America's Christian Heritage is indisputable. The second best-selling book in the American colonies was the New England Primer. Five million copies existed in America in 1776. At that time, there were only four million people in America. Many of its selections were drawn from the King James Bible. The New England Prime was the foundation of schooling that all children studied from at the time of our Founding.
Harvard's Rules and Precepts of 1636 tells us that all knowledge rests on the foundation of God and Jesus Christ. Harvard's original motto was Truth for Christ and the Church.
Princeton's founding statement of 1746 was Cursed is all Learning that is contrary to the Cross of Christ.
Coumbia university's seal of 1755 has the hebrew Tetragrammaton, YHVW (Jehovah) within a radiant triangle. The school's motto "In Lumine Tuo Videbimus Lumen" means "In thy light we shall see light" Psalms 36:9, arcs across the top.
In 1832 Gouverneur Morris said, “Religion is the only solid basis of good morals; therefore education should teach the precepts of religion, and the duties of man towards God.”
In 1790 Samuel Adams said, ""Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age, by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, of inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity...in short of leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.“
In 1798 Benjamin Rush said, "In contemplating the political institutions of the United States, I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes, and take so little pains to prevent them. We profess to be republicans and yet we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of
government. That is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by the means of the Bible.”
In 1836 Noah Webster said, “In my view, the Christian Religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed...no truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian Religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”
In 1835 Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in his book, Democracy in America, "
Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things. In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America I found they were intimately united and that they reigned in common over the same country. Religion in America...must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it. Indeed, it is in this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief. I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion -- for who can search the human heart? But I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society. In the United States, the sovereign authority is religious...there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America, and there can be no greater proof of its utility and of its conformity to human nature than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth. In the United States, the influence of religion is not confined to the manners, but it extends to the intelligence of the people...
Christianity, therefore, reigns without obstacle, by universal consent...
I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors...; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great. The safeguard of morality is religion, and morality is the best security of law as well as the surest pledge of freedom. The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts -- the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims."
The New England primer : a reprint of the earliest known edition ; with many facsimiles and reproductions; and an historical introduction : Ford, Paul Leicester, 1865-1902 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
The New England Primer - Wikipedia
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Democracy in America - Wikipedia
One Nation Under God: Alexis de Tocqueville
