Under God, In God We trust. Final installment
bucke...@nospam.net
The following article no longer exists on line but it did not that
long ago.
The Ultimate Originations of the Phrases "In God We Trust" and "Under God"
by Richard E. Gardiner
http://wvvw.pennswoods.net/–hpc/motto.htm
The author (Richard E. Gardiner) is a minister (sometimes), a school
teacher (sometimes), co author of a book ( Never Before In History
America's Inspired Birth)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0914513516/102-4637814-3117749?v=glance&n=28315\5
Co-authored with Gary Amos, a Virginia Beach Attorney who is linked
with the Dominions and helped Pat Robertson set up Regent University
School of Government and the School of Law.
Gardiner is one of the most rude, crude, dishonest unethical people,
in his style of posting and replying in the UseNet Newsgroups that I
have ever run into in my 11 years on the Internet and posting in
UseNet newgroups.
The above opinion isn't just mine, it is the opinion of just about
anyone who ever tried to be part of any discussion with Gardiner.
Considering his education and bacjground it was always sad to see to
what depths he would stoop to "be right", to win a "debate."
Now this article of his does show he can be quite normal and nice,
traits he rarely, if ever exhibited in the Newsgroups.
I have crossed keybds with Gardiner in UseNet Newsgroups on the
internet off and on since Feb 1999.
**********************************************************************
http://wvvw.pennswoods.net/–hpc/motto.htm
The Ultimate Originations of the Phrases "In God We Trust" and "Under God"
by Richard E. Gardiner
In the midst of the current debate regarding the propriety of the
national Pledge to the Flag. with its controversial clause, "under
God," along with further debate concerning the propriety of the
national motto, "In God We Trust," it is worthwhile to recognize the
ultimate historical origins of these controversial phrases. Some
well-known and established facts regarding the origins of these
national phrases are readily available. There are some missing pieces,
however, that have gone unnoticed by historians. Furthermore, in the
process of this investigation, a bizarre coincidence has come to light
that bears recognition.
PART ONE
"In God We Trust": The Standard Story
With the Civil War underway in 1861, a Baptist minister, Mark R.
Watkinson, from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, was convinced that the war
was a consequence of "our national shame in disowning God" by failing
to recognize Him on our coinage.1 Therefore, Reverend Watkinson felt
compelled to petition the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to put a
religious motto on the federal coins. Watkinson wrote a letter to
Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, on November 13, 1861,
proposing such a motto for the coins. His suggestion for the motto
was, "God, Liberty, Law."2 Within a week, Secretary Chase communicated
to James Pollock, Director of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, that
there should indeed be a religious motto on the coins.
Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God,
or
safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be
declared on our national coins. You will cause a device to be prepared
without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and
tersest words possible this national recognition.3
Mark Watkinson urged Salmon Chase to place a religious motto on U.S.
coins.
Salmon P. Chase has been credited as the first to suggest the motto,
"In God We Trust."
James Pollock was the recipient
of the first letter suggesting the phrase
"In God We Trust."
But it was not until 1864 that the motto, "In God We Trust," first
appeared on a coin: the two cent piece. This was more than two years
after the initial proposal. Further, it was not Reverend Watkinson's
proposed motto that was adopted. Mint Director Pollock's suggestions
for the motto were also rejected. Pollock had proposed alternative
mottoes: "Our Country; Our God," and "God, Our Trust."4 What happened
between the first proposal in 1861 and the adoption of the final coin
inscription of 1864? Who was the first to suggest the words "In God We
Trust"? The standard story is that Salmon Chase coined the phrase. The
earliest document historians have heretofore uncovered in which the
phrase shows up is a letter from Chase to the Mint Director, two years
after the initial proposal, on December 9, 1863. In that letter, Chase
instructed Pollock to use the words "In God We Trust" on the coin.5
But there is reason to doubt that Chase coined the phrase himself.
Sufficient evidence exists to show that Chase was otherwise influenced.
The Rest of the Story
On the morning of the bloodiest day of battle in the history of the
United States, September 17, 1862, Union troops began to engage Robert
E. Lee's Confederate forces which had crossed the Potomac into the
state of Maryland. This engagement took place at Antietam Creek near
Sharpsburg, Maryland. The early part of the battle occurred at a
location identified by the presence of a Dunkard (Brethren) Church.
There, the 125th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers was on the
front line, ready to march into a sea of bullets. One of the Captains,
William Wigton Wallace, who led Company "C" stepped out in front of
the men and shouted "Boys, remember our battle cry, 'In God We
Trust.'"9 This battle cry was taken up all across the front line by
several other companies of Union soldiers.10 An eyewitness to this
event recorded "This motto was afterwards placed on the coin of the
United States at the Mint in Philadelphia, and remains there to this
day." 11
As the shots began to fly, the 125th Regiment took severe casualties:
about 229 men in the first twenty minutes.12 After five flag-bearers
of the Regimental flag had been shot. Captain Wallace took hold of the
flag in a storm of bullets, and carried it across the field to rally
more men.13 A Confederate officer at an alumni meeting later said that
Wallace must have been divinely blessed because 100 Confederate
marksmen shot at him that morning while he was bearing the flag.14
When Wallace heard this, he said that "divine protection" deserved the
credit for his safety. When the battle finally concluded, General
McClellan personally complimented the 125th Pennsylvania Regiment
regarding their participation on the front line. The account of the
opening hours of the battle of Antietamwas, no doubt, rather
significant to those who took interest. And no one took more interest
in this battle than Abraham Lincoln himself.
