God: Missing in Action from American History
By David Barton
American
history today has become a dreary academic subject. Yet, most who are bored by
American history view Bible history
quite differently: they love the stories of David and Goliath, Daniel and the
lion's den, and Peter walking on the water. So it's not that people don't enjoy
history, it's just that they don't respond favorably to the way American
history is currently being taught.
One reason Bible history is interesting and American
history is not is that the Bible
(as well as American education during its first three centuries) utilizes
biographical history - that is, it presents history through the eyes and life
experiences of those involved (i.e., the biographies) rather than through
the recitation of a string of dates and places. It is the difference between
reading the stories in Guideposts
and 
the
numbers in a phone book.
Looking at history
the way God presents it is exciting and informative; and in numerous verses,
God even commends its study: “Remember the former things of old: for I am God”
(Isaiah 46:9); and “Call to
remembrance the former days” (Hebrews
10:32); etc. But why would God want us to know history? The Apostle Paul
answers that question in 1 Corinthians
10:1: “All these things happened unto them for example; and they are written
for our admonition” (see also Romans
15:4: “Those things written aforetime were written for our learning”). In
short, we learn from history; and what we learn affects our behavior.
American leaders
long understood this biblical truth. For example, Thomas Jefferson noted:
“History, by apprizing them [students] of the past, will enable them to judge
of the future.” And what can be learned by being “apprized of the past”?
According to Benjamin Franklin: “History will afford frequent opportunities of
showing the necessity of a public religion from its usefulness to the public;
the advantage of a religious character among private persons; the mischiefs of superstition; and the excellency
of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern.”
Franklin understood
that history, when accurately presented, would demonstrate the need for
Christianity because of both the societal and the individual benefits it
produces. In fact, the presenting of an uncensored and unrevised history
actually causes a recognition of the hand of God -
for, in the words of the great statesman Daniel Webster: “History is God's
providence in human affairs.”
Today, however,
history is presented in such an edited, revised, and politically-correct manner
that God's hand is rarely visible - and even the historic role of famous Godly
leaders in education, business, politics, and the military is now virtually
unacknowledged.
An obvious example of the secularization of history occurs
each year around the Fourth of July. Americans are taught that “taxation
without representation” was the reason America separated from Great Britain;
yet “taxation without representation” was only reason number seventeen out of
the twenty-seven reasons given in the Declaration
of Independence - it was not even in the top half, yet it's all that most
ever hear. Never mentioned today are the numerous grievances condemning
judicial activism - or those addressing moral or religious or other issues.
What religious
issues? In 1762, the king vetoed the charter for America's first missionary
society; he also suppressed other religious freedoms and even prevented
Americans from printing an English language Bible.
How did Americans respond? They took action; and almost unknown today is the
fact that Declaration signers such as
Samuel Adams and Charles Carroll cited religious freedom as the reason they
became involved in the American Revolution. And significantly, even though
Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin (two of the least religious signers) are
typically the only signers studied today, almost half of the signers of the Declaration (24 of 56) held what today
would be considered seminary or Bible
school degrees. Clearly, for many Founders, religious issues were an important
motivation behind their separation from Great Britain; but that motivation is
largely ignored today.
Moral issues are
accorded the same silence. The greatest moral issue of that day was slavery;
and after several of the American colonies moved toward abolishing slavery in
1773, the King, in 1774, vetoed those anti-slavery laws and continued slavery
in America. Soon-to-be signers of the Declaration
Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush promptly founded America's first abolition
society as a direct response against the king's order. The desire to end
slavery in America was a significant motivation not only for Franklin and Rush
but also for a number of others; but the end of slavery in America could be
achieved only if they separated from Great Britain - which they were willing to
do (and six of the thirteen colonies began abolishing slavery following the
separation).
There were many
other significant issues that led to our original Fourth of July; so why aren't
Americans familiar with the rest? Because in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, a group
of secular-minded writers (including Charles and Mary Beard, W. E. Woodward,
Fairfax Downey, and others) began penning works on American history that introduced
a new paradigm. For this group, economics was the only issue 
of
importance, so they began to write texts accordingly (their approach is now
described as “the economic view of American history” and since the 1960s has
been widely embraced throughout the education community). Consequently, since
“taxation without representation” was the economic grievance in the Declaration, it became the sole clause
that Americans studied.
As a result, God is
no longer visible in American history; and His absence is now construed as
a mandate for secularism. Texts now forcefully assert that the American founding
produced the first intentionally secular government in history - even though
the Declaration officially acknowledges
God in four separate clauses. (But who still teaches the Declaration - or even reads it?) Similarly,
leaders such as John Hancock and John Adams receive credit as being the source
of our independence, even though John Adams himself declared that the Rev.
