Religion and the U.S. Founders
Who were the founders of the United States? What were their personal religious views? What did they view as the role of religion in society? Click HERE for a link to Dr. Terry Rey's lecture slides on religion and the founders.
First of all, who counts as "the founders" of the United States?
The 56 individuals who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. A full list and links to bios can be found HERE
A total of 55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and 39 signed it. Notable founders absent from the convention were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Patrick Henry.
Founders were deeply influenced by natural rights theory - influences of philosophers such as Hobbes, Hume, Locke, Rousseau. Many were very influenced by Deism. This is a religious philosophy that claims there is a God, but he's not involved in human affairs. The founders believed that God endowed humanity with certain “inalienable rights,” ideas that were influenced by social contract and natural rights theorists: “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” as well as freedom of speech, religion, and the press, as ensconced in The Bill of Rights.
Of the 56 signers, nearly half (26) held academic degrees in theology or biblical studies.
A large number of signers were Freemasons.
Quakers tended to oppose the American revolution. In 1775, the Society of Friends denounced the deliberations going on in Independence Hall.
Bios on Select Founders
George Washington: (Virginia) Throughout his life, he was a fairly regular attender of Anglican/Episcopal services. However, he was never confirmed, he avoided the sacrament of Holy Communion, and his writings used Deistic rather than orthodox language to describe God. Although several pious biographies published after Washington's death have claimed that Washington was a pious Evangelical, these claims do not hold up to critical scrutiny, including the famous image of Washington is him kneeling in prayer in the woods near the army encampment at Valley Forge.
Benjamin Franklin: (Pennsylvania) although he grew up in Puritan Boston, he later identified as a Deist. His religion was to do good in the community.
Thomas Jefferson: (Virginia) Jefferson was a Deist. He compiled his own version of the Bible that removed references to miracles and the divinity of Jesus and emphasized the ethics and teachings of Jesus. Read Jefferson's Bible HERE
James Madison: (Virginia) Raised Presbyterian, but was an avowed Deist. Yet, he defended religious liberty.
John Hancock: (Massachusetts) Hancock’s father and grandfather were both Harvard-trained Congregationalist ministers, and he was a lifelong member of the Brattle Street Congregationalist Church in Boston – a deeply religious man.
John Adams: (Massachusetts) Raised a Congregationalist, Adams was a believer in miracles and in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; he became a Unitarian later in life, a lifelong Christian who criticized Thomas Paine’s Deism and lauded Christianity as “the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity, and humanity.”
Alexander Hamilton: raised Presbyterian, but held Deist views.
Robert Morris: (Pennsylvania) - Episcopalian. Not only was Morris a devout Episcopalian, he was married to the daughter of Bishop William White. Both he and White are entombed at Philadelphia's Christ Church, at 2nd and Market, though Morris also worshiped at St. Peter’s at 3rd and Pine.
Richard Stockton: (New Jersey) devout Presbyterian.
Button Gwinnett: (Georgia) English-born merchant, Episcopalian who later converted to Congregationalism.
Joseph Hewes: (North Carolina) Raised as a strict Quaker. A native of New Jersey. Left the faith in favor of his patriotism, becoming an Episcopalian.
George Clymer: (Pennsylvania) he was raised a Quaker, not clear if he practiced as an adult.
Charles Carroll: (Maryland) the only Catholic signer, son of Irish immigrants.
For Further Reading:
Holmes, David. The Faiths of the Founding Fathers. Oxford University Press, 2016.
