(January 4, 1746 – April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States and is known as the “Father of American Medicine.” Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and helped found 4 others. Rush signed the Declaration of Independence and attended the Continental Congress. He was a founding member of America’s first Bible Society, is credited with helping begin the American Sunday School movement, helped organize America’s first Anti-Slavery society and was a leader in the national abolition movement. He held multiple university professorships, and is properly titled “The Father of Public Schools Under the Constitution,” being an advocate for free public schools for all youth. He published the first American textbook on chemistry and was active in the Sons of Liberty in Philadelphia.
In 1791, Dr. Rush wrote a lengthy piece providing a dozen or so reasons why America would continue teaching the Bible in our public schools. (To see a portion of the letter as it was printed by the American Tract society in 1830, visit Wallbuilder’s website.) At the time of his death, Dr. Benjamin Rush — along with George Washington and Benjamin Franklin — was arguably one of America’s three most notable men. He personally trained more than 3,000 medical students.
In June 1776, he was elected to attend the provincial conference to send delegates to the Continental Congress and was appointed to represent Philadelphia. In 1777, he became physician-general in the Continental Army but became critical of the administration of the army medical service and Dr. William Shippen, who was in charge of it. He complained directly to General George Washington who deferred to Congress. Congress supported Dr. Shippen, and Dr. Rush resigned. As the war continued, he tried repeatedly to get Washington removed as commander-in-chief. He even went so far as to write an anonymous letter to Virginia’s governor, Patrick Henry. He was confronted by General Washington, and that confrontation caused him to remove himself from all war activities.
In 1789, he wrote in newspapers of Philadelphia advocating the adoption of the federal Constitution. He was elected to the Pennsylvania convention and had a hand in adopting it. From 1797 to 1813, he was treasurer of the US Mint.
On March 28, 1787, he wrote an open letter “To the citizens of Philadelphia: A Plan for Free Schools”.
“Let the children…be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education. The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effectual means of extirpating Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools.”
He continued in the same letter:
“The only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty.”
Sources: Wallbuilders; Faithofourfathers.net
Chronological History of Events Involving Benjamin Rush
Newsweek Magazine Publishes an Article titled, “How the Bible Made America”
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams Die on the 50th Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, Fulfilling Dr. Benjamin Rush’s Prophesy
President Washington Laid the Cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol Building which was First Used as a Church
Dr. Benjamin Rush: “(Satan) never invented a more effectual means of extirpating Christianity… than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools.”
The Constitutional Convention Begins in Philadelphia on May 25th and Ends on Sept 17th with the Miracle of the Constitution
Thomas Paine publishes “The American Crisis”: “These Are the Times That Try Men’s Souls… Tyranny, Like Hell, is Not Easily Conquered”
Delegates sign the Declaration of Independence