Lincoln personally traveled to Antietam on October 3, 1862, just two
weeks after the battle. General McClellan gave Lincoln a report of the
battle, explaining exactly what happened, when it happened, and why it
happened. Of the details of that private conversation, however, there
is no record. Many such conversations between officers and politicians
about the details of the battle are unrecorded. But the idea that no
one at the White House ever heard the story of the brave 125th
Pennsylvania Volunteers and their widely used battle cry on the front
lines during the opening conflict at Antietam is virtually
impossible.15 It is known that Lincoln spent a good deal of time
discussing the implications of Antietam with his cabinet. It is also
known that this battle served as a transitional point for the war in
terms of the moral and religious themes that Lincoln would strongly
emphasize thereafter.
William Wallace's Other Connections to Lincoln
Captain Wallace's Company "C" called themselves "The Huntingdon Bible
Company" because as they left their hometown, the citizens presented
each soldier with a Bible to carry into battle. Thomas J. Gregg served
under Captain Wallace in Company "C." H.H. Gregg was very close to
Wallace as a co-captain in the 125th Regiment. Both of these Greggs
were first cousins to Andrew Gregg Curtin, the Governor of
Pennsylvania during the Civil War. Curtin and Wallace both emerged
from the Huntingdon Presbytery, both from coal mining families.
Through these and other connections, Wallace and Curtin were
acquainted. Curtin received Wallace's Huntingdon Bible Company in
Harrisburg in August of 1862. Curtin undoubtedly took interest in his
cousins and their Bible Company. After the war, Curtin helped his
friend, William Wallace, find employment in Philadelphia.
So what?
When Abraham Lincoln arrived in Gettysburg on November 18, 1863, the
eve of the Gettysburg Address, his host was none other than Andrew
Gregg Curtin. They stayed in the Wills house together. The next day
Curtin and Lincoln attended the Presbyterian church together,
andLincoln expressed his wish that day that the nation, under God,
might have a new birth of freedom. The conversations between Curtin
and Lincoln at Gettysburg during those two days are not recorded. We
do know, however, that the "purposes of the Almighty" were on
Lincoln's mind, and we also know that Curtin was aware of the
Huntingdon Bible Company and their sense of the divine will. It is
altogether reasonable to suspect that Curtin informed Lincoln of the
Bible Company, their courage in battle, and their inspirational motto,
"In God We Trust."
This is even more plausible when we recall that it was less than a
month later that Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury instructed the
mint director to use the Huntingdon Bible Company's phrase.
The fact that Lincoln named his own son William Wallace Lincoln
("Willie") after one of William Wallace's cousins from Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, is very interesting, but probably not clear evidence
that Lincoln had a personal acquaintance with the Captain of the Bible
Company.
The Ultimate Origination of the Motto
Dr. Theodore Flood kept a diary of his entry into the Union army in
1862. He was asked to make a digest of the diary for a book that
detailed the history of the 125th Pennsylvania Volunteers. In this
digest, Flood told of the ultimate origination of the national motto
in August 1862, when the 125th Regiment was being formed in
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania:
Captain Wallace suggested that we open books and•recruit as many
men
as possible in one or more companies, and in his characteristic way
also suggested that we ought to do it in the name of God and Religion.
So he proposed that we organize the Huntingdon County Bible Company,
every man to take his Bible with his musket, and that when we enter
the service we have company prayers in the morning after roll-call,
and that the company ought to have a motto, which was selected then
and there--"In God We Trust." This motto was afterwards placed on the
coin of the United States at the Mint in Philadelphia, and remains
there to this day.16
So it was William Wigton Wallace who deserves the credit for coining
this motto, not Secretary Chase. Wallace coined the phrase, the
soldiers of the 125th Pennsylvania Volunteers shouted it across the
front line at Antietam, and Salmon P. Chase was so impressed with the
story that on December 9, 1863, he insisted that it supersede all
others suggested up to that point.
William Wigton Wallace,
Originator of the National Motto
The Reliability of the Primary Source
Dr. Theodore Flood, the primary source who credited Wallace with
coining the national motto, was a distinguished Union veteran who
later became a widely celebrated Methodist minister. Flood was one of
the founding fathers of the Chautauqua movement in upstate New York,
and he was the founding editor of The Chautauqua Daily Assembly Herald
and the Chautauqua Daily . Flood had a personal relationship with
President Ulysses Grant, and persuaded President Grant to come to
Chautauqua in 1875. 17 Later, he became a leading candidate for U.S.
Congress in New York. 18 Flood's credentials as a soldier, a minister,
a journalist, and a respected national leader all speak to his
veracity as a source. During the year 1862, Flood carefully kept a
diary chronicling his involvement as a Lieutenant in the 125th
Pennsylvania Regiment.
There is sufficient evidence to support the veracity of Flood's
account. In addition to his standing as a journalist, a minister, and
a highly respected community leader, there is an even more salient
fact that leaves no doubt about his integrity as a source. When he
published the digest of his 1862 diary in 1906, there were still
hundreds of men living who took part in the battle he described, many
of whom read the digest.19 When Flood wrote that the motto "In God We
Trust" was taken up all along the front lines at Antietam in 1862 and
was subsequently stamped on the coins, he was well aware that many of
those who would read his account had been there and could verify (or
more importantly, refute) his claim. Flood knew that if he was telling
a fiction, there would be many among his readers who could easily
indict his integrity. Furthermore, the editor of Flood's digest was
William Wallace himself, the man to whom Flood gave the credit for
originating the motto. If Flood was manufacturing a fiction, Wallace
also has to be indicted as a co-conspirator. Wallace was also an
editor and a journalist as well as a man of great religious respect
and stature.20 Both Wallace and Flood, therefore, attested to this
claim in print to an audience of readers who knew the factual basis of
the claim. Unless there was a vast conspiracy of silence by a hundred
or more men, Flood's digest has to be regarded as authentic and
reliable. Given that set of circumstances, the fact that the 125th
Regiment was shouting "In God We Trust" on the battlefield in 1862, a
full year before Chase "coined" the phrase, is beyond dispute.
