Under God

UNDER GOD

by Toby Mac and Michael Tait of dc Talk with WallBuilders

Published by Bethany House Publishers

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Bloomington, Minnesota 55438

www.bethanyhouse.com

Bethany House Publishers is a division of

Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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Ebook edition created 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-1102-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Manuscript prepared by LeAnna Willis and David R. Long.

Research by Scott Kaste.

Additional contributions by Amanda Clawson, Kyle Duncan, Dan Pitts, and Natasha Sperling.

Design by Lookout Design Group, Inc.

Scripture quotations identified KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations identified NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations identified NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations identified NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations identified MESSAGE are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

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Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

1. Bulletproof: The French and Indian War—Account of a British Officer

Worship in the Capitol

2. A Declaration of Dependence . . . Upon God: The Signing of the Declaration of Independence

3. A Time for War: Peter Muhlenberg

"Give ’Em Watts, Boys!"

4. His Sons—Captured!: Abraham Clark

Anthony Benezet—Father of American Abolitionism

5. Benjamin Who?: Benjamin Rush

6. Saved by the Fog: Evacuation of Long Island

George Duffield, Patriot Preacher

7. Giving Credit Where It’s Due: Robert Morris

Samuel Adams—A Man Devoted to a Cause

8. Gifted: Phillis Wheatley

9. Into the Presence: First Continental Congress

10. Out of the Jaws of the Wicked: William and Ellen Craft

The History of Juneteenth

11. Unless You Kill Me: John Prentiss Print Matthews

12. Pirating the Planter: Robert Smalls

Henry Highland Garnet

13. Tired of Giving In: Rosa Parks

14. In a Class of Only One: Ruby Bridges

The Road to Desegregation

15. A Special Instrument Sent of God: Tisquantum—Squanto

Native American Contributions to the Government

16. A Covenanted People: The Pilgrims’ Landing at Cape Cod

Jamestown

17. Government by the Gospel: Plymouth, Massachusetts

18. No Justice: C. J. Miller

The Jim Crow Era and Black Codes

19. Innocent Blood Cries Out: Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Lynchings by Race and Year (1882–1960)

20. Freedom’s Railroad: Harriet Tubman

The Underground Railroad

21. Don’t Let Them Have Him!: Charles Nalle and Harriet Tubman

22. Begin Again: Bridget Biddy Mason

Revivals in War and Peace

23. Crazy Bet: Elizabeth Van Lew

24. They Tried to Forget: Duluth, Minnesota

25. The Holy Experiment: William Penn

State Constitutions

26. Defender of the Union: Daniel Webster

The Star-Spangled Banner

27. One Life to Lose: Nathan Hale

Did You Know? and Laus Deo

28. Empowered to Persuade: Patrick Henry

29. With Regrets: Benedict Arnold

30. The United Cry of the Nation: Abraham Lincoln

The Gettysburg Address

31. Turning Point: Isabella Baumfree—Sojourner Truth

Three Remarkable Women

32. Denise. Carole. Cynthia. Addie Mae: Birmingham Bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church

33. Stand Up: Martin Luther King Jr.

Chinese Labor and the Transcontinental Railroad

34. When a Sport Is Something More: Jackie Robinson

35. Lifting a People: Richard Allen

Negro Spirituals

36. The Birth and Second Coming of a Message of Hate: Ku Klux Klan

37. It Is All So Terribly True: Woodrow Wilson and The Birth of a Nation

38. God Save These People: John Witherspoon

39. The Strong Voice of Freedom: Theodore Weld

The Missouri Compromise and the Fugitive Slave Law

40. The Repentant Slaveholder: Angelina Grimké

41. As a Mother . . . As a Christian: Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Power to Get Wealth

Inspiration From a Slave

42. A Cycle of Service and Love: John Perkins

1857–1858 Noonday Prayer Meetings

43. An Impassioned Defense: John Quincy Adams and the Amistad

A Father’s Advice

44. The Dark Side of Lincoln’s Home: Springfield Riot

The Price of Fear

45. The Right Man at the Right Time: Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Pledge of Allegiance

46. We Need the Storm, the Whirlwind, and the Earthquake: Frederick Douglass

First African Americans in Congress

47. What Four Hundred Dollars Can Buy: George and Lewis Latimer

