America 250: Founding fathers, presidents point to the Bible as the anchor of liberty

On the 150th anniversary of independence in 1926, President Calvin Coolidge pointed to “the miracle of the birth of a new nation,” which he said came from “convictions of a great mass of independent, liberty loving, God-fearing people.”

Because of this, he said, “It is but natural that the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence should open with a reference to Nature's God and should close in the final paragraphs with an appeal to the Supreme Judge of the world and an assertion of a firm reliance on Divine Providence. Coming from these sources, having as it did this background, it is no wonder that Samuel Adams could say, ‘The people seem to recognize this resolution as though it were a decree promulgated from heaven.’" 

On the 200th anniversary of independence in 1976, President Gerald Ford said early settlers brought “the Bible and Blackstone's Commentary across the Atlantic among their few cherished possessions and established their own governments on a strange and hostile coast. American families … took with them on the overland trails the principles of equality and the God-given rights of the Declaration of Independence.”

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pointed to the influence of the Bible on America’s founding 400 years after the first mass produced Bible was printed in English.  

“In the formative days of the Republic the directing influence the Bible exercised upon the fathers of the Nation is conspicuously evident. For President George Washington, the Bible ‘contained the sure and certain moral precepts that constituted the basis of his action,’” Roosevelt said. President Thomas Jefferson “turned to the Bible as the source of his higher thinking and reasoning. … He held that the Bible contained the noblest ethical system the world has known. His own compilation of the selected portions of this Book in what is known as ‘Jefferson's Bible,’ bears evidence of the profound reverence in which he held it.” 

Nearly 50 years later, President Ronald Reagan also said, “Of the many influences that have shaped the United States of America into a distinctive Nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible. Deep religious beliefs stemming from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible inspired many of the early settlers of our country, providing them with the strength, character, convictions, and faith necessary to withstand great hardship and danger in this new and rugged land. These shared beliefs helped forge a sense of common purpose among the widely dispersed colonies – a sense of community which laid the foundation for the spirit of nationhood that was to develop in later decades. 

“The Bible and its teachings helped form the basis for the Founding Fathers' abiding belief in the inalienable rights of the individual, rights which they found implicit in the Bible's teachings of the inherent worth and dignity of each individual.”  

In times of war, presidents echoed similar sentiments. 

After winning the Mexican American War, President Zachary Taylor said the Bible “is the best of books and I wish it were in the hands of everyone. It is indispensable to the safety and permanence of our institutions; a free government cannot exist without religion and morals, and there cannot be morals without religion, nor religion without the Bible.”

During the Civil War and in response to receiving a Bible from the “loyal colored people of Baltimore,” President Abraham Lincoln wrote, “In regard to this Great book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it.”

Founding fathers also argued the Bible should be taught in public schools and following its teachings is necessary to maintain a free society. 

Taylor wished the Bible would “be placed in the hands of the young” and that all Americans were “brought up under the influence of that Holy Book,” emphasizing that the Bible “is the best schoolbook in the world.”