This argument in favor of the reliability of the testimony of the men
who wrote the history of the regiment is argued in the volume itself.
Thomas McCamant, one of the members of the committee who put the book
together, wrote: "there are yet surviving members of the 125th
Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers who command the respect of the
community in which they reside, and whose oaths are entitled to as
much weight and consideration as [other reputable eyewitnesses]."21
There is further corroborating evidence that William Wallace was of a
mind to initiate this motto. Wallace was an ardent Presbyterian all of
his life. While in Huntingdon, Wallace's pastor was the Reverend
George W. Zahnizer.22 The Huntingdon Presbyterian Church has in its
archives an extant sermon preached by Reverend Zahnizer that dates to
the same period in which Wallace insisted upon the motto. The sermon
is entitled, "Our Duty in the Present Crisis," and it was preached
contemporaneously with the formation of the Huntingdon Bible Company.
The gist of the sermon is apparent in the following excerpt.
Our immense armies, our iron-clad ships, and our vast resources, will
accomplish nothing, unless God, who giveth the victory, is on our
side. We must invoke his presence, for in his hands is the issue. We
are in his hands, and should bow ourselves before him. 23
The theme of Rev. Zahnizer's sermon was clear. If the Union was to be
victorious, it would be due to their trust in God, not in weapons.
Every indication is that Wallace took Zahnizer's messages very much to
heart. Wallace's letters in the collection of the Huntingdon County
Historical Society also give evidence of a man with great religious
conviction. After the war, Wallace became the managing editor of a
magazine called, The Presbyterian, published in Philadelphia. He was
ordained a Presbyterian elder and served in that capacity for several
decades.24 He maintained contact with his old Regiment, reuniting at
Antietam on a number of occasions, including the unveiling of the
George Simpson statue behind the DunkardChurch on the battlefield in
1904 which commemorates the 125th Regiment. Wallace died on February
25, 1915 25 fully aware that he was the man who coined the national
motto, but he never wished to make an issue of it.
Why the Delay?
If William Wallace coined the phrase "In God We Trust" in August of
1862, and if the 125th Regiment were shouting it on the Antietam
Battlefield on September 17, 1862, why is Chase's first reference to
the motto not made until December 1863? It would seem that if there
was a connection between Wallace and Chase, it would be seen in
Chase's correspondence much earlier. If indeed Chase had made the
suggestion very shortly after the battle at Antietam the claim might
seem much stronger.
What has to be kept in mind is that coin patterns were not modified
mid-year. There was only a brief window each year in which
modifications were discussed and suggested for the next year's
minting. If the story about the 125th Regiment at Antietam battlefield
did not reach Chase for three months, until some time after December
1862, then the window was closed for modifying the 1863 coin. The
earliest that one could expect a suggested change would be December,
1863, exactly the point at which Chase suggested the motto. The fact
that it took from 1861 when Chase decided that a motto should be on
the coins until 1864 when it actually happened proves that Chase was
in no hurry no matter where the motto originated.
Erroneous Speculations
There have been two unsubstantiated theories put forth regarding
Chase's source, both of which, in the end, miss the mark. The first,
and perhaps the most obvious of the sources from which Chase may have
drawn is the famous 1814 poem of Francis Scott Key, "The Star Spangled
Banner." In the fourth stanza of the poem the following lines are found:
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our
motto: "In God is our trust"6
The fact that Key not only proposed a phrase very close to "In God We
Trust," but, more importantly, that he suggested this phrase as a
motto, seems to give indication that Chase was simply trying to give
deference to Key's proposal. But there are three significant problems
with this theory. First, "The Star Spangled Banner" wasn't the
national anthem in 1863. It was not designated the national anthem
until 1931. In 1863, it was but a poem set to music. Surely Chase may
have been familiar with it, but it did not have the official status
and broad popularity that it has today. Secondly, the line is a rather
obscure one. To wit, even now, when this song is memorized by the
general population via football games and other public events, very
few are familiar with the fourth stanza. If that is the case at a time
when the song has much more popularity than it did in 1863, there is
good reason to believe that the fourth stanza was even less familiar
in Chase's time. But the most important reason for doubting whether
Chase lifted the words from Key's poem is the simple fact that the
words are not the same. If Chase truly wanted to give deference to
Key's suggestion, his December 9, 1863 letter to Pollock would have
said "the motto should be 'In God is our Trust."' There would be no
apparent reason, philosophical, practical, or grammatical, for Chase
to change the "is our" to a "we," especially if Francis Scott Key was
the person being honored with his suggestion. There was certainly no
objective to save space with one less word, because on the back of the
coin, Chase wanted the phrase "Our God and Our Country."7 The
conjecture that the motto ultimately may be traced to Key is a very
weak theory. There is no reason to believe that when Chase wrote the
words on December 9, 1863, Key's poem was on his mind.
