The American Legacy
A Republic of Virtue
and
The American Trinity
INDEPENDENCE DAY
• Independence Day,
commonly known as
the Fourth of July, is a
federal holiday in the
United
States commemorating
the adoption of the
Declaration of
Independence on July
4, 1776, declaring
independence from the
Kingdom of Great Britain.
By July 4, 1776 there were 13 COLONIES
136 YEARS HAD PAST SINCE THE FOUNDING OF
THE 1ST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT
17th Century America –
Experienced Exponential Growth
• Jamestown,
Virginia 1607
• The Mayflower
1620
• By 1630
• population 4,300
• By 1650
• population 50,400
• By 1670
• population 111,900
• By 1770
• population
2,148,000
136 YEARS FROM
JAMESTOWN
TO JULY 4, 1776
• WERE YEARS OF INTELLECTUAL
GROWTH
• WERE YEARS OF RELIGIOUS
AWAKENING
• In the New England Colonies,
primarily Puritan, religious instruction was
of paramount importance and led to the
development of advanced educational
institutions.
INTELLECTUAL GROWTH
Colonial Colleges
• Harvard
•
•
•
•
•
•
1636
Calvinists
(Congregational Puritans)
Yale
1701 Congregational
Pennsylvania 1740 Anglican
Princeton
1746 Presbyterian
Columbia
1754 Anglican
Brown
1764 Baptist
Dartmouth 1769 Calvinists
(Congregational)
INTELLECTUAL GROWTH
Colonial Christian College Mottos
• Harvard
• Yale
• Pennsylvania
are
Veritas (Truth)
Lux et veritas (Light and truth)
Leges sine moribus vanae (Laws without morals
useless)
• Princeton
Dei sub numine viget (Under God's power she
flourishes)
• Columbia
In lumine Tuo videbimus lumen (In Thy light
we see the light)
shall
• Brown
• Dartmouth
crying in
In Deo Speramus (In God We Hope)
Vox clamantis in deserto (The voice of one
the wilderness)
INTELLECTUAL GROWTH
THE IVY LEAGUE
RELIGIOUS AWAKENING
The Great Awakening 1730s & 1740s
George
Whitefield
Benjamin
Franklin
The American Revolution
The American Revolution was a
costly war that lasted from 1775 to
1783 and secured American
independence from the power of
the British crown, which wanted to
keep its empire whole.
What Caused the war?
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
1754–1763
TAXATION WITHOUT
REPRESENTATION
•
•
•
•
•
•
Britain imposed a series TAXES including:
The Sugar Act - 1764
The Stamp Act - 1765
The Declaratory Act 1766
The Townshend Revenue Act 1767
The Tea Act – 1773 gave the East India
Company a monopoly on the tea trade
and the Boston Tea Party
• Taxation without representation
…SUGAR
Sugar Act (1764)
…MOLASSES
…COFFEE
Taxes put on…
…INDIGO
...NEWSPAPERS
(New York Gazetteer, Feb. 15, 1775)
Stamp Act (1765)
...LEGAL
DOCUMENTS
Taxes put on…
…DICE
…PLAYING
CARDS
Repressive Measures
TAXATION W/O REPRESENTATION WAS JUST ONE
(#17) OF 27 GRIEVANCES LISTED IN THE
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. ALSO
LISTED WERE:
•
•
•
•
ABUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE POWERS
ABUSE OF MILITARY POWERS
ABUSE OF JUDICIAL POWERS
STIRRING UP DOMESTIC INSURRECTION
Repressive Measures
• Coercive Acts (after the Boston Tea Party)
• Closed port of Boston
• took over the government of
Massachusetts
• Established military rule
• Warrantless Searches
• Quartering Act
• Writs of Assistance
Repressive Measures
•
1772 KING GEORGE VETOED THE FORMATION OF
MISSIONARY SOCIETIES AS THEY COMPETED
AGAINST THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH - RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM
•
1774 PENNSYLVANIA ABOLISHED SLAVERY BUT
KING GEORGE III VETOED THE LAW
Colonial Resistance
• Boycotts
• Representational organizations - Daughters of the
Revolution
• Militias - Sons of Liberty
• The Boston Tea Party 1773
• Continental Congress – Philadelphia 1774
• Armed resistance – 1775
• Lexington – the shot heard around the world
• The Olive Branch Petition 1775 / K. George III Rejected
• The Declaration of Independence
• July 4, 1776
• Full-scale War
The Constitution of the United States 1788
Boston Tea Party
UMMMMM COFFEEEEE!!!!
July 4, 1776
A MOST UNIQUE DECLARATION
According to Dr. Daniel N. Robinson,
Oxford University,
“Never before had a new government
been brought into being by a document
declaring the very ends and purposes of
government to be life, liberty and
happiness of those governed.”