Their Contributions Many

48. Forever Fourteen: Emmett Till

Medgar Evers

49. A Legacy of Freedom: John Jay

Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts

50. I Will Fight No More Forever: Chief Joseph and the Nez Percé War

America’s First Nations People

51. The Smuggled Patriot: John Adams

Fifty Years Later

52. Remember the Ladies: Abigail Adams

The Construction of the U.S. Capitol

53. The Voice of Reason: Roger Sherman

54. Turned Loose to the Whirlwind: Compromise of 1877

55. A Purposeful Life: George Washington Carver

Forty Acres and a Mule

Remembering Everyone at the Alamo

56. A Soldier’s View: The Sand Creek Massacre

Mexican-American Pioneer: Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo

57. A Growing Awareness: Benjamin Franklin

58. Before We Proceed to Business: Congressional Prayer

What Happened to the Signers of the Declaration of Independence?

59. The Interesting Narrative: Olaudah Equiano

60. Kettle Prayers: Lake Providence, Louisiana

America’s Underground Church

What Is Freedom For?

Closing Thoughts From Toby and Michael

A Call to Prayer

Timeline

Bibliography

Index

Other Books by Author

For More Information

Introduction

THE SHINING LIGHT OF LIBERTY

AND THE SHADOWS OF THE DREAM

On July 4, 1776, the forefathers of our nation set upon a course and forged a direction that would reverberate throughout the world and lead this nation to offer unforeseen levels of hope, prosperity, and freedom to an amazing tapestry of people. The American Revolution was truly revolutionary.

Government of the people, by the people, for the people was a very radical concept. No one could have dreamed the impact it would have. In our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, one of the most profound ideals set forth was that all men are created equal. Today, it is hard to truly understand how radical the introduction of that concept was. It helps to go back to the eighteenth century and gain a greater understanding of what the world was like. Kings and queens were the rulers and conquerors of the day. Justice and wealth was held in their hands. Our forefathers sought to take some of that tightly bound power and distribute it so that many who could never dream of hope and opportunity would find peace and prosperity through a freedom that was built upon the principles of God. In 1776, and for basically the next two hundred years, however, for some who lived in America, this concept of all men are created equal was more authentic in word than it was in deed.

Two enormous tragedies that occurred through Europe’s colonization of America are found in the stories of Native Americans (or the Host Peoples) and the descendants of Africa. Slavery, the great scourge of our national history, became a gaping wound of injustice from the very outset of our nation’s birth. As well, as white settlers moved west in search of a better life, the Native American peoples were decimated and expelled from their lands. It is important to grasp that these two people groups—Native Americans and blacks—did not come to America seeking the American Dream. It is probably more accurate to say that they lived the American nightmare. What is often lost in all this, however, are the amazing contributions they made to this great country. Every step of the way as our nation developed, they were right there making major contributions.

While our forefathers set forth the ideal of what this nation could become, it was immensely more difficult to carry out and ensure this ideal for all men and women. It is a profound task that continues to this very day. Here is where we see the greatness of the American Revolution: A foundation was laid that would allow for change, and this foundation could be built upon to lift this nation higher toward its grand ideal. Our forefathers cautioned, however, that if we were to lose our religion and morality, our foundation would surely crumble.

This is a glimpse into the battle that started roughly five hundred years ago when the first European explorers came to this land. Some have called it our dual heritage. To help give a framework for examining this heritage, we can look at two of the earliest settlements—Jamestown and Plymouth. Jamestown, Virginia, was a colony primarily formed as a business venture by investors to obtain wealth. In contrast, Plymouth, Massachusetts, was a colony established by Pilgrims primarily to further the Gospel. The Protestant Reformation was a powerful force that fueled the vision of the Pilgrims.