The second, and perhaps slightly more plausible theory is that
proposed by numismatic scholar Walter Breeii.8 Breen believes that
Chase was influenced by the wording of the motto of his Alma Mater,
Brown University, of Providence, Rhode Island: "In Deo Speramus." The
Brown motto was taken from the motto of Colonial Rhode Island. There
are at least two problems with this theory. First, the motto is in
Latin. If Chase truly wanted to borrow from Brown, he could have
proposed the Latin phrase as a motto for the coins. It certainly was
not atypical for the United States government to invoke Latin phrases
as mottos. "E Pluribus Unum" and "NovusOrdo Seclorum" were already
part of the national identity. More importantly, however, the literal
English translation of the Brown motto is not "In God We Trust," but
"In God Hope
(We)." The Latin words for trust and hope are entirely different
words. The natural English translation of the Brown motto is the once
famous saying, "We Hope In God." This was an old catch-phrase used by
the Whig party which arose in England in the 17th century in
opposition to the succession of James II to the throne. Those who
opposed James were dubbed "Whigs" by their foes, because this was a
slang term referring to Scottish Presbyterian thugs. As happens often,
those being insulted with this term embraced it, but they conveniently
suggested that the insult contained an acronym which characterized the
truest sentiments of their party, W.H.I.G.: "We Hope In God." The
Latin translation of this phrase is properly "In Deo Speramus,"
although if it were to be a literal translation it would have to be
"Speramus In Deo," but that is awkward Latin, simply not the proper
application of Latin convention.
Had Chase been dedicated to his Alma Mater, and wanted to honor her
with the motto on coins, his December 9 letter to Pollock should have
said "the motto should be 'InDeo Speramus'" or, perhaps "the motto
should be 'We Hope In God." But there is no compelling reason to
believe that what Chase had in his mind on December 9, 1863 was his
College motto.
Chase began his quest for a motto for the coins on November 20, 1861.
By the time Chase wrote his letter on December 9, 1863 in which he
first used the words "In God We Trust," he had been thinking about
this matter for more than two full years. Surely if, during that time,
he had determined to honor Francis Scott Key's words or Brown
University's motto, he would have been more deliberate in borrowing
the precise language. The phrase he suggested, however, was something
other than either one of these.
The exact phrase that Chase did choose had actually been used in a
very public and well-known forum during the year just prior to his
1863 letter. It is from this historically overlooked, yet logically
compelling source, that Salmon Chase undoubtedly borrowed the phrase
which has now become our national motto.
This motto was used by the 125th Pennsylvania Volunteers directly in
the middle of the period in which Chase was searching for a religious
motto for theU.S. coins. Had Chase heard that there were brave boys
who died for the Union cause at Antietam, who had adopted for
themselves the motto "In God We Trust," would he not have taken
particular interest given his ongoing quest for a coinage motto? Given
the national crisis and context of 1861-1863, what would have been a
more poignant source from which to draw a motto: 1) a modification of
a line in an obscure fourth stanza of a poem about a war against a foe
that was now an ally; 2) a self-serving expression of school-pride
awkwardly manifested in a badly translated take-off of one's college
motto; or 3) the precise wording of a motto adopted by Union volunteer
soldiers who were laying down their lives for the President, the
Union, and their religious principles?
Why Has this Story Not Been Told Before?
The only twentieth-century historians who seemed to be at all aware of
the significance of Flood's diary were local historians in Huntingdon
County, Pennsylvania, where William Wigton Wallace and Theodore L.
Flood resided. Working from Flood's account, Katherine Bard came to
the conclusion that Secretary Chase must have heard about the motto of
the Huntingdon Bible
Company. Mrs. Bard's discovery was made public by Jeanne Singer, a
writer for the Huntingdon Daily News, in an article on November 2,
1963 entitled "Motto 'In God We Trust' Had Origin in Huntingdon."
Although Singer clearly argued the case, she did not go into further
detail. Furthermore, her work was not widely read and, as such, has
gone unnoticed by broader historians. A year later, local historian
Albert M. Rung also published an article containing the theory.26 Rung
wrote that he had reason to believe that the motto, iIn God We Trusti
was actually sewn on the 125th Regimental Flag. In that regard,
apparently Rung had access to more information than what is in Floodis
journal, because Flood never mentions that fact. However, finding
either of these publications is no easy task. They remain extant in a
very limited number of microfilm collections.27
Flood's digest, which is included in The History of the 125th
Regiment,is also not an easy text to come by. Had it been part of the
Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, a collection which is
found on the shelves of just about every serious academic library,
this story would be common knowledge by now. But the History of the
125th Regiment is an obscure and out-of-print volume available only in
a few select libraries. Local historians in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
are just now beginning to rediscover this important story.
The Impossibility of the Contrary
In order to negate the claim that the motto can be traced back to
William Wallace, one is forced to make an even more incredible claim.
One would have to believe that the widespread shouts of "In God We
Trust" that were heard all across the front line at Antietam were
never communicated to anyone with connections to the White House in
the year following, and thatOcoincidentally—when it came to his final
suggestion for the coin's motto the following year. the Secretary of
the Treasury miraculously landed upon that same precise phrase.
Granted, some rather unbelievable coincidences have been accepted by
historians as part of the established story of the past. Newton and
Leibniz both developed Calculus at the same time, yet independently.
Jefferson and Adams, two of the chief architects of the Declaration of
Independence, died on the same day, and not just any day; it was July
4, exactly fifty years after the Declaration. Wallace and Chase may
have likewise simply manifested an amazing case of synchronicity. But
in this instance the philosophical principle of Occam'sRazor must
apply. Given the chronology, one must ask "which is more reasonable?"
and "which is far more appealing to common sense?" It takes a far
greater leap of faith to suppose that Chase independently and
accidentally landed on the same motto that the troops shouted at
Antietam than it, does to conclude that some where along the way a
report from that battlefield reached Chase's ear.