Declaration of Independence
The First Sentence the Declaration calls upon an
authority higher than man:
When in the Course of human events, it
becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to
assume among the powers of the earth,
the separate and equal station to which
the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God
entitle them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.
Within the Preamble of the
Declaration of Independence
We Find 3 American Values
GOD
LIBERTY
E PLURIBUS UNUM
“We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life,
Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness
That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the
governed…”
AMERICAN VALUES
The American Trinity (Dennis Praeger)
ENSHRINED ON OUR CURRENCY
3 UNIQUE
AMERICAN VALUES
• IN GOD WE TRUST
• LIBERTY
• EPLURIBUS UNUM
IN GOD WE TRUST
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator
The Founders had a biblical knowledge of
God as Creator:
So God created man in His own image; in
the image of God He created him; male
and female He created them.
- Genesis 1:26-28
IN GOD WE TRUST
The founders:
Believed in GOD; the GOD of the Hebrew bible and
were preoccupied with the Bible
Believed in forming a God based country with a non
denominational government
Believed in forming a government based on JudeoChristian values and not Judeo-Christian theology
Believed in the necessity of God for morality, for
without God, men’s morals are corruptible, and can
easily be changed
IN GOD WE TRUST
Of 55 delegates to the Constitutional
Convention, the vast majority were
professing Christians and actively affiliated
with Christian churches –
28 Episcopalians,
8 Presbyterians,
7 Congregationalists,
2 Reformed,
2 Lutherans,
2 Methodists,
2 Roman Catholics,
1 religions preference was unknown, and
3 Deists (Franklin, and Jefferson).
IN GOD WE TRUST
Deist Benjamin Franklin proposed that each session open with
prayer “imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings.”
Deist Thomas Jefferson, “The doctrines of Jesus are simple,
and tend all to the happiness of man.”
Believed that God judges nations
Believed that human life is sacred, we were made in the image
of God and
“…endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness”
IN GOD WE TRUST
The Founders:
Believed in the sinful nature of man kind***
Sinful nature required a separation of powers
Executive, Legislative and Judicial
The “Worldview” of the framers of the Declaration
of Independence and the Constitution of the United
States was “Judeo-Christian” through and through.
IN GOD WE TRUST
IN GOD WE TRUST
The phrase appears to have originated in
the Star-Spangled Banner, written during
the War of 1812. The fourth stanza
includes the phrase, "And this be our
motto: 'In God is our Trust.'"
IN GOD WE TRUST
Congress passed an Act on April 22,
1864….to be placed on coinage and IN
GOD WE TRUST first appeared on the
1864 two-cent coin.
IN GOD WE TRUST
3 UNIQUE
AMERICAN VALUES
• IN GOD WE TRUST
• LIBERTY
• EPLURIBUS UNUM
LIBERTY
THE FOUNDERS UNDERSTOOD SPIRITUAL
LIBERTY
• “And ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free.” (KJV)
- John 8:32
• “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and
where the Spirit of the Lord is, there
is liberty.”
- 2 Corinthians 3:17
THE FOUNDERS SOUGHT
LIBERTY
FREEDOM IN POLITICS
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
FREEDOM OF PROPERTY OWNERSHIP
FREEDOM TO SEEK ECONOMIC SUCCESS
FREEDOM FROM STATE OPRESSION
FREEDOM TO BEAR ARMS
FREEDOM FROM UNWARRANTED SEARCHES
FREEDOM FROM TAXATION W/O REPRESENTATION
FREEDOM FROM FEDERAL USURPATION OF
STATES RIGHTS (10TH AMENDMENT)
COMMUNIST CUBA
• HAVANA – … in December there were a
record 796 temporary arrests for political
reasons on the Communist-ruled island.
The government “continues to criminalize,
with an anachronistic Penal Code, the free
exercise of all civil, political, economic and
cultural rights,” the commission said in a
report.
- Latin American Herald Tribune, Caracas, Thursday
June 28,2012
IRAN – SHARIA LAW
• Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani,
32 Nadarkhani has been
jailed since being arrested in
2009 after he went to his
son’s school to complain
about them starting
mandatory Koran classes.
• He was then charged with
apostasy from Islam. He
was found guilty by the
Iranian Supreme Court and
sentenced to death and has
been imprisoned ever since.
NORTH KOREA
• North Korea’s political prison camps have
expanded substantially over the last decade and
hold 200,000 people, according to Amnesty
International.
• "Hundreds of thousands of people exist with
virtually no rights, treated essentially as slaves, in
some of the worst circumstances we've
documented in the last 50 years," said Sam Zarifi,
Amnesty's Asia Pacific director.
Shin Dong-hyuk
Shin Dong-hyuk is the only known person born in a North Korean prison
camp that escaped and survived to tell the tale.
