirm America’s purpose.
Founding Father Patrick Henry led the Virginia Militia, was a member of the Continental Congress, a 5-time Governor of Virginia, and more.(1) He was also a great orator. As tensions continued to grow between Britain and the colonists, Henry presented resolutions to the Virginia Convention to raise and establish a militia. His opponents urged caution. On March 23, 1775, Henry uttered the now-famous line, “Give me liberty or give me death.”
Sadly, many Americans have never heard the rest of this amazing speech.(2) Here are a few more lines:
“…If we wish to be free…we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!
“…. We are not weak if we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed in our power…We shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations…The war is inevitable, and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
“…Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”(3)
Years Later,
…regarding his belief that America was founded on Christianity and the Gospel, Patrick Henry said:
“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”(4)
The Adams Family
The contribution to America’s birth by our second President, John Adams, cannot be overstated, nor can that of his family: wife, Abigail; son, John Quincy; and cousin, Samuel. On July 1, 1776, John Adams spoke to the delegates at the Continental Congress:
“Before God, I believe the hour has come. My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and Independence forever!”(5)
The Declaration of Independence was approved the next day, July 2, edited somewhat the following day, and formally adopted on the 4th. On July 3, Adams wrote to Abigail, with prophetic insight it seems, regarding the importance of what had just been approved:
“The second day of July 1776,
…will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It 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 shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever.
“You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means; that posterity will triumph in that day’s transaction, even though we [may regret] it, which I trust in God we shall not.”(6)
On June 20, 1776,
…shortly before the Declaration was ratified and released, Abigail Adams had written to John of her great faith in God:
“I feel no anxiety at the large armament designed against us. The remarkable interpositions of heaven in our favor cannot be too gratefully acknowledged. He who fed the Israelites in the wilderness, who clothes the lilies of the field and who feeds the young ravens when they cry, will not forsake a people engaged in so right a cause, if we remember His loving kindness.”(7)
Our sixth President, John Quincy Adams, the son of John and Abigail, was a brilliant man; he was actually serving America’s government at 14 years of age!”(8) On July 4, 1801, America’s 25th birthday, he made the profound statement:
“The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity…”(9)
Celebrating Our 61st Birthday, July 4th, 1837,
…he expounded on this belief in an even more profound statement:
“Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the World, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day?
“Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the Progress of the Gospel dispensation?
“Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth?
“That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Saviour and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets 600 years before.”(10)
And We Must Never Forget
…the great Samuel “Sam” Adams, known as the “Father of the American Revolution.” He instigated the Boston Tea Party, signed the Declaration of Independence, called for the first Continental Congress, and much more. After the Declaration of Independence was signed, some wept, and others bowed their heads in prayer. Samuel Adams rose and stated:(11)
“We have this day restored the Sovereign, to Whom alone men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and…from the rising to the setting of the sun, may His kingdom come.”(12)
Happy Belated 247th Birthday, America!
- William J. Federer, America’s God and Country (Coppell, TX: FAME Publishing, Inc., 1994), p. 287.
- https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/learn/deep-dives/give-me-liberty-or-give-me-death/
- Ibid.
- Steve C. Dawson. God’s Providence in America’s History (Rancho Cordova, CA: Steve C. Dawson, 1988), Vol I, p. 5. David Barton, The Myth of Separation (Aledo, TX: WAllBuilder Press, 1991), pp. 25, 258. M.E. Bradford, The Trumpet Voice of Freedom: Patrik Henry of Virginia (Marlborough, NH: Plymouth Rock Foundation 1991), p. iii.
- July 1, 1776. Dan Amoot. America’s Promise (Dallas, TX: The Dan Smoot Report, 1960), p. 6. Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1997), pp. 307-308.
- William J. Federer, America’s God and Country (Coppell, TX: FAME Publishing, Inc., 1994), p.9.
- Ibid. p. 3.
- Ibid. p.15.
- Ibid. p. 18.
- Ibid. p. 18.
- Marshall, Peter and Manuel, David. The Light and the Glory (Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell, 1977). pp. 307, 309.
- William J. Federer, America’s God and Country (Coppell, TX: FAME Publishing, Inc., 1994), p. 23.
- Ibid. p. 3.
- Ibid. p. 23.