There is no evidence that the phrase "In God We Trust" was used as a
motto by anyone at any point before 1862. But it was definitely used
in 1862 by Wallace and the 125th Regiment of the Pennsylvania
Volunteers. The fact that Chase decided to use the same phrase in 1863
leaves any reasonable historian to one of only two conclusions: either
Chase gleaned the phrase from Wallace and his Pennsylvania Volunteers
or this episode must go down as one of the most bizarre cases of
synchronicity in American history.
PART TWO
"Under God": The Standard Story
When we think of the addition of the now controversial words "under
God" which are part of the Pledge to the Flag, it is commonly believed
that this phrase was a product of reactionary Cold-War sensibilities
in the 1950's. But the fact is that the origin of the phrase "under
God" actually predates Salmon P. Chase's first known use of "In God We
Trust" in December 1863--but only by a couple of weeks (perhaps even
earlier). In fact, the origins of the phrases "In God We Trust" and
"Under God" are both demonstrably traceable to Central Pennsylvania
during the years 1862-1863.
The first use of this phrase which would become part of the pledge
came from the mouth of the President of the United States during the
Civil War. At the cemetery in Gettysburg on November 19, 1863, Abraham
Lincoln expressed the wish that "the nation shall, under God, have a
new birth of freedom." Those who later insisted on amending the pledge
of allegiance took the phrase directly from this speech.
There is an obstacle to documenting Lincoln's original usage of the
phrase. The extant drafts of the Gettysburg speech in Lincoln's
handwriting that are considered the earliest do not include the words
"under God." But the fact that he said it at the cemetery in
Gettysburg is established by the overwhelming credible testimony of
those in the crowd that day. The best such witness was Joseph L.
Gilbert, a reporter with the Associated Press at Gettysburg. Gilbert
not only took down precisely every word that Lincoln spoke, but also
recorded the pauses and the applause between sentences. At the
conclusion of the speech, Lincoln allowed Gilbert to compare his notes
with the manuscript. Gilbert's transcription of what he heard that day
in Gettysburg is available in Gary Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg: Words
That Remade America (1992).
The fact that Lincoln intended the words "under God" to be part of the
address is also confirmed by his own later manuscripts. There are at
least five copies of the Gettysburg Address that Lincoln made in his
own handwriting. In three of these manuscripts, the words "under God"
do appear. Whether any of these five was the one which he had at
Gettysburg is not known. Perhaps a sixth manuscript, now lost, was the
original.
The Birth of the Pledge
When Lincoln uttered the words "under God" in 1863, there was no
common pledge to the flag. But within 30 years, the pledge would be
born. President Benjamin Harrison, a Union Civil War veteran,
initiated a call for the development of a special patriotic school
program to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of
America in 1892. A Boston educator, Francis Bellamy, was commissioned
to serve as chairman of the National committee of educators and civic
leaders planning the Columbus Day activities. In preparation for the
event, Bellamy authored a young person's Pledge to the Flag which
included these words
I pledge allegiance to my Flag,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.
This brief pledge appeared in print for the first time on September 8,
1892, in The Youth's Companion, a Boston publication of James Upham.
On the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus' landing, October 11,
teachers across the nation heeded the direction of Harrison, Bellamy,
and Upham and led millions of children in reciting the Pledge to the
Flag for the first time. Fearing that the phrase "my flag" was too
ambiguous in light of the presence of a multitude of immigrants coming
to our shores, "my" was changed to "of the United States of America"
in the early 1920's. In 1942 the United States Congress gave official
sanction to the Pledge of Allegiance. Since that time, the recitation
of the Pledge has been incorporated into the formal educational
experience for students in public schools across the country.
The First Desires to Add Lincoln's Words to the Pledge
Coincidentally, one of the groups that was most dissatisfied with the
Pledge was one that was dedicated to commemorating Columbus' landing.
The "Knights of Columbus" in New York City felt that the pledge was
incomplete without any reference to the deity. Appealing to an
unquestionable authority, the Knights felt that the words "under God"
from Lincoln's famous speech were the most appropriate to add to the
Pledge. In New York City on April 22, 1951, the Board of Directors of
the Knights of Columbus adopted a resolution to amend their recitation
of Pledge of Allegiance at the opening of each of the meetings of the
800 Fourth Degree Assemblies of the Knights of Columbus by addition of
the words "under God" after the words "one nation." The adoption of
this resolve by the Supreme Board of Directors had the effect of
immediate initiation of this practice throughout the aforesaid Fourth
Degree Assembly meetings. In the following two years, the idea spread
throughout Knights of Columbus organizations nationwide. On August 21,
1952, the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus at its annual
meeting adopted a resolution urging that the change be made universal
and copies of this resolution were sent to the President, the Vice
President (as Presiding Officer of the Senate) and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives. The National Fraternal Congress meeting in
Boston on September 24, 1952, adopted a similar resolution upon the
recommendation of its President, Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart. Several
State Fraternal Congresses acted likewise almost immediately
thereafter. This campaign led to several official attempts to prompt
Congress to adopt the Knights of Columbus' policy for the entire
nation. These attempts failed.
The Man Who Succeeded
Though the Knights of Columbus tried, they were unsuccessful in their
attempts to persuade the United States government to amend the pledge.
It was a Presbyterian minister who made the difference by preaching a
sermon about the words Lincoln uttered in central Pennsylvania in
1863. The minister was George MacPherson Docherty, a native of
Scotland who was called to succeed Peter Marshall as pastor of the
church where, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln attended and even
rented a pew. The church was the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church
located just a couple of blocks from the White House. After Lincoln's
death, the pew that he rented became somewhat of a national monument.
In honor of this holy site, it became customary for later United
States presidents to attend the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church
and sit in the Lincoln pew on the Sunday closest to Lincoln's birthday
(February 12th) each year.
