Where Did Freedom Come From?

Americans enjoy more liberties and freedoms than any other nation on earth. But where did they come from? Did they originate with the despotic kings of Europe, the U.S.S.R., the bloody French Revolution, Communist China, Nazi fascism, Islamic jihad?

America’s founders had some definite ideas as to where freedoms came from.

Benjamin Franklin wrote in his Maxims and Morals: “Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God.”

Samuel Adams wrote in The Rights of the Colonists, 1772: “The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty...may best be understood by reading and carefully studying the institutions of The Great Law Giver and the Head of the Christian Church.”

Thomas Paine wrote in The American Crisis, December 23, 1776: “Heaven knows how to put a price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”

From the Creator

Herbert Hoover remarked at a reception on his 80th birthday, 1954: “Our Founding Fathers did not invent the priceless boon of individual freedom and respect for the dignity of men. That great gift to mankind sprang from the Creator and not from governments.”

Alexander Hamilton stated: “Natural liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator, to the whole human race; and that civil liberty is founded in that; and cannot be wrested from any people, without the most manifest violation of justice.”

President Ronald Reagan stated at the Presidential Medal of Freedom Ceremony, 1993: “History comes and goes, but principles endure and insure future generations to defend liberty - not a gift from government, but a blessing from our Creator.”

President George W. Bush, in his State of the Union Address, January 28, 2003, stated: “Liberty is not America’s gift to the world it is God’s gift to humanity.”

Is it Important to Remember?

Is it important for us to remember where our freedoms came from?

President Harry S. Truman stated in a letter to John L. Sullivan, 1949: “America is dedicated to the conviction that all people are entitled by the gift of God to equal rights and freedoms...Our greatness is and will be measured by the degree of our recognition of this fundamental truth.”

Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781, which are engraved on the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC., warn: ”God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.”

If Jefferson’s belief is true, that the “only firm basis” of our liberties is “a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God,” then all efforts to remove the recognition of God from the minds of the people should be viewed upon as efforts to remove our liberties.

William J. (Bill) Federer is a nationally acclaimed speaker and best-selling author on America’s Godly heritage. He is also a candidate for Missouri’s U.S. 3rd Congressional District. To purchase books and other materials which Mr. Federer has written or to arrange speaking engagements call 1-888-USA-WORD.