The Liberty Window
At its initial meeting in September 1774 Congress
invited the Reverend Jacob Duché (1738-1798),
rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia, to open its
sessions with prayer. Duché ministered to
Congress in an unofficial capacity until he was
elected the body's first chaplain on July 9, 1776.
He defected to the British the next year. Pictured
here in the bottom stained-glass panel is the
first prayer in Congress, delivered by Duché. The
top part of this extraordinary stained glass
window depicts the role of churchmen in compelling
King John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215.
The
Prayer in the First Congress, A.D. 1774
Stained glass and lead, from The Liberty Window,
Christ Church, Philadelphia, after a painting by
Harrison Tompkins Matteson, c. 1848
Courtesy of the Rector, Church Wardens and
Vestrymen of Christ Church, Philadelphia (101)
George Duffield, Congressional Chaplain
On October 1, 1777, after Jacob Duché, Congress's
first chaplain, defected to the British, Congress
appointed joint chaplains: William White
(1748-1836), Duché's successor at Christ Church,
Philadelphia, and George Duffield (1732-1790),
pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church of
Philadelphia. By appointing chaplains of different
denominations, Congress expressed a revolutionary
egalitarianism in religion and its desire to
prevent any single denomination from monopolizing
government patronage. This policy was followed by
the first Congress under the Constitution which on
April 15, 1789, adopted a joint resolution
requiring that the practice be continued.
George
Duffield
Oil on canvas by Charles Peale Polk, 1790
Independence National Historical Park Collection,
Philadelphia (103)
Military Chaplains Pay
This resolution directed that military chaplains,
appointed in abundance by Congress during the
Revolutionary War, were paid at the rate of a
major in the Continental Army.
Congressional
resolution, paying military personnel [left page]
- [right
page]
Broadside, April 22, 1782
Rare
Book and Special Collections Division, Library
of Congress (102)
Proposed Seal for the United States
On July 4, 1776, Congress appointed Benjamin
Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams "to
bring in a device for a seal for the United States
of America." Franklin's proposal adapted the
biblical story of the parting of the Red Sea
(left). Jefferson first recommended the
"Children of Israel in the Wilderness, led by
a Cloud by Day, and a Pillar of Fire by night. . .
." He then embraced Franklin's proposal and
rewrote it (right). Jefferson's revision of
Franklin's proposal was presented by the committee
to Congress on August 20. Although not accepted
these drafts reveal the religious temper of the
Revolutionary period. Franklin and Jefferson were
among the most theologically liberal of the
Founders, yet they used biblical imagery for this
important task.
Legend
for the Seal of the United States, August 1776
[left side] - [right
side]
Holograph notes, Benjamin Franklin (left) and
Thomas Jefferson (right)
Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress (104-105)
Proposed
Great Seal of the United States:
"Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to
God." Drawing
by Benson Lossing, for Harper's New Monthly
Magazine, July 1856.
General
Collections, Library of Congress. (106)
Congressional Fast Day Proclamation
Congress proclaimed days of fasting and of
thanksgiving annually throughout the Revolutionary
War. This proclamation by Congress set May 17,
1776, as a "day of Humiliation, Fasting and
Prayer" throughout the colonies. Congress
urges its fellow citizens to "confess and
bewail our manifold sins and transgressions, and
by a sincere repentance and amendment of life,
appease his [God's] righteous displeasure, and
through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ,
obtain his pardon and forgiveness."
Massachusetts ordered a "suitable
Number" of these proclamations be printed so
"that each of the religious Assemblies in
this Colony, may be furnished with a Copy of the
same" and added the motto "God Save This
People" as a substitute for "God Save
the King."
Congressional
Fast Day Proclamation, March 16, 1776
Broadside
Rare
Book and Special Collections Division, Library of
Congress (107)
Congressional Thanksgiving Day
Proclamation
Congress set December 18, 1777, as a day of
thanksgiving on which the American people
"may express the grateful feelings of their
hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of
their divine benefactor" and on which they
might "join the penitent confession of their
manifold sins . . . that it may please God,
through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to
forgive and blot them out of remembrance."
Congress also recommends that Americans petition
God "to prosper the means of religion for the
promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which
consisteth in righteousness, peace and joy in the
Holy Ghost.'"
Congressional
Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, November 1, 1777
Broadside
Rare
Book and Special Collections Division, Library
of Congress (108)
The 1779 Fast Day Proclamation
Here is the most eloquent of the Fast and
Thanksgiving Day Proclamations.
Congressional
Fast Day Proclamation, March 20, 1779
Broadside
Rare
Book and Special Collections Division, Library
of Congress (109)
Another Thanksgiving Day Proclamation
Congress set November 28, 1782, as a day of
thanksgiving on which Americans were "to
testify their gratitude to God for his goodness,
by a cheerful obedience to his laws, and by
promoting, each in his station, and by his
influence, the practice of true and undefiled
religion, which is the great foundation of public
prosperity and national happiness."
Congressional
Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, October 11, 1782
Broadside
Rare Book and Special Collections Division,
Library of Congress (110)
Morality in the Army
Congress was apprehensive about the moral
condition of the American army and navy and took
steps to see that Christian morality prevailed in
both organizations. In the Articles of War, seen
below, governing the conduct of the Continental
Army (seen above) (adopted, June 30, 1775;
revised, September 20, 1776), Congress devoted
three of the four articles in the first section to
the religious nurture of the troops. Article 2
"earnestly recommended to all officers and
soldiers to attend divine services."
Punishment was prescribed for those who behaved
"indecently or irreverently" in
churches, including courts-martial, fines and
imprisonments. Chaplains who deserted their troops
were to be court-martialed.