When Lincoln Sunday was rolling around in February 1954, Rev. Docherty
was fully aware that President Eisenhower was to be in attendance.
Eisenhower was baptized in a local Presbyterian Church in 1953.28 In
the spirit of the person being commemorated on this special Sunday,
Docherty opted to make Lincoln's Gettysburg Address the focus of his
sermon. The title of the message was also lifted out of the Gettysburg
Address, "A New Birth of Freedom." It was delivered on February 7,
1954, while President and Mrs. Eisenhower were occupying the Lincoln
pew and a posse of Federal agents were occupying adjacent pews.
Docherty's message was, by any account, powerful. He began by
comparing the United States to ancient Sparta. Docherty noted that a
traveler to ancient Sparta was amazed by the fact that the Spartans'
national might was not to be found in their walls, their shields, or
their weapons, but in their spirit.29 Likewise, said Docherty, the
might of the United States should not be thought of as emanating from
their newly developed Atomic weapons, but in their spirit, the
"American way of life." In the remainder of the sermon Docherty sought
to define as succinctly as possible the essence of the American spirit
and way of life. To do so, Docherty appealed to those two words in
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. According to Docherty, what has made the
United States both unique and strong was her sense of being the nation
that Lincoln described: a nation "under God." He took the opportunity
to tell a story of a conversation with his children about the Pledge
of Allegiance. Docherty was troubled by the fact that it did not
include any reference to the deity. Without such reference, Docherty
insisted that the Pledge could apply to just about any nation. He felt
that the pledge should reflect the American spirit and way of life as
defined by Lincoln.
George Docherty and Ike on Feb. 7, 1954
After the service concluded, Rev. Docherty had opportunity to converse
with President Eisenhower about the substance of the sermon. The
President expressed his enthusiastic concurrence with Docherty's view,
and the very next day, Eisenhower had the wheels turning in Congress
to incorporate Docherty's suggestion into law.30 On February 8, 1954,
Representative Charles Oakman (R-Mich), introduced a bill to that
effect. On Lincoln's birthday four days later. Rep. Charles Oakman
made the following speech on the floor of the House:
Last Sunday, the President of the United States and his family
occupied the pew where Abraham Lincoln worshipped. The pastor, the
Reverend George M. Docherty, suggested the change in our Pledge of
Allegiance that I have offered [as a bill].
Dr. Docherty delivered a wise sermon. He said that as a native of
Scotland come to these shores he could appreciate the pledge as
something more than a hollow verse taught to children for memory. I
would like to quote from his words. He said:
"there was something missing in the pledge, and that which was missing
was the characteristic and definitive factor in the American way of life"
Mr. Speaker, I think Mr. Docherty hit the nail square on the head.
31
This time Congress concurred. Eisenhower opted to sign the bill into
law appropriately on Flag Day (June 14, 1954). The fact that
Eisenhower clearly had Docherty's rationale in mind as he initiated
and consummated this measure is apparent in a letter he wrote in
August, 1954. Paraphrasing Docherty's sermon, Eisenhower said:
These words [" under God"] will remind Americans that despite our
great physical strength we must remain humble. They will help us to
keep constantly in our minds and hearts the spiritual and moral
principles which alone give dignity to man, and upon which our way of
life is founded. 32
The power of Docherty's sermon and his central theme had clearly sunk
deep into his most famous parishioner's heart.
The Washington Post recently ran a special story about Dr. Docherty's
historic contribution to 20th century American History
A Bizarre Coincidence
In the 1970's, a rural Presbyterian Church in central Pennsylvania
received a bequest from the family of two of their most beloved
parishioners. The Sherrard Memorial Fund, honoring William and Jessie
Sherrard, was designed to underwrite bringing high-profile lecturers
as guests to their rural pulpit. During the same time, Dr. Docherty
went on for 26 years as the pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian
Church. He became very active in the Civil Rights movement as a
colleague and supporter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His
high-profile position earned him a national reputation among the
foremost of clergymen of his day. Dr. Docherty retired from the pulpit
in 1976, and as a world-renowned theologian and activist, he was the
precise sort of speaker the rural church inPennsylvania wished to have
as a guest. As a result of Dr. Docherty coming to this small church in
central Pennsylvania, a local college in that same town invited him to
be a visiting professor of religion for an entire school year. This
opportunity was also underwritten by special funds set aside to
attract leaders like Docherty. After his temporary stay in central
Pennsylvania, Docherty returned to his native country of Scotland
where he thought he might live out "the autumn of my days." 33
This was not to be. In the mid 1990's Docherty chose to return to the
region of central Pennsylvania where he had been a guest lecturer and
professor, a location that was also nearer to the family of Sue, his
wife. He bought a home and settled in once and for all. He and Sue
became active in the rural church where he had been the Sherrard
lecturer. Sue became a member there. and although for reasons
regarding ecclesiastical protocol, Docherty was prohibited from being
a member of any local church, he made this rural church his new home.
He attended weekly, preached occasionally, taught classes, attended
classes, and later served on the staff as an official advisor to the
pastor.
The part of the story that is rather hard to believe is the location
of this rural church. It is the Presbyterian Church of Huntingdon,
Pennsylvania. This was the location in which the phrase "In
God We Trust" had been born more than a hundred years earlier. The man
most responsible for making the words "under God" part of our nation's
identity was now in the same church as the man who gave birth to the
nation's motto, "In God We Trust." This was in no way by human design,
for Docherty was entirely unaware of William Wallace's significance
until long after he returned to Huntingdon. The uniqueness of this
coincidence is magnified by the relative obscurity of this rural
church.34 Had it been New York Avenue Presbyterian church in central
Washington. D.C. that was the location of this nexus, the story would
be perhaps less bizarre. But Huntingdon is one of thousands of small
rural towns nestled in the hills of the Allegheny Mountains. The fact
that the nation's motto would originate there is unique enough, but
the fact that both of these men who made similar marks on the nation's
identity coincidentally occupied the same pews is nothing short of
bizarre, or, as Presbyterians are wont to say, a clear indication of
the hand of divine providence.
