The
Founders faced immense opportunity. They had been British colonists since the
1600s. They were well aware of the potential of the American continent. They had spent over 100 years developing it
and they wanted to keep it.
They
found themselves being abused by their British monarchy and parliament. It
wasn’t just taxes, it was actual physical abuse that threatened their families.
The
British government treasury was unable to keep up with the expenses of
maintaining the British colonial empire. They were acting tyrannically after
having acted supportively.
Thomas
Paine 1707-1839 arrived from England in 1774. He wrote “Common Sense” and
distributed it to the British colonists in 1776 and made the case for
independence. Paine was quoted as saying: “ My mind is my church”.
Their
lack of empathy and increase in brutality was met with protests. Their lack of
response to these protests led to the Declaration of Independence in 1776,
proclaimed by a large group of formidable colonial leaders.
Their
hubris resulted in the defeat of General Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781 by a
rag-tag continental army with help from the French Navy and the loss of the
American colonies forever. This unlikely victory inspired the Founders to
deliver a government that set a new standard. They insisted that the People
were the owners and would elect their representatives.
The
colonists had migrated to America for opportunity and religious freedom and the
Founders were determined to continue to allow religious freedom guarantees in
their founding documents.
The
Founders were unique in their agreement that church dogma was unimportant, but
that view made them the perfect group to fashion a government that allowed all
beliefs to exist and remain unmolested. They all believed in providence. There
were convinced that a republic would be the model that would work best if God ordained
it.
Benjamin
Franklin's Faith Baylor University History Professor Thomas Kidd talked about Ben Franklin’s faith. He was one of the
speakers at a symposium hosted by the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC
which explored the Bible and its influence on the Founding of America.
The
Bible and the Founding of the American Constitutional Republic American University public
affairs professor Daniel
Dreisbach talked about the Bible and the
founding of the American constitutional republic.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?440587-6/bible-founding-american-constitutional-republic
The Bible and the Founding of America Roundtable Historians discussed the Bible
and its influence on the founding of America at a symposium hosted by the
Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. Q&A
https://www.c-span.org/video/?440587-4/bible-fouding-america-roundtable
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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