If you study these two settlements in any kind of depth, you will find some interesting observations. Plymouth centered around covenanting with God and with one another. While they were not perfect, by any means, over and over the Pilgrims seemed to encounter divine providence at just the right times. Jamestown, on the other hand, centered primarily on the acquisition of gold and the building of capital. While there were some redemptive elements in the colony, the settlers seemed to encounter much fighting and bickering and failure.

Many people came to America. Many came seeking wealth. Many came seeking religious freedom.

When studying the founding of the United States, one thing that you can’t help but encounter is the faith of our forefathers. Time and time again our forefathers recognized God’s hand in the shaping of this nation. You will find Him mentioned repeatedly in their words and documents. Amazingly, hardly any of this factual history is taught today, whereas it was common public school teaching material seventy-five years ago. It is important to note, though, that while our forefathers were great men who did great things, they were also just men. Fallible. Imperfect.

When we decided to embark upon creating this book, we decided to use King David from the Bible as our model. He was a man after God’s own heart, but he was also a murderer and adulterer. And though David repented of his errors, they haunted him the rest of his life. In the same way, our forefathers left some things undone, and along the way our nation plunged into some dark traditions.

Ours is a heritage of light and ours is a heritage of darkness.

This book is a collection of short stories about our heritage. Each short story could have—and has had—entire books written about its subject. Our collection of stories is by no means exhaustive. We have left out many great ones. But it is our hope that these accounts will ignite a passion and inspire you to learn more about the great heritage you have and to seek out the unfinished work left to do. It is our hope that you enjoy reading these stories as much as we did discovering them.

TOBY and MICHAEL

The American Indian chief looked scornfully at the soldiers on the field before him. How foolish it was to fight as they did, forming their perfect battle lines out in the open, standing shoulder to shoulder in their bright red uniforms. The British soldiers—trained for European warfare—did not break rank, even when braves fired at them from under the safe cover of the forest. The slaughter at the Monongahela River continued for two hours. By then 1,000 of 1,459 British soldiers were killed or wounded, while only 30 of the French and Indian warriors firing at them were injured.

Not only were the soldiers foolish, but their officers were just as bad. Riding on horseback, fully exposed above the men on the ground, they made perfect targets. One by one, the chief’s marksmen shot the mounted British officers until only one remained.

Quick, let your aim be certain and he dies, the chief commanded. The warriors—a mix of Ottawa, Huron, and Chippewa tribesmen—leveled their rifles at the last officer on horseback. Round after round was aimed at this one man. Twice the officer’s horse was shot out from under him. Twice he grabbed a horse left idle when a fellow officer had been shot down. Ten, twelve, thirteen rounds were fired by the sharpshooters. Still, the officer remained unhurt.

The native warriors stared at him in disbelief. Their rifles seldom missed their mark. The chief suddenly realized that a mighty power must be shielding this man. Stop firing! he commanded. This one is under the special protection of the Great Spirit. A brave standing nearby added, I had seventeen clear shots at him . . . and after all could not bring him to the ground. This man was not born to be killed by a bullet.

As the firing slowed, the lieutenant colonel gathered the remaining troops and led the retreat to safety. That evening, as the last of the wounded were being cared for, the officer noticed an odd tear in his coat. It was a bullet hole! He rolled up his sleeve and looked at his arm directly under the hole. There was no mark on his skin. Amazed, he took off his coat and found three more holes where bullets had passed through his coat but stopped before they reached his body.

Nine days after the battle, having heard a rumor of his own death, the young lieutenant colonel wrote his brother to confirm that he was still very much alive.

As I have heard since my arrival at this place, a circumstantial account of my death and dying speech, I take this early opportunity of contradicting the first and of assuring you that I have not as yet composed the latter. But by the all-powerful dispensations of Providence I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!

