A Message For Those Troubled By America's Founding And The Issue Of Slavery

INDEPENDENCE DAY MESSAGE — JULY 4

INTRODUCTION

Today, as we celebrate the birth of the United States of America, we remember not only the courageous acts of our Founding Fathers, but the deep convictions that stirred their hearts and shaped this nation's founding. This was not a mere revolt against taxation. It was a bold declaration that liberty is a gift from God, not a favor from kings.

FOUNDING FATHER'S CHRISTIAN ROOTS

The Declaration of Independence begins with the profound assertion that our rights are not granted by governments, but by the Creator:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

These words were not idle poetry—they were a solemn appeal to Heaven. The Founders believed that their cause must be guided and upheld by Divine Providence.

George Washington, in his first Inaugural Address, said:

“It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe… No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States.”

In the heat of battle and the uncertainty of revolution, they turned often to prayer. The Continental Congress opened its sessions with prayer, and John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail:

“It seems to me the eternal Son of God is operating powerfully against the British nation... May we take warning and be thankful.”

Indeed, Adams also wrote:

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Benjamin Franklin, often thought of as one of the more pragmatic minds among them, stood in the Constitutional Convention and rebuked the delegates when they struggled to make progress:

“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”

From their writings, it is clear: the Founders fought not just for independence, but for the right to self-govern under God, with liberty of conscience, worship, and moral law as its foundation.

Thomas Jefferson, though often called a deist, acknowledged the hand of God in justice and providence:

“Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?”

Samuel Adams, the “Father of the American Revolution,” proclaimed:

“The rights of the colonists as Christians may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the great Lawgiver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.”

Their war was not only against tyranny, but for a society in which each person could worship freely, act justly, and live with dignity as one made in the image of God. Their vision was not of freedom from morality, but freedom for it.

And so today, let us celebrate not only with fireworks and parades—but with prayer and reflection. Let us recall that the birth of America was also a consecration, a trust handed down to us with the hope that we would remain “one nation under God,” as President Lincoln would later affirm.

Let us honor their memory by recommitting ourselves to the cause of liberty, virtue, and faith. As Patrick Henry famously said:

“It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains.”

And may we never forget the closing words of the Declaration of Independence, signed by men who knew the cost of freedom:

“With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

A MESSAGE FOR THOSE TROUBLED BY AMERICA'S FOUNDING AND THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY

As we reflect on the birth of the United States this Independence Day, many feel a tension between celebrating liberty and grieving the stain of slavery that existed at the nation’s founding. That grief is valid. The fact that human beings were held in bondage while others proclaimed "all men are created equal" is a contradiction that cannot and should not be ignored.

But history, like humanity, is complex. And sometimes the seeds of righteousness are planted in soil still choked with weeds.

It is true that many of the Founding Fathers owned slaves—an undeniable moral failing. Yet it is also true that many of them wrestled deeply with the injustice of slavery, calling it a poison in the bloodstream of the new nation.