Huntingdon Presbyterian Church,
home church of the men responsible
for "In God We Trust" and "Under God."
The coincidence goes beyond the amazing reality that Wallace and
Docherty were both Scotsmen and Presbyterians, and that they attended
the same rural church in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. More notable is
that the words they added to our nation's identity were based upon the
same philosophical sentiment: a comparison between military and
spiritual might. Wallace coined the national motto, because, as his
pastor indicated, "Our immense armies, our iron-clad ships, and our
vast resources, will accomplish nothing, unless God, who giveth the
victory, is on our side." Docherty insisted on adding "under God" to
the pledge because:
If our visitor [to America] were to ask the question, "Where is
the
defence of the nation?" he could be shown something of the awesome
power of the mighty American Army and Navy and Air Force: not to
mention the enormous economic potential of the country. But the true
strength of the United States of America lies deeper.35
Like Zahnizer and Wallace, Docherty did not believe that the ultimate
source of America's strength resides in her military, but in her
principles. He used most of his sermon to show that Lincoln's words
"under God" best summarize those principles which give America its
strength. For in those words, said Docherty, are included the
principles of liberty, justice, equality, humility, and love. It is
those principles which give our nation its might, not our atomic
weapons. Like the coincidence of the Huntingdon connection, Docherty
was also unaware that the nation's motto had been originated from the
same sentiment he was espousing in 1954. He did, however. know full
well that the sentiment he was espousing was certainly shared by the
man who coined the words "under God," Abraham Lincoln, who said that
the most important factor in a war is "to be on God's side."
Conclusion
In the midst of the current debate regarding the propriety of using
religious language to characterize a fundamental aspect of America's
identity, it is very valuable for us to know where, why, and how these
phrases originated. When we discover that there is an uncanny overlap
in their origins, it is hard not to take special note. The men who
were behind these phrases were in no way trying to establish a
theocracy or propagate a fundamentalist agenda for the nation. As
Presbyterians, each were sensitive to the Reformed theological
principle of separating the "two kingdoms"ochurch and state. Docherty,
who is still living, and who has conferred with the writer of this
article on these matters, is vehemently opposed to an establishment of
religion. It is abundantly clear that these phrases were not motivated
by a desire for an establishment, but as an acknowledgement of an
undeniable cultural, historical, and philosophical reality.
The rationale for using these maxims to identify the character of our
nation was to be sure that the nation does not slip into the dangerous
territory of believing that our might resides in our physical
strength. Why? Because that haughty sentiment has almost always led to
the demise of a nation. Babylon was brought to her knees when she
bragged about being invincible as a result of her superior chariots
and horses. Rome fell when she began to trust in her ability to shock
and awe her enemies with military and technological dominance. Great
Britain became not so great when it began to think that a rag-tag
group of Boston minute-men stood no chance whatsoever against an
empire with the greatest naval force on the planet. Hitler was
convinced that his Aryan supra-men would, by their racial superiority
alone, rise to dominate the world. Wallace and Docherty have urged
America never to trust in her physical might, military, or technology
alone, but in a far greater and more awesome power, the power of
goodness. From Wallace and Docherty's point of view, as well as from
Lincoln's and Eisenhower's, all the greatest military might in the
world is to no avail if your cause is not just. As another
world-famous Presbyterian from Huntingdon Pennsylvania once said,
might doesn't make right, but right does make might.36
There is no doubt how Wallace, Docherty, President Lincoln or
President Eisenhower would perceive the recent desires to remove their
famous phrases from the government's officially sanctioned
self-identity. They would say that if we no longer admit to trusting
in something higher than military might, then we are essentially
saying "In Weapons We Trust," or that we are "one nation, under
Stealth Bombers." And they would be quick to remind us of the very
clear patterns in world history that show how every empire that ever
became haughty about its physical strength was soon defeated. The
point of view they wanted to promote with their famous phrases is
summed up in the following sentiments of the ancient writers:
The king is not saved by a mighty army
A warrior is not delivered by great strength
A horse is false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength
Our soul waits for the Lord
He is our help and our shield
(From Psalm 33}
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
And rely on horses
And trust in chariots because they are many
And in horsemen because they are very strong
But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord
(From Isaiah 31)
1. Reverend Mark R. Watkinson to Salmon P. Chase, November 13, 1861
U.S. Department of the Treasury, "History of 'In God We Trust." See
also Anson P. Stokes, Church and State in the United States (New York:
Harper & Row, 1950), 56.
2. Ibid.
3. Salmon P. Chase to James Pollock , November 20, 1861, manuscript;
The Salmon P. Chase Papers [Microfilm], John Niven, ed. (Frederick,
MD: University Publications of America. 1987). Reel 18.
4. James Pollock to Samuel P. Chase, December 26, 1861, U.S.
Department of the Treasury, "History of 'In God We Trust."
5. Salmon P. Chase to James Pollock , December 9, 1863, manuscript;
The Salmon P. Chase Papers [Microfilm], John Niven, ed. (Frederick,
MD: University Publications of America, 1987), Reel 30.
6. From the original manuscript in the collection of the Maryland
Historical Society.
7.Chase to Pollock, Dec. 9, 1863.