The battle on the Monongahela, part of the French and Indian War, was fought on July 9, 1755, near Fort Duquesne, now the city of Pittsburgh. The twenty-three-year-old officer went on to become the commander in chief of the Continental Army and the first president of the United States. In all the years that followed in his long career, this man, George Washington, was never once wounded in battle.

Fifteen years later, in 1770, George Washington returned to the same Pennsylvania woods. A respected Indian chief, having heard that Washington was in the area, traveled a long way to meet with him.

He sat down with Washington, and face-to-face over a council fire, the chief told Washington the following:

I am a chief and ruler over my tribes. My influence extends to the waters of the great lakes and to the far blue mountains. I have traveled a long and weary path that I might see the young warrior of the great battle. It was on the day when the white man’s blood mixed with the streams of our forests that I first beheld this chief [Washington].

I called to my young men and said, Mark yon tall and daring warrior? He is not of the red-coat tribe—he hath an Indian’s wisdom and his warriors fight as we do—himself alone exposed. Quick, let your aim be certain, and he dies.

Our rifles were leveled, rifles which, but for you, knew not how to miss—’twas all in vain, a power mightier far than we shielded you.

Seeing you were under the special guardianship of the Great Spirit, we immediately ceased to fire at you. I am old and shall soon be gathered to the great council fire of my fathers in the land of the shades, but ere I go, there is something bids me speak in the voice of prophecy:

Listen! The Great Spirit protects that man [pointing at Washington], and guides his destinies—he will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire. I am come to pay homage to the man who is the particular favorite of Heaven, and who can never die in battle.

This story of God’s divine protection and of Washington’s open gratitude could be found in many school textbooks until the 1930s. Now few Americans have read it. Washington often recalled this dramatic event that helped shape his character and confirm God’s call on his life.

Though a thousand fall at your side,

though ten thousand are dying around you,

these evils will not touch you.

PSALM 91:7 NLT

Worship in the Capitol

Thanks to the constitutional mandate of Article I, Section 5, Paragraph 3, every debate and every vote that has taken place in Congress from 1774 to the present is recorded in the public records. As a result of this mandate, the American people are able to read exactly what happened when Congress first moved into the Capitol.

On December 4, 1800, just a few weeks after moving into the building, Congress decided that the Capitol would also serve as a church building. This fact is not only recorded in the Annals of Congress but also confirmed in the journals of various representatives and senators serving at that time.

For example, Senator John Quincy Adams recorded on October 30, 1803:

Attended public service at the Capitol where Mr. Ratoon, an Episcopalian clergyman from Baltimore, preached a sermon.

Just a week earlier he’d written:

Religious service is usually performed on Sundays at the Treasury office and at the Capitol. I went both forenoon and afternoon to the Treasury.

Thus began the longstanding—and congressionally sanctioned—practice of using government buildings as houses of worship.

Thomas Jefferson stretched and yawned loudly. He was completely drained of thought and empty of rhetoric, but he was finished writing the Declaration of Independence. He smiled proudly; he was very pleased with the final draft. In fact, the whole process had been amazing. It was as if he were a container that had been filled over the years with bits and pieces—a phrase here, a concept there. And all of it had been waiting, waiting for this moment. When he sat down to write, the words began to flow out. Majestic, powerful, poetic words—words that would change all history. He had such a sense of purpose, of destiny, as he wrote. He lost track of time. Someone had brought him food—and he had eaten—but all he could remember were the beautiful words coming out of the depths of his being.

He extinguished the lamp and went to sleep.

The next day Thomas approached the other four committee members chosen by the Continental Congress to work on the Declaration of Independence. He could hardly wait to show them the genius of his workmanship. At first, they were amazed that he had finished the draft so quickly. Then they were amazed at what he had written. It was magnificent!

When in the course of human events . . .

Perfect!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. . . .

This is good!

Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . . .

I wouldn’t change a word.

