Professional Documents
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Dave Raymonds
American History
PART 1 : Meso-America to The Constitution
Dave Raymonds
American History
Lesson 1
ORIENTATION
Lecture 1.1INTRODUCTION AND NOTE-TAKING
Lecture 1.2WHY SCHOOL? WHY THE HUMANITIES?
Lecture 1.3WHY HISTORY? 7
Lecture 1.4GOOD QUOTES AND OUR ROADMAP
Lecture 1.5READINGS, ASSIGNMENTS, EXAMS,
PORTFOLIOS, AND PROJECTS 8
6
6
7
Lesson 2
THE BANNER OF THE SUN: MESO-AMERICA
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
2.1THE
2.2THE
2.3THE
2.4THE
2.5THE
PRINCIPLE
9
OLMEC AND MAYA
AZTEC10
INCA 11
SPANISH CONQUEST
12
Lesson 3
BRAVE NEW WORLD: THE EARLY EXPLORERS
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
3.1THE PRINCIPLE 13
3.2THE MYTHS AND LEGENDS 13
3.3THE EVIDENCES 15
3.4CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, PART I 16
3.5CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, PART II 16
Lesson 4
THE COLOSSUS OF EMPIRE: THE COLONIES
Lecture 4.1THE PRINCIPLE 18
Lecture 4.2NAVIGATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
Lecture 4.3THE PORTUGUESE COLONIES 19
Lecture 4.4THE SPANISH COLONIES
21
Lecture 4.5THE FRENCH COLONIES AND THE
MISSIONS 23
18
Lesson 5
STABILITY & CHANGE: THE REFORMATIONAL COLONIES
Lecture 5.1THE PRINCIPLE 24
Lecture 5.2THE HUGUENOT AND DUTCH REFORMED
COLONIES 24
3
Lesson 6
A CITY UPON A HILL: THE PURITANS
Lecture 6.1THE PRINCIPLE 29
Lecture 6.2WHAT IS A PURITAN? 33
Lecture 6.3FIVE PURITAN VALUES 34
Lecture 6.4PURITAN HEROES: WINTHROP, THE
BRADSTREETS, AND ELIOT
40
Lecture 6.5COTTON MATHER
43
Lesson 7
A FOREIGN WAR AT HOME: WARS OF CONTROL
Lecture 7.1THE PRINCIPLE 44
Lecture 7.2THE BACK STORY
46
Lecture 7.3WARS
49
Lecture 7.4AND MORE WARS
51
Lecture 7.5QUEBEC AND THE AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE 59
Lesson 8
GRACE, THE FOUNDER OF LIBERTY: THE GREAT AWAKENING
Lecture 8.1THE PRINCIPLE 60
Lecture 8.2SLEEPING DEAD MAN 60
LESSON 8.3THE AWAKENERS: FREYLINGHUYSEN,
TENNENT, AND EDWARDS
60
Lecture 8.4GEORGE WHITEFIELD, PART I 76
Lecture 8.5GEORGE WHITEFIELD, PART II 80
Lesson 9
FATHERS OF INDEPENDENCE: ADAMS, FRANKLIN,
WITHERSPOON, AND HENRY
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
9.1THE PRINCIPLE 82
9.2SAMUEL ADAMS 87
9.3BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
9.4JOHN WITHERSPOON
88
88
Lesson 10
LIBERTY OR DEATH: THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
10.1THE PRINCIPLE 92
10.2NARRATIVE OF DATES I
94
10.3NARRATIVE OF DATES II
98
10.4NARRATIVE OF DATES III
102
10.5THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 106
Lesson 11
AWESOME PROVIDENCE: THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE I
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
107
108
Lesson 12
AWESOME PROVIDENCE: THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE II
Lecture 12.1AMERICAN HEROES 113
Lecture 12.2SARATOGA
114
Lecture 12.3VALLEY FORGE AND BENEDICT ARNOLD 118
Lecture 12.4NATHANIEL GREENE, GEORGE ROGERS CLARK,
AND YORKTOWN 120
Lecture 12.5FORGOTTEN FOUNDERS
123
Lesson 13
A MORE PERFECT UNION: THE CONSTITUTION
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
146
Lesson 1
ORIENTATION
Lecture 1.1INTRODUCTION AND NOTE-TAKING
ASSIGNMENT: Read through the Table of Contents to learn what
topics we will be covering this semester. What topics interest you?
