The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding - Our Lost Founding Archives

Defence of Our National Anthem

On this day in 1814, United States soldiers raised this 30′ x 42′ foot garrison flag over Fort McHenry in Baltimore to celebrate a critical victory over the British during the War of 1812:

Seeing those “broad stripes and bright stars” inspired Francis Scott Key to write a poem entitled “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” It soon became the song we know as “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and eventually, Our national anthem.

In turn, that flag, and the following words from the fourth stanza of Key’s poem inspired Our Lost Founding to create this t-shirt design:

“Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”

September 14, 2021/1 Comment/by Our Lost Founding

Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding, World War II

Atomic bomb: “an awful responsibility”

On this day in 1945, by order of President Harry S. Truman, the American bomber Enola Gay drops a five-ton atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The aim was to bring the war to an abrupt end, and to avoid an invasion of Japan and the subsequent likelihood of massive American casualties.

Then, on August 9th, the United States drops a second atom bomb, this time on Nagasaki, at last resulting in Japan’s unconditional surrender. A third was likely forthcoming, if necessary.

Also on August 9th, President Truman gave a “Radio Report to the American People on the Potsdam Conference.” After seeing the devastation in Europe firsthand, he remarked:

“How glad I am to be home again! And how grateful to Almighty God that this land of ours has been spared!

He went on:

“I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb.
Its production and its use were not lightly undertaken by this Government. But we knew that our enemies were on the search for it. We know now how close they were to finding it. And we knew the disaster which would come to this Nation, and to all peace-loving nations, to all civilization, if they had found it first.
That is why we felt compelled to undertake the long and uncertain and costly labor of discovery and production.”
…

“An Awful Responsibility”

“Having found the bomb we have used it. We have used it against those who attacked us without warning at Pearl Harbor, against those who have starved and beaten and executed American prisoners of war, against those who have abandoned all pretense of obeying international laws of warfare. We have used it in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans.”
…
“It is an awful responsibility which has come to us.

We thank God that it has come to us, instead of to our enemies; and we pray that He may guide us to use it in His ways and for His purposes.”

* * *

The United States is the only nation to use atomic weaponry in war. While it ended World War II, it may have precipitated the Cold War. Consequently, by 1949, the Soviets had also developed the atomic bomb.

Finally, see The White House memo below from President Harry S. Truman to the Federal Council of The Churches of Christ in America for more perspective:

August 6, 2021/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

Alexander Hamilton, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Happy Birthday to the United States Coast Guard!

On this day in 1790, Congress authorizes Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton’s plan for having a fleet of ten cutters built to protect America’s coastline. This initial iteration was known as the “Revenue Marine.”

Our guide, Our fame, Our glory

First, here are a few excerpts from “Semper Paratus” (Always Ready), The Official Coast Guard Marching Song:

We’re always ready for the call,
We place our trust in Thee.
Through surf and storm and howling gale,
High shall our purpose be.
“Semper Paratus” is our guide,
Our fame, our glory too.
To fight to save or fight and die,
Aye! Coast Guard we are for you!

“Aye! We’ve been always ready!
To do, to fight, or die
Write glory to the shield we wear
In letters to the sky.
To sink the foe or save the maimed,
Our mission and our pride.
We’ll carry on ’til Kingdom Come,
Ideals for which we’ve died.”

Next, this is the final third, or so, of the Creed of the United States Coast Guardsman:

“I shall live joyously, but always with due regard for the rights and privileges of others.
I shall endeavor to be a model citizen in the community in which I live.
I shall sell life dearly to an enemy of my country, but give it freely to rescue those in peril.
With God’s help, I shall endeavor to be one of His noblest Works…
A UNITED STATES COAST GUARDSMAN.”

Lord, guard

Finally, the “Coast Guard Hymn:”

Eternal Father, Lord of Hosts
Watch o’er the ones who guard our coasts
Protect them from the raging seas
And give them light and life and peace.
Grant them from thy great throne above
The shield and shelter of thy love.
Lord, guard and guide the ones who fly
Through the great spaces in the sky
Be with them always in the air,
In darken storms or sunlight fair,
Oh, hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air!
Grant to them Your eternal peace, Oh Lord,
For they have followed your commandment,
That No Greater Love has he, who would give up his life for another.

Amen

August 4, 2021/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Calvin Coolidge: No Earthly Empire

On this day in 1923, Calvin Coolidge is sworn in as the 30th President of the United States.

President Warren G. Harding was in the midst of his “Voyage of Understanding,” a cross-country speaking tour. However, on August 2nd, he died after an apparent heart attack or stroke at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Harding was the sixth of eight presidents to die in office.