Thomas Jefferson closed his eyes, basking in the praises of the older statesmen. It was the highlight of his life.

Then the congressman from Massachusetts broke his reverie. I would like to add the words, ‘They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,’ said John Adams.

Where? Thomas asked.

Right after ‘all men are created equal.’

Benjamin Franklin nodded in agreement. Oh, that’s good. Yes! And what about toward the end—let’s insert ‘with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.’

Thomas was offended. Government by committee was an exciting concept, but writing by committee left a lot to be desired. The committee of five continued to work together, making small changes until they agreed the Declaration of Independence was ready to present to the Continental Congress—if Congress was finally ready to declare independence!

They would soon know. Their draft would be presented when the delegates reconvened on July 1, 1776. Then they would vote on whether to break with Great Britain.

The choice was not a decision that our Founding Fathers made lightly—in fact, they had tried everything else first. A year earlier, on July 5, 1775, Congress had sent the Olive Branch Petition directly to King George III, asking for his help in making peace. But the king refused to even look at it.

Famous British parliamentarians argued for America’s cause, but none of their arguments moved King George. In his eyes there was only one way to deal with rebellion: crush the rebels by military force. He declared war.

But never in Britain’s history was recruiting volunteers so difficult. The recruiting officers were tarred and feathered in Wales and stoned in Ireland; in the previous war three hundred thousand men had volunteered, now not even fifty thousand had come forward. King George was forced to hire mercenaries from Germany who were willing to fight the Americans.

Despite the fact that England had declared war, many congressional delegates were still hoping for a way to reconcile. Only eight of the thirteen colonies had voted to declare independence.

Then, on June 7, 1776, news came that King George’s hired mercenaries were coming to America to fight. In response, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia formally proposed to Congress that the colonies declare their independence. Congress postponed its decision until July, so those delegates who were uncertain could check with the people they represented.

When they reconvened, the Resolution for Independence was adopted by twelve of the thirteen colonies, with New York abstaining. Congress then began to discuss the wording of the Declaration. The changes demonstrated Congress’s strong reliance upon God—as delegates added the words appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of our intentions.

In the center section are the complaints against King George that made independence necessary. Surprisingly, the reason given by modern history books—taxation without representation—is not at the top of the list. In fact, it was seventeenth in a list of twenty-seven grievances, including eleven points on abuse of representative powers, seven on abuse of military powers, and four on abuse of judicial powers.

The revisions continued into the late afternoon of July 4, when, at last, church bells rang out over Philadelphia; the Declaration had been officially adopted.

One of the most widely held misconceptions about the Declaration is that it was signed on July 4, 1776, by all the delegates in attendance. In fact, it wasn’t officially signed until August 2.

On that day, John Hancock, the president of Congress, was the first to sign. He signed with a flourish, using a big, bold signature centered below the text.

Then, one by one, the other delegates were called upon, beginning with the northern-most states. Each man knew what he risked: To the British this was treason, and the penalty for treason was death by hanging. Benjamin Franklin said, Indeed we must all hang together. Otherwise we shall most assuredly hang separately.

William Ellery, a delegate from Rhode Island, inched his way to stand near the desk where the delegates were signing their names. He was curious to see their faces as each committed this supreme act of courage. Ellery later reported that he was not able to discern real fear on anyone’s face. One man’s hand shook badly: Stephen Hopkins, also from Rhode Island, was in his sixties and was quick to explain, My hand trembles, but my heart does not.

A pensive and awful silence filled the room, as one delegate after another signed what many at that time believed to be their own death warrants. The only sound was the calling of the names and the scratch of the pen.

Then the silence and heaviness of the morning were interrupted by the tall, sturdily built Colonel Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, who told the slender Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. With me, it will all be over in a minute, but you, you’ll be dancing on air an hour after I’m gone.

