America’s National Origin Myth

Further Comments:

It is true that Christianity happened to be the majority religion in the American colonies–and the subsequent Republic–at the time.  The “catch” here is crucial to note: The most ardent Christians in the American colonies during the era leading up to the founding of the Republic were fanatical Puritans.  As the generations came and went, the balance of Christians came to be Anglicans (i.e. those who remained with the Church of England; a.k.a. “Episcopalians”), New England Congregationalists (proto-Unitarians), Quakers, and Presbyterians.  Not coincidentally: ALL of these were what are now the most liberal denominations.  (Reactionary constituencies emerged pursuant to the “Great Awakenings”; a development that had nothing whatsoever to do with the vision of the Founders.)

When it comes to the demographic breakdown of the American colonies, we might pose a question: Would Christian apologists today suggest that we use the (patently ridiculous) doctrines of 17th and 18th century Puritans as a model for our society?  Indeed, if anyone references “Christian” influence in American historiography, then THAT is implicitly the primary point of reference; as it was the most vocal Christian presence at the time.  Doctrinal Christianity (which, it should not be controversial to point out, is anti-democratic at its very core) was the most outspoken part of the religious landscape during the era preceding the American Revolution.  Therefore that is the only thing one could possibly be referring to if one were to cite the role religion played amongst the rank and file in the 18th century as justification for present policies.

What else could Revisionists TODAY be referring to?  Certainly not Adams’ and Hamilton’s decidedly liberal Faiths.  (Are we to suppose, then, that they have in mind the preachments of the fanatical Puritan, John Winthrop?)  Shall we still be burning witches?  Shall women still be obliged to wear bonnets and remain silent in the public square?

The fact of the matter is: The Founders wanted no part of such a Reactionary mindset.  So they took decisive measures to ensure that religiosity played no role in the establishment of the new Republic.  To hold that Christianity was the basis for America’s founding is like insisting that racism or genocide (ALSO incipient phenomena during the nation’s early eras) were a basis for its founding.  The credibility of the Republic was established IN SPITE OF–not because of–such exigencies.

This included attributing the slave trade to CHRISTIANITY.  Thomas Jefferson’s first draft of the Declaration of Independence (the letter addressed to King George III of England in the summer of 1776) included the following indictment:

“This king has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating the most sacred right of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, capturing them and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere to incur miserable death in their transportation.  This warfare on humans is the opprobrium of infidel powers.  The CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain is determined to [maintain] an open market, where men should be bought and sold” (caps in the original).

In other words: Jefferson saw Christianity as the salient feature of the monarchy’s iniquity on this score.  (The passage was omitted from the final draft due the pre-established condition of unanimity.  2 of the 13 colonies–South Carolina and Georgia–dissented because they did not want the trans-Atlantic slave-trade to be listed as a grievance.)  The heinous practice was begrudgingly tolerated by the Founders; and adamantly opposed by Thomas Paine.  While this certainly falls short of a complete repudiation, it indicates that there was a will to MOVE AWAY from the enslavement of Africans, however attenuated at the time.

An early draft shows that Jefferson’s primary grievance was that the mother country had “foisted” enslaved Africans on white Americans and then attempted to incite them against their “patriot owners”.  (While, as a slave-holder himself, he saw slavery as a moral blight, Jefferson’s main grievance HERE was the monarchy’s use of American slaves as leverage against the land-holding colonialists.)  It was the king’s duplicity—nay, hypocrisy—that incensed the Founders.  In a strident objection to which he devoted 168 words (triple the amount of any other complaint in the Declaration), Jefferson stated that the king had encouraged enslaved Americans “to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them.”  This, as much as “taxation without representation” (spec. favoritism granted to the British tea corporation), was a key point of contention against the monarchy. {17}

In his “Notes On The State Of Virginia”, Jefferson weighed in on the iniquities of slavery, which would regrettably continue to be practiced (for the time being): “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep for ever; that considering numbers, nature, and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune–an exchange of situation–is among possible events; that it may become probable by supernatural interference!  The Almighty has no attribute which can take sides with us in such a contest.” {24}

Think of it this way: It does not follow that because only white men were enfranchised at the Founding, the Republic is to be characterized as being ONLY FOR white men.  Legacy is not destiny–be it real or contrived.  The same goes for the religious zealotry of the Puritan settlers in New England, or–for that matter–for ANY Christians during the Republic’s germination.

The mis-guided notion that the American Republic was FOUNDED UPON slavery is tremendously disingenuous.  Not only is it historically fallacious; it imputes motives to the Founders that clearly did not exist.  The sentiments of the Southern states on the matter is hardly indicative of the principles that impelled the Founders–least of all Thomas Paine.  The contention that the revolution was done IN ORDER TO SUSTAIN slavery would have come as a surprise to Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton…who were adamantly against the practice, and actively took measures to mitigate it as they championed the revolutionary cause…and in the years after.

In recalling the fallibility of 18th-century thinking, we might bear in mind that Thomas Jefferson was aware that certain elements of the founding charter would eventually become obsolete.  He recognized that THAT meant that the Constitution may need to be revisited from time to time (as often as every generation, he once averred) to reflect new insights and accommodate for new developments.  It was NOT to be considered holy writ; it was a historical artifact, subject to emendation as society evolved.

I conjecture that if either Thomas Paine or Thomas Jefferson were to take a time machine to the present, they would say: “What’s this?  You STILL haven’t updated this stuff?” {24}

Living up to timeless ideals does not require revanchism; it means moving onward and upward.  Remaining mired in “received wisdom” is a recipe for stagnation, not progress.