A few hours later, Vice President Calvin Coolidge received word of Harding’s death by messenger while at his family’s homestead in Vermont, which did not have electricity or a telephone.

His father, John Calvin Coolidge Sr. was a Vermont notary public and justice of the peace so administered the oath of office. At 2:47 a.m. Coolidge took the Presidential Oath by the light of a kerosene lamp with the family’s Bible. Then, he went back to bed.

‘Silent Cal’s” seeming reticence and his hands-off economic policy of limited government interference during the ‘Roaring 20s’ helped him win reelection in 1924.

No Earthly Empire

This is a portion of the final paragraph of his Inaugural Address, given March 4, 1925:

“Here stands our country, an example of tranquillity at home, a patron of tranquillity abroad. Here stands its Government, aware of its might but obedient to its conscience. Here it will continue to stand, seeking peace and prosperity, solicitous for the welfare of the wage earner, promoting enterprise, developing waterways and natural resources, attentive to the intuitive counsel of womanhood, encouraging education, desiring the advancement of religion, supporting the cause of justice and honor among the nations. America seeks no earthly empire built on blood and force. No ambition, no temptation, lures her to thought of foreign dominions. The legions which she sends forth are armed, not with the sword, but with the cross. The higher state to which she seeks the allegiance of all mankind is not of human, but of divine origin. She cherishes no purpose save to merit the favor of Almighty God.”

Despite ‘Coolidge Prosperity,’ he said “I do not choose to run for president in 1928.”

August 3, 2021/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin, Declaration of Independence, Founding Documents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding, Thomas Jefferson

Declaration of Independence Signed

On this day in 1776, fifty-six delegates of the Second Continental Congress add their signatures to the Declaration of Independence.

Eight of these 56 signers were born in Great Britain.

Exactly one month prior, on July 2nd, the Congress accepted this resolution put forth by Richard Henry Lee:

“Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

Then, two days later, on July 4th, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, put forth by the “Committee of Five.” The Committee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston, although Jefferson wrote most of the Declaration with the others suggesting edits.

Finally, Timothy Matlack, a brewer known for his exceptional penmanship, likely engrossed Declaration on parchment. Parchment is animal skin that has been treated with lime and stretched.

Most importantly, the Declaration contains no less than four references to Almighty God, active in Our affairs: “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God,” “Creator,” “Supreme Judge of the world,” and “divine Providence.”

Sealed

Currently, this copy is on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., with the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Interestingly, these “Charters of Freedom” are in gold plated frames encased in ballistically resistant titanium and aluminum. Additionally, the encasement contain inert gas argon and a controlled level of humidity.

Also, for more on the Declaration of Independence, please revisit Our July 2nd and July 4th posts:

https://ourlostfounding.com/illuminations-one-end-continent/

Declaration of Independence, July 4th, the Course, and the Creator

August 2, 2021/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding, War of 1812

In God We Trust: Our Official National Motto

On this day in 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the law establishing In God We Trust as the official motto of the United States. The motto had been in use, unofficially, since 1864.

First, however, in 1863, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase wrote this to the Mint Director:
“I approve your mottoes, only suggesting that on that with the Washington obverse the motto should begin with the word OUR, so as to read OUR GOD AND OUR COUNTRY. And on that with the shield, it should be changed so as to read: IN GOD IS OUR TRUST.”

Then, he lined through “IS OUR” and wrote “WE” above it.

It was on Flag Day in 1954 when Eisenhower signed the bill to include “under God” in the pledge he said:

“In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war.”

His sentiments in the above statement helps us understand his resolve to establish Our National Motto.

Despite the assertion of some that “E Pluribus Unum” is Our motto, today is the 65th anniversary of “In God We Trust” as Our Official Motto, and it’s worth celebrating.

In fact, a couplet from the final stanza of Our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” containing a variation of the motto, inspired Our “Star-Spangled Motto” t-shirt design:

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”

Find yours HERE.

July 30, 2021/1 Comment/by Our Lost Founding

The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Buzz Aldrin : “the very first liquid ever poured on the moon…”

On this day in 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first men to walk on the moon. They were 240,000 miles from Earth.

As Armstrong set foot on the surface, he famously said: “that’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Buzz Aldrin joined him there a few minutes later. Then, they took terrain photographs, ran tests, planted a American flag, and spoke with President Richard Nixon.