Shin Dong-hyuk
• North Korea judges any crimes against the
state as blood crimes. So when Shin's
uncle committed the capital crime of
escaping from the state, his remaining
family were imprisoned for life….. At [age]
13, [Shin] when he learned that his mother
and brother were planning to escape, he
… betrayed them to the authorities. The
pair were tortured before his mother was
hanged and his brother shot.
HONOR KILLINGS
• "Honor killings" have been reported in countries
around the world.
• The Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan released its annual report estimating that
in 2011 at least 943 women and girls were
murdered in familial "honor killings," including 93
minors.
• According to the report, most of the women were
killed by husbands or brothers. "Illicit relations"
were cited as a reason for 595 cases, and
demanding to marry a partner of their choice was
noted in 219 cases.
AMERICA – SHARIA LAW
•
Noor Almaleki, a 16-year-old
girl who had run away from
home because her parents
were about to send her
overseas to enter a forced
marriage.
•
In October 2009, at age 20,
she was killed in when her
father ran her down with his
car.
•
The jury rendered its verdict
against Faleh Almaleki; Guilty
of second-degree murder.
•
Feb. 22 2011
“Proclaim liberty
throughout all the land unto
all the inhabitants thereof…”
Lev. 25:10 (KJV)
3 UNIQUE
AMERICAN VALUES
• IN GOD WE TRUST
• LIBERTY
• E PLURIBUS UNUM
E PLURIBUS UNUM
Independence Day
• E PLURIBUS UNUM
Latin for "Out of many, one"
THE FOUNDERS UNDERSTOOD SPIRITUAL
UNITY
But now are they many members, yet but
one body. And the eye cannot say unto
the hand, I have no need of thee: nor
again the head to the feet, I have no need
of you. (KJV)
1 Corinthians 12:20-21
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female: for ye are all one in Christ
Jesus. (KJV)
Gal 3:28
E Pluribus Unum
• E Pluribus Unum was the first motto of
America. This motto ended any
significance people attached to race and
ethnicity or blood, each of which has been
among the most important values in all
societies.
• Outside of the United States, “familism”
has been the human norm. From the
beginning of societies, people divided the
world by blood and marriage ties -- that is,
families and tribes.
E Pluribus Unum
• E Pluribus Unum , with its rejection of
tribal, family, ethnic, and blood origins,
made possible the essential American
value -- the individual.
• America's strength and greatness is its
“ability to unifying the diverse.”… and that
can only be done by celebrating the
individual and the nation those individuals
form, America.
E Pluribus Unum
E Pluribus Unum
• Americans value nationalism.
• Nationalism creates a barrier to
international institutions controlling
Americans.
• Americans who affirm American values
strongly oppose handing over power to
international bodies such as the United
Nations and the international Court of
Justice. Why?
What is American
Exceptionalism?
• It is the belief that America has better
values than international institutions do,
and because of those values, not because
of any inherent superiority, [America]
should guide its own destiny.
• Morality trumps international legality as
determined by the United Nations.
America is Not Perfect!
• The ideals expressed in the declaration of
independence; specifically,
• In God we trust,
• Liberty, and
• E Pluribus Unum
• This American Trinity, drove the American Revolt
against Great Britain.
• Those ideals have continued to drive, and chasen,
and correct the American people. Abraham Lincoln
quoted the declaration of independence to justify
the abolition of slavery. The ideals of the
declaration of independence were quoted by
women when they sought and won the right to vote.
They were quoted by Martin Luther King who drove
the Civil rights movement in the 60s.
IN CLOSING,
America Faces Challenges Ahead
• The ideals expressed in the declaration of
independence; are being attacked.
• In God we trust,
• the importance of God in the public square is
being attacked by liberals and atheists
• Liberty is being challenged
• Equal rights = equal opportunity it is not
An equal right to other people’s property.
• E Pluribus Unum “From the many, One.”
• Diversity, and mulitculturism are attacking
our unique AMERICAN CULTURE.
• Those ideals must be understood and continue to
drive the American people.
The American Church Faces
Challenges Ahead
The ideals
• In God we trust,
• Liberty is being challenged
• E Pluribus Unum “From the many, One.”
• Those ideals must be defended and used by
Christians in their prophetic role to advance and
protect the virtuous ideals of the American people.
• Over 90 percent of the Delegates to the
Constitutional Convention were Christians,
yet today only 25% of Evangelicals vote.
On July 2, 1776, the Motion was made
and Carried
“a declaration of Independence”
John Adams wrote to
his wife Abigail:
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
Signed on July 4, 1776
LET US CELEBRATE
LET US GIVE THANKS
• FOR THE GODLY LEGACY OF VALUES
• WE HAVE INHERITED
• A Republic of Virtue
• The American Trinity
• In God We Trust
• Liberty
• E Pluribus Unum (from the Many, One)
The American Legacy
A Republic of Virtue
and
The American Trinity
LET US PRAY