Morality in the Navy
Congress particularly feared the navy as a source
of moral corruption and demanded that skippers of
American ships make their men behave. The first
article in Rules and Regulations of the Navy
(below), adopted on November 28, 1775, ordered all
commanders "to be very vigilant . . . to
discountenance and suppress all dissolute, immoral
and disorderly practices." The second article
required those same commanders "to take care,
that divine services be performed twice a day on
board, and a sermon preached on Sundays."
Article 3 prescribed punishments for swearers and
blasphemers: officers were to be fined and common
sailors were to be forced "to wear a wooden
collar or some other shameful badge of
distinction."
Extracts
from the Journals of Congress, relative to the
Capture and Condemnation of Prizes,
and filling out Privateers, together with the
Rules and Regulations of the Navy,
and Instructions to Private Ships of War [page 16]
- [page
17]
Philadelphia: John Dunlap, 1776
Rare
Book and Special Collections Division, Library
of Congress (113)
Commander-in-Chief of the American Navy
Etched on this horn beaker is Esek Hopkins
(1718-1802), a Rhode Islander, appointed by
Congress, December 22, 1775, as the first
commander-in-chief of the American Navy. Hopkins
was dismissed, January 2, 1778, after a stormy
tenure in which he achieved some notable successes
in spite of almost insuperable problems in manning
the tiny American fleet.
Horn
beaker with scrimshaw portrait of Esek Hopkins
Horn, c. 1876
Mariner's Museum, Newport News, Virginia (114)
Aitken's Bible Endorsed by Congress
The war with Britain cut off the supply of Bibles
to the United States with the result that on Sept.
11, 1777, Congress instructed its Committee of
Commerce to import 20,000 Bibles from
"Scotland, Holland or elsewhere." On
January 21, 1781, Philadelphia printer Robert
Aitken (1734-1802) petitioned Congress to
officially sanction a publication of the Old and
New Testament which he was preparing at his own
expense. Congress "highly approve the pious
and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, as
subservient to the interest of religion . . . in
this country, and . . . they recommend this
edition of the bible to the inhabitants of the
United States." This resolution was a result
of Aitken's successful accomplishment of his
project.
Congressional
resolution, September 12, 1782, endorsing Robert
Aitken's Bible [page 468] -- [page
469]
Philadelphia: David C. Claypoole, 1782 from the Journals
of Congress
Rare
Book and Special Collections Division, Library
of Congress (115)
Aitken's Bible
Aitken published Congress's recommendation of
September 1782 and related documents (Item 115) as
an imprimatur on the two pages following his title
page. Aitken's Bible, published under
Congressional patronage, was the first English
language Bible published on the North American
continent.
The
Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments:
Newly translated out of the Original Tongues. . .
.
Philadelphia: printed and sold by R. Aitken, 1782
Rare
Book and Special Collections Division, Library
of Congress (116)
Settling the West
In the spring of 1785 Congress debated regulations
for settling the new western lands--stretching
from the Alleghenies to the Mississippi--acquired
from Great Britain in the Peace Treaty of 1783. It
was proposed that the central section in each
newly laid out township be reserved for the
support of schools and "the Section
immediately adjoining the same to the northward,
for the support of religion. The profits arising
there from in both instances, to be applied for
ever according to the will of the majority."
The proposal to establish religion in the
traditional sense of granting state financial
support to a church to be controlled by one
denomination attracted support but was ultimately
voted down.
An
Ordinance for ascertaining the Mode of disposing
of Lands in the Western Territory, 1785.
Broadside, Continental Congress, 1785
Rare
Book and Special Collections Division, Library
of Congress (117)
Northwest Ordinance
In the summer of 1787 Congress revisited the issue
of religion in the new western territories and
passed, July 13, 1787, the famous Northwest
Ordinance. Article 3 of the Ordinance contained
the following language: "Religion, Morality
and knowledge being necessary to good government
and the happiness of mankind, Schools and the
means of education shall be forever
encouraged." Scholars have been puzzled that,
having declared religion and morality
indispensable to good government, Congress did
not, like some of the state governments that had
written similar declarations into their
constitutions, give financial assistance to the
churches in the West.
An
Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of
the United States, North-West of the River Ohio,
1787
Broadside, Continental Congress, 1787
Rare Book and Special Collections Division,
Library of Congress (118)
Christianizing the Delawares
In this resolution, Congress makes public lands
available to a group for religious purposes.
Responding to a plea from Bishop John Ettwein
(1721-1802), Congress voted that 10,000 acres on
the Muskingum River in the present state of Ohio
"be set apart and the property thereof be
vested in the Moravian Brethren . . . or a society
of the said Brethren for civilizing the Indians
and promoting Christianity." The Delaware
Indians were the intended beneficiaries of this
Congressional resolution.
Resolution
granting lands to Moravian Brethren. [left page]
- [right
page]
Records of the Continental Congress in the
Constitutional Convention, July 27, 1787
National Archives and Records Administration,
Washington, D.C. (119)
A Delaware-English Spelling Book
David Zeisberger (1721-1802) was a famous Moravian
missionary who spent much of his life working with
the Delaware Indians. His Spelling Book
contains a "Short History of the Bible,"
in the English and Delaware languages, on facing
pages.
Delaware
Indian and English Spelling Book for the Schools
of the Mission
of the United Brethren [left page] - [right
page]
David Zeisberger
Philadelphia: Mary Cist, 1806
Rare
Book and Special Collections Division, Library
of Congress (120)
Library of Congress