During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian revolutions. By the eighteenth century, as the American colonists began to think of freedom from England, they thought of other freedoms as well. In 1777, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. In 1789, freedom of religion became the law of the land with the passage of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
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Benjamin Franklin’s Appeal to Prayer During Constitutional Convention
The Actual Events as historically documented JUNE 28, 1787: [below is the speech by Benjamin Franklin and the reports of other who have been recorded as having spoken. As recorded by James Madison and published for the first time in 1840.] Mr. President, The small progress we have made after ...
Ben Franklin: “…There are Two Passions Which have a Powerful Influence in the Affairs of Men – the Love of Power and the Love of Money.”
Ben Franklin address at the Constitutional Convention titled “Dangers of a Salaried Bureaucracy,” June 2, 1787: "It is with reluctance that I rise to express a disapprobation of any one article of the plan for which we are so much obliged to the honorable gentlemen who laid it before us ...
The Constitutional Convention Begins in Philadelphia on May 25th and Ends on Sept 17th with the Miracle of the Constitution
The Constitutional Convention takes place in Philadelphia and, by the account of many participants during the process, ends with a miracle of divine providence in the formation of the constitution that provided the American people with a people's government assuring their rights and freedom, with a balance of powers, and ...
Thomas Jefferson: “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.”
This is actually a translation of a Latin phrase that Thomas Jefferson used: Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem. It has also been translated as, "I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude." Paris Jan. 30. 1787. Dear Sir My last to you was of the 16th ...
George Washington: “Paper money will… ruin commerce, oppress the honest, and open the door to every species of fraud and injustice”
But if in the pursuit of the means we should unfortunately stumble again on unfunded paper money or any similar species of fraud, we shall assuredly give a fatal stab to our national credit in its infancy. Paper money will invariably operate in the body of politics as spirit liquors ...
Jefferson Passed the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom ending the State-Established Church in Virginia and Placing All Religions on Equal Footing
Religious Freedom Day is celebrated in America each year on January 16 — the date of the 1786 passage of Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. That measure ended the state-established church in Virginia and for the first time placed all denominations on the same legal footing. That act ...
Thomas Jefferson on Farmers: “They are the Most Vigorous, the Most Independent, the Most Virtuous, and they are Tied to their Country and… it’s Liberty”
Thomas Jefferson Letter to John Jay, August 23, 1785: "Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independant, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to it's liberty and interests by the most lasting bands." ...
The Treaty of Paris of 1783, Negotiated Between the United States and Great Britain, Ended the Revolutionary War and Recognized American Independence
On 3 September 1783, the Peace of Paris was signed and the American War for Independence officially ended. The following excerpt from John Ferling’s Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence recounts the war’s final moments, when Washington bid farewell to his troops. The war was truly ...
George Washington Writes his Circular Letter to the States upon Retiring as General of the Armies
By the summer of 1783, the newly formed United States had won the War of Independence, but the survival of the nation remained far from certain. A final peace treaty with Great Britain had yet to be signed, the state governments remained hesitant to yield to Congress’ authority, and the ...
George Washington to Officers: “the freedom of Speech may be taken away, and, dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter”
George Washington to the General, Field, & other Officers Assembled at the New Building pursuant to the General Order of the 11th Instant March. Head Quarters Newburgh 15th of March 1783 Gentlemen, By an anonymous summons, an attempt has been made to convene you together—how inconsistent with the rules of ...