Communion on the Moon

It’s what Aldrin did before exiting Lunar Module (LM) Eagle that is truly remarkable: he took Communion. So, here’s a portion of that story in his own words, as he wrote for Guideposts:

“Houston, this is Eagle. This is the LM Pilot speaking. I would, like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his own individual way.”

“I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the side of the cup. It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the first food eaten there, were communion elements.”

“And so, just before I partook of the elements… I read: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.” John 15:5 (TEV)”

July 20, 2021/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

American Revolution, Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

John Quincy Adams on “Useful Citizens… and a Real Blessing”

On this day in 1767, John Quincy Adams is born. He was the sixth U.S. president, and the son of the second U.S. president, John Adams.

As a boy, he went with his father on diplomatic missions, then entered the legal profession after his schooling. As a young man, he served as minister to the Netherlands, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, and England. John Quincy Adams became a Republican Senator, and helped negotiate the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. He also served as secretary of state until the tie-breaking vote in the House elected him president over Andrew Jackson.

“Pursue the Practice”

Definitely his father’s son, who believed “religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand,” John Quincy wrote this in a letter to his own “dear son”:

“for so great is my veneration for the Bible, and so strong my belief, that when duly read and meditated on, it is of all books in the world, that which contributes most to make men good, wise, and happy — that the earlier my children begin to read it, the more steadily they pursue the practice of reading it throughout their lives, the more lively and confident will be my hopes that they will prove useful citizens to their country, respectable members of society, and a real blessing to their parents.”

July 11, 2021/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

American Icons, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Let Freedom, and the Liberty Bell, Ring

On this day in 1776, legend has it, the “Liberty Bell” rings out from the the tower of what is now known as Independence Hall in Philadelphia, summoning citizens to the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

The Liberty Bell is bronze. More specifically, it is 70% copper, 25% tin, with small amounts of lead, gold, arsenic, silver, and zinc. It weighs in at 2,080 pounds.

Even weightier is the inscription on the bell, from the Holy Bible, Leviticus 25:10:

PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND UNTO ALL THE INHABITANTS THEREOF LEV. XXV X.

July 8, 2021/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

American Revolution, Declaration of Independence, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Temperance, Tyranny, and Taking Up Arms

On this day in 1775, the Continental Congress issues a Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms. The desired effect was for King George III to recognize the “severe and oppressive… tyranny” of Parliament and his ministers. That it was one day after the Olive Branch Petition underscores the tension of the times.

Even so, the king sided with Parliament. Thus, Congress had no choice but to proceed from a Declaration of Arms to a Declaration of Independence. After all, they had “pursued every temperate, every respectful measure.”

The Declaration and the Divine

Here are a few excerpts of the Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms:

“If it was possible for men, who exercise their reason to believe, that the divine Author of our existence intended a part of the human race to hold an absolute property in, and an unbounded power over others, marked out by his infinite goodness and wisdom, as the objects of a legal domination never rightfully resistible, however severe and oppressive, the inhabitants of these colonies might at least require from the parliament of Great-Britain some evidence, that this dreadful authority over them, has been granted to that body. But a reverance for our Creator, principles of humanity, and the dictates of common sense, must convince all those who reflect upon the subject, that government was instituted to promote the welfare of mankind, and ought to be administered for the attainment of that end.”

“We gratefully acknowledge, as signal instances of the Divine favour towards us, that his Providence would not permit us to be called into this severe controversy, until we were grown up to our present strength, had been previously exercised in warlike operation, and possessed of the means of defending ourselves. With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers, which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverence, employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves.”

“With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and impartial Judge and Ruler of the Universe, we most devoutly implore his divine goodness to protect us happily through this great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to reconciliation on reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve the empire from the calamities of civil war.”

July 6, 2021/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

American Revolution, Declaration of Independence, Founding Documents, Founding Fathers, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Declaration of Independence, July 4th, the Course, and the Creator

On July 4th 1776, in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence. This document for the ages proclaimed the independence of the United States of America from Great Britain and its king.

First, Our Declaration contains several references to Almighty God, active in Our affairs. They are as follows: “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” “Creator,” “Supreme Judge of the world,” and “divine Providence.”

Self-evidently

Here they are in their context:

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

The American Revolution lasts for five more years. Finally, upon signing the Treaty of Paris with Britain in 1783, the United States formally becomes a free, independent nation. This was seven years after the ratification of the Declaration of Independence.

Clearly, the acknowledgement of and dependence on Almighty God were essential to the Founding of Our nation, and its future. These are critical to the enjoyment of our “unalienable Rights.”
After all, freedom, virtue, and faith are all interdependent.

July 4, 2021/2 Comments/by Our Lost Founding