8. Walter Breen, Complete Encyclopedia of U.S.and Colonial Coins (New
York: Doubleday, 1988), 238 & 353.
9. Theodore Flood, "On the March and Fire of Battle," (a digest of his
diary from 1862), published in History of the One Hundred and
Twenty-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott
Company, 1906), 152.
10. Ibid.
11. 'bid
12.Flood, 153.
13. Flood, 74, 153. Also "Death of Captain Wallace," The Presbyterian
(Philadelphia, 4 Mar 1915). See also, Mary Wigton Reeve, The Wigton
Family (Penn State University Library, 1961), 126-127. Corroborated by
William W.H. Davis, History of Bucks County,Pennsylvania (New York:
Lewis Pub. Co., 1905), 369.
14 Flood, 74.
15. The soldiers of the 125th even came face to face with Lincoln at
Stafford Court House on April 10, 1863. See Flood, 156.
16. Flood, 152.
17. Kathleen A. Crocker , A Comprehensive Account of President Ulysses
S. Grant's Visit to Chautauqua County August 1875 (Jamestown, NY:
RobertH. Jackson Center , March 2002).
18. Flood .149.
19. The History of the 125th Regiment P.V., p. 249, lists the names of
the men of the Regiment who lived to that time and who knew of Flood's
account.
20. Reeve, 126-127.
21. Thomas McCamant,The History of the 125th Regiment P.V., p. 92.
22. Reeve, 126-127. Wallace came to Huntingdon to live and work with
his uncle, Richard Benson Wigton, in coal mining operations (Flood,
150) R.B. Wigton was elected a member of the Pennsylvania State
legislature in 1859 (William W.H. Davis, History of Bucks County,
Pennsylvania,369). That same year, they began attending the Huntingdon
Presbyterian Church, where a family pew was rented from 1859-1865 (see
Huntingdon Presbyterian Church Archives, Book E, page 18; also
Membership List, D-16).
23. George W. Zahnizer, Our Duty in the Present Crisis,August 17, 1862
(Pittsburgh: W.S. Haven, 1862), 9., in the archival collection of the
Huntingdon Presbyterian Church, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.
24. "Death of Captain Wallace," The Presbyterian (Philadelphia, 4 Mar
1915).
25. " Death of Captain Wallace," The Presbyterian (Philadelphia, 4 Mar
1915).
26. Jeanne Singer, "Motto 'In God We Trust' Had Origin in Huntingdon,"
Huntingdon Daily News, November 2, 1963, p. 1. Albert M. Rung, iNotes
Along the Way,I The Daily News, Huntingdon, August 29, 1964.
27.The writer wishes to thank Nancy Taylor and her son, David, for
bringing this important volume to his attention in the Spring of 2002.
The copy he was shown was in the collection of the Huntingdon County
Historical Society in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.
28. Bill Broadway, "How 'Under God' Got In There,"WashingtonPost,July
6, 2002, B09.
29. George M. Docherty, "A New Birth of Freedom," February 7, 1954,
original manuscript currently on loan and on display in the Huntingdon
Presbyterian Church Archives. 30 Bill Broadway, "How 'Under God' Got
In There," Washington Post, July 6, 2002, B09; Tom Gibb. "How the
Pledge Got God," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 28, 2002; Larry Witham,
"If it Says 'God' So Be It," Washington Times, June 28, 2002.
31. Congressional Record,Vol. 100, Part 2, 1697.
32. Dwight Eisenhower to Luke E. Hart, August 17, 1954.
33. George M. Docherty, I've Seen the Day (Grand Rapids: Eerdman's,
1984), 299ff.
34. A further coincidental anecdote is that the martyred flag-bearer
of Wallace's Huntingdon Bible Company was George Simpson, whose statue
is now found on the Antietam Battlefield behind the Dunkard Church;
and when Docherty's proposal to change the pledge was brought before
the Congress in 1954, Richard B. Simpson, a later relative of the
flag-bearer, was the U.S. Congressional representative from Huntingdon
whose vote helped to pass Docherty's proposal into law.
35.George M. Docherty, "A New Birth of Freedom," (February 7, 1954),
original manuscript currently on loan and on display in the Huntingdon
Presbyterian Church Archives.
36. Robert E. Speer, The Christian Man, the Church, and the War (New
York: MacMillan Co,
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The above article by Gardiner was suppose to be part of the floowing
series, I will have to add it now
(1) Searle/Gardiner-Pledge Dr Docherty
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.politics.democrats/browse_frm/thread/d8730826\d89c8938/518d11ba1276e3e8?lnk=st&q=Searle%2FGardiner-Pledge+Dr+Docherty&rnum=1&h\l=en#518d11ba1276e3e8
http://makeashorterlink.com/?T1122592D
(2) Docherty "under god" sermon
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.politics.democrats/browse_frm/thread/8d4518fd\dcc27b79/8ef7967a9c1fc13f?lnk=st&q=Docherty+%22under+god%22+sermon&rnum=1&hl=en#\8ef7967a9c1fc13f
http://makeashorterlink.com/?A29152C2D
(3) The pledge, Knights of Columbus. Dr. Docherty, Eisenhower, 1954
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Rev.++Docherty%2C++knights+of+columbus%\2C++eisenhower%2C+1954&btnG=Search
http://makeashorterlink.com/?M20A64D2D
(4) Ellery Schempp & Rev. Docherty
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.politics.democrats/browse_frm/thread/68e8d3f9\27d5a0b1/8d81dc2d08a4b76a?lnk=st&q=Ellery+Schempp+%26+Rev.++Docherty&rnum=1&hl=e\n#8d81dc2d08a4b76a
http://makeashorterlink.com/?M5D811E2D