In the end, no signer was hung for treason, though many suffered greatly for their stand. For these men, who mutually pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor, this was more than a declaration. It was more than a document. It was a covenant, the most solemn, the most sacred of human agreements. They understood that God himself was a witness of their actions that day.

In declaring their independence from earthly power and authority, our Founding Fathers declared their dependence upon Almighty God: with firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence. Like the Pilgrims before them, they fully expected God to keep His side of the covenant as they obeyed His Word and followed His Spirit.

They were not disappointed.

I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure

that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration,

and support and defend these States.

Yet through all the gloom I can see rays of ravishing

light and glory. I can see that the end

is worth more than all the means.

—JOHN ADAMS

We have this day restored the Sovereign,

to Whom alone men ought to be obedient.

He reigns in heaven and . . .

from the rising to the setting sun,

may His Kingdom come.

—SAMUEL ADAMS

Pastor Muhlenberg stood in the vestry of his church, putting on his traditional pastoral robes as he had on so many other Sunday mornings. A sense of destiny filled the air around him. This was the last time he would enter his pulpit, the last time he would open the Bible and share the words of life with his congregation.

He knew the sermon he had to preach—yet he knew that some of his people would not understand or accept his position. He himself had wrestled with it for months: How involved should a pastor be in the affairs of government? Didn’t Jesus say, Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s? Would Christ get involved? Would He run to the battle? It was hard to imagine Jesus carrying a weapon. But it was equally hard to imagine Him not taking a stand.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven, Pastor Muhlenberg proclaimed, reading from Ecclesiastes 3. A time to be born, and a time to die. . . . A time to weep, and a time to laugh. . . . A time of war, and a time of peace. He stopped and looked at the people God had put in his care—hardworking farmers and their wives, merchants, recent immigrants. The tiny town of Woodstock, Virginia, was a long way from the fighting in the colonies of New England. And the Blue Ridge Mountains had kept its citizens from hearing the news of events in their own state in early January 1776.

It is a time for war! Pastor Muhlenberg declared. "And not only in New England. War has come to Virginia! The British have marched on our own city of Williamsburg, seizing our supply of gun-powder and munitions. Soldiers are entering private homes, homes just like ours.

"It is time for war! ‘We are only farmers,’ you may say. Patrick Henry has rallied five thousand men—farmers just like you—to fight back and drive the British out. It is time to act! Many of us came to this country to practice our religious freedoms. It is time to fight for those freedoms that we hold so dear. It is time for war!

Pastor Peter Muhlenberg had a brother, Pastor Frederick Muhlenberg. At first, Frederick criticized Peter for getting involved in the war, saying that a minister of the gospel should not be involved in politics. But when the British arrived in New York City in 1777, they drove Frederick from his own church and then desecrated the building. Frederick rethought his position and joined in the fight for liberty. In 1789, he became America’s very first Speaker of the House of Representatives. In fact, his signature is one of only two on the Bill of Rights.

Let us pray. With that, Pastor Muhlenberg bowed his head and offered the traditional closing prayer. Then, breaking with all tradition, while still standing in the pulpit, he began to remove his pastor’s robes and vestments. "I am a clergyman, it is true. But I am also a patriot—and my liberty is as dear to me as to any man. Shall I hide behind my robes, sitting still at home, while others spill their blood to protect my freedom? Heaven forbid it!

I am called by my country to its defense. The cause is just and noble. I am convinced it is my duty to obey that call, a duty I owe to my God and to my country.

With that, he threw off the final layer of his robes—and now stood before his stunned congregation in the full uniform of an officer of the Continental militia. He marched to the back of the church, declaring to all, If you do not choose to be involved, if you do not fight to protect your liberties, there will soon be no liberties to protect!

Just outside the church army drummers waited. At Pastor Muhlenberg’s command, they began to beat out the call for recruits. God’s conviction fell on the men of the congregation. One by one they rose from their pews and took their stand with the drummers. Some three hundred men from the church joined their pastor that day to fight for liberty.