Dr. Jonathan Mayhew and the Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper were two of the individuals
"most conspicuous, the most ardent, and influential" in the "awakening
and revival of American principles and feelings" that led to American
independence. Regrettably, God (and His servants) have largely disappeared
from the presentation of American history in general and America's founding
in particular.
Regrettably, we no
longer know much about the indispensable role of pastors and Christian leaders
in the founding of our civil government. Americans have been subjected to
“revisionism” - defined by the dictionary as “the revision of an accepted,
usually long-standing view; especially a revision of historical events and
movements.” Revisionism attempts to alter the way a people
sees its history in order to cause a change in public policy.
Consider how successful
this has been. Under the economic view of American history, Americans now
believe that the early colonists came to America seeking land and gold rather
than for the reason most cited by the colonists: evangelization. And most
now accept that the colonies were founded for trade, fishing, and other economic
enterprises, even though more than half were founded by Gospel ministers for
religious purposes (e.g., Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Georgia, etc.). And if religion is discussed in a text, it will be
to present the 21 deaths during the Salem 
Witch
Trials rather than the Great Awakenings, the Civil War revivals, or the turn-of-the-century
revivals that led to widespread urban renewal and the end of child labor.
Having now come
to believe that economics is what created and made America great, it is not
surprising that few Americans commented on the fact that, during the 2004
presidential debates, “jobs” and “economy” were mentioned hundreds of times
but “marriage” less than a dozen. Nor is it surprising that over the past
decade, 45 percent of evangelical Christians say
that economic issues are more important than moral issues when it comes to
voting.
There is so much of
our wholesome, God-centered American history that we no longer know today. This
is especially true when it comes to the average American's knowledge of African
American history.
Consider, for
example, African American achievements during the American Revolution. Few
today know that almost 5,000 of the patriots in the fledgling Continental Army were
African Americans - that, for example, a hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill was
African American Peter Salem. His heroic actions saved the lives of scores of
Americans, and he was honored before General Washington for his courage.
And Pastor Lemuel Haynes was involved in several major Revolutionary
battles and became an ardent admirer of George Washington, regularly preaching
sermons on Washington's birthday. This patriot
preacher was the first African American to be ordained by a mainstream
Christian denomination (the Congregationalists, in 1785), to pastor a white
congregation (a congregation in Connecticut), and to be awarded an honorary
Master's Degree (by Middlebury College, in 1804). Yet who today has heard of Lemuel Haynes?
Or who has heard of
James Armistead, the courageous spy at Yorktown whose remarkable service
considerably shortened the War? Or Oliver Cromwell and Prince Whipple (depicted
in several famous Revolutionary War paintings) who served directly under
General Washington and the general staff? Or Jordan Freeman, the gallant
soldier to whom a monument was erected for his heroic service at the Battle of
Groton Heights?
Then
there is also African American church history - including the amazing story
of the Rev. John Marrant, the first African American
to evangelize successfully among American Indians; the Rev. Richard Allen,
who gained his freedom from slavery, served in the American Revolution, became
a preacher in a church of 2000 whites, and founded America's first black denomination;
and the Rev. Harry Hoosier, who delivered the first recorded Methodist sermon
by an African American and drew crowds larger than the great Methodist Bishop
Francis Asbury.
And consider
African American political history. Who today knows the story of the Rev. Hiram
Rhodes Revels, the African American missionary who became the first black U. S.
Senator? Or the Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, the first African American to
deliver a sermon in Congress? Or Joseph Hayne Rainey,
who overcame slavery to become the first African American elected to the U. S.
Congress, even presiding over the U. S. House? Or who today has learned that
nearly every southern Republican Party was started by African Americans - or
that the first 190 African Americans elected to office in South Carolina (and
the first 112 in Mississippi, the first 42 in Texas, the first 127 in
Louisiana, etc.) were all Republicans, and many were ministers?
I have spent years
collecting thousands of original and priceless documents from American history
in general and black history in particular; God's fingerprints are evident
throughout. I have been asked why I, as an Anglo, would spend so much time in
the study of African American political history. The answer is simple: I am an
American; and since the story of African American history is part of American
history, it therefore is part of my own history. Furthermore, I am inspired by
all stories of sacrifice, courage, and Godly character - regardless of skin
color. The stories of African American heroes such as Phillis
Wheatley, Francis Grimke, and John Roy Lynch are as
thrilling to me as are the stories of Lewis & Clark, Helen Keller, and
Alvin York.
The reintroduction
of a truthful and complete telling of American history is long overdue. Daniel
Webster was right: “History is God's providence in human affairs,” and it
is time for Americans once again to become aware of the remarkable hand of
God throughout our history.