Pastor Muhlenberg and his men became the Eighth Virginia Regiment, who fought valiantly in many of the battles of the Revolutionary War. During the war, Muhlenberg was promoted to major-general. After the war he was a hero second only to General George Washington among the Germans of his native state of Pennsylvania. In 1785 he became vice-president of Pennsylvania (Benjamin Franklin was president). He worked hard to influence others to adopt the Federal Constitution in 1787 and served in the First U.S. Congress in 1789–91.

A Time for Every Purpose

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

A time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

A time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain, and a time to lose;

A time to keep, and a time to throw away;

A time to tear, and a time to sew;

A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;

A time of war, and a time of peace.

What profit has the worker from that in which he

labors? I have seen the God-given task with which the

sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything

beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their

hearts, except that no one can find out the work that

God does from beginning to end.

ECCLESIASTES 3:1–11 NKJV

Give ’Em Watts, Boys!

Another minister-leader in the Revolution was the Reverend James Caldwell. His church, the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, counted among its members such noted men as William Livingston, the governor of the state; Elias Boudinot, Commissary General of Prisons and President of the Congress; Abraham Clark, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence; and more than forty commissioned officers of the Continental Army. In 1776 Caldwell was named chaplain of the regiment that was largely composed of members of his church. Later he became Assistant Commissary General.

Known among the troops as the Soldier Parson, Caldwell was a zealous proponent of the patriots’ cause. During one particular battle, near a battered Presbyterian church, the Americans had run out of wadding for their guns—a problem just as serious as having no ammunition. Rev. Caldwell recognized the perfect solution; he ran inside the church and returned with a stack of Watts’ Psalms and Hymns—one of the strongest doctrinal hymnals of the Christian faith. (Isaac Watts authored hymns like O God Our Help in Ages Past, Joy to the World, Jesus Shall Reign, and other classic hymns.) Distributing the Watts hymnals among the soldiers served two purposes: First, its pages would provide the needed wadding; second, it carried a symbolic message. In fact, Rev. Caldwell took that hymn book—the source of great doctrine and spiritual truth—raised it up in the air, and shouted to the Americans, Give ’em Watts, boys!, the famous cry that inspired a painting of the same title.

We have captured your sons! The British officer’s words hung in midair.

Abraham Clark staggered backward at the news. Three British soldiers stood on his front porch; two were armed with muskets. The third man, an officer, paused to let his words sink in, then continued. "Your sons are prisoners of the Crown, locked away in our prison ship, the Jersey. They will surely die there, unless you repent of this foolish rebellion against the king."

The officer took a rolled-up letter out of his jacket and held it out to the stunned father. Sign this paper. Admit you were wrong, Mr. Clark, and your sons go free!

Clark turned his head away to hide his confusion. His sons—captured? Held as prisoners of the Crown? How could this be? They had done no wrong. He was the one who had taken a stand, who had signed the Declaration of Independence. He was the one who had pledged his honor, his property, and his life for the cause of liberty. But not his sons.

Shoot me! Clark begged the armed soldiers. I’m the one you want! Shoot me and let my sons go free. They are so young. Their lives are still before them.

The officer’s eyes gleamed. So far, the British had been unable to break the resolve of any of the signers of that accursed document. Perhaps this father would be the first one to crack under pressure—to give up the cause for the love of his sons.

No. Your sons remain our prisoners until you sign the paper.

Clark closed his eyes. How could he choose his country over his own sons? It was a choice no father should ever have to make.

Pressing the advantage, the British officer thrust the letter in Clark’s face. This rebellion is a lost cause. You backwoods colonists can never stand against the power of the British Empire. Don’t be a fool, he sneered. Your sons’ lives—their freedom—is at stake!

The officer’s words cut through Clark’s indecision.

He suddenly knew what he must choose. It was for freedom’s sake that he had taken this stand for independence, so his sons could live free—free from tyranny and oppression.

Before God and man, Clark