What topics are unfamiliar to you?
J.R.R. Tolkien
Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 2 - The Banner of the Sun: Meso-America
Lesson 2
THE BANNER OF THE SUN: MESO-AMERICA
Lecture 2.1THE PRINCIPLE
ASSIGNMENT: Read Genesis 4-5 and identify the characters of the
City of Man and the City of God. In addition, note the differences
between the two cities.
Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 2 - The Banner of the Sun: Meso-America
called. After that they began to talk about the creation and the
making of our first mother and father; of yellow corn and of white
corn they made their flesh; of cornmeal dough they made the arms
and the legs of man. Only dough of corn meal went into the flesh
of our first fathers, the four men, who were created. [...] And as
they had the appearance of men, they were men; they talked,
conversed, saw and heard, walked, grasped things; they were good
and handsome men, and their figure was the figure of a man.
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 2 - The Banner of the Sun: Meso-America
On each altar was a giant figure, very tall and very fat. They said
that the one on the right was Huichilobos [i.e. Huitzilopochtli], their wargod. He had a very broad face and huge terrible eyes. And there were so
many precious stones, so much gold, so many pearls and seed-pearls
stuck to him with a paste which the natives made from a sort of root,
that his body and head were covered with them. . . .
There were some smoking braziers of their incense, which they call
copal, in which they were burning the hearts of three Indians whom they
had sacrificed that day; and all the walls of that shrine were so splashed
and caked with blood that they and the floor too were black. Indeed, the
whole place stank abominably. We then looked to the left and saw
another great image of the same height as Huichilobos, with a face like a
bear and eyes that glittered, being made of their mirror-glass, which they
call tezcat. Its body, like that of Huichilobos, was encrusted with precious
stones, for they said that the two were brothers. This Tezcatlipoca, the
god of hell, had charge of the Mexicans souls, and his body was
surrounded by figures of little devils with snakes tails. The walls of this
shrine also were so caked with blood and the floor so bathed in it that
the stench was worse than that of any slaughter-house in Spain. They had
offered that idol five hearts from the days sacrifices.
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 2 - The Banner of the Sun: Meso-America
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 3 - Brave New World: The Early Explorers
Lesson 3
BRAVE NEW WORLD: THE EARLY EXPLORERS
Lecture 3.1THE PRINCIPLE
ASSIGNMENT: Read the Dedication from The Log of Christopher
Columbus First Voyage. What are his motives?
SELECTION: Dedication from The Log of Christopher Columbus First
Voyage
IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Whereas, Most Christian, High, Excellent, and Powerful Princes,
King and Queen of Spain and of the Islands of the Sea, our Sovereigns,
this present year 1492, after your Highnesses had terminated the war
with the Moors reigning in Europe, the same having been brought to an
end in the great city of Granada, where on the second day of January, this
present year, I saw the royal banners of your Highnesses planted by force
of arms upon the towers of the Alhambra, which is the fortress of that
city, and saw the Moorish king come out at the gate of the city and kiss
the hands of your Highnesses, and of the Prince my Sovereign; and in the
present month, in consequence of the information which I had given your
Highnesses respecting the countries of India and of a Prince, called Great
Khan, which in our language signifies King of Kings, how, at many times
he, and his predecessors had sent to Rome soliciting instructors who
might teach him our holy faith, and the holy Father had never granted his
request, whereby great numbers of people were lost, believing in idolatry
and doctrines of perdition.
Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians, and princes who love and
promote the holy Christian faith, and are enemies of the doctrine of
Mahomet, and of all idolatry and heresy, determined to send me,
Christopher Columbus, to the above-mentioned countries of India, to see
the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their disposition
and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith; and
furthermore directed that I should not proceed by land to the East, as is
customary, but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto
no certain evidence that any one has gone.
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 3 - Brave New World: The Early Explorers
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 3 - Brave New World: The Early Explorers
15
Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 3 - Brave New World: The Early Explorers
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 3 - Brave New World: The Early Explorers
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 4 - The Colossus of Empire: The Colonies
Lesson 4
THE COLOSSUS OF EMPIRE: THE COLONIES
Lecture 4.1THE PRINCIPLE
ASSIGNMENT: View the progressive map of European colonies at
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Colonisation2.gif).
Identify at least 7 modern countries which these colonies became.
What similarities and differences exist between these modern nations?
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 4 - The Colossus of Empire: The Colonies
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 4 - The Colossus of Empire: The Colonies
for two days, we found a place sufficiently secure for the ships, and
anchored half a league from land, on which we saw a very great number
of people: and this same day we put to land with the boats, and sprang
on shore full 40 men in good trim: and still the land's people appeared
shy of converse with us, and we were unable to encourage them so much
as to make them come to speak with us: and this day we labored so
greatly in giving them of our wares, such as rattles and mirrors, beads,
spalline, and other trifles, that some of them took confidence and came
to discourse with us: and after having made good friends with them, the
night coming on, we took our leave of them and returned to the ships:
and the next day when the dawn appeared we saw that there were infinite
numbers of people upon the beach, and they had their women and
children with them: we went, ashore, and found that they were all laden
with their worldly goods which are suchlike as, in its (proper) place, shall
be related: and before we reached the land, many of them jumped into
the sea and came swimming to receive us at a bowshot's length (from the
shore), for they are very great swimmers, with as much confidence as if
they had for a long time been acquainted with us: and we were pleased
with this their confidence. For so much as we learned of their manner of
life and customs, it was that they go entirely naked, as well the men as
the women. . . . They are of medium stature, very well proportioned: their
flesh is of a color the verges into red like a lion's mane: and I believe that
if they went clothed, they would be as white as we: they have not any hair
upon the body, except the hair of the head which is long and black, and
especially in the women, whom it renders handsome.
...and when the next day arrived, we beheld coming across the land a
great number of people, with signals of battle, continually sounding
horns, and various other instruments which they use in their wars: and
all (of them) painted and feathered, so that it was a very strange sight to
behold them: wherefore all the ships held council, and it was resolved
that since this people desired hostility with us, we should proceed to
encounter them and try by every means to make them friends: in case
they would not have our friendship, that we should treat them as foes,
and so many of them as we might be able to capture should all be our
slaves: and having armed ourselves as best we could, we advanced
towards the shore, and they sought not to hinder us from landing, I
believe from fear of the cannons: and we jumped on land, 57 men in four
squadrons, each one (consisting of) a captain and his company: and we
came to blows with them: and after a long battle (in which) many of them
(were) slain, we put them to flight, and pursued them to a village, having
made about 250 of them captives, and we burnt the village, and returned
to our ships with victory and 250 prisoners, leaving many of them dead
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 4 - The Colossus of Empire: The Colonies
and wounded, and of ours there were no more than one killed and 22
wounded, who all escaped (i.e., recovered), God be thanked. We arranged
our departure, and seven men, of whom five were wounded, took an
island-canoe, and with seven prisoners that we gave them, four women
and three men, returned to their (own) country full of gladness,
wondering at our strength: and we thereon made sail for Spain with 222
captive slaves: and reached the port of Calis (Cadiz) on the 15th day of
October, 1498, where we were well received and sold our slaves. Such is
what befell me, most noteworthy, in this my first voyage.
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 4 - The Colossus of Empire: The Colonies
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 4 - The Colossus of Empire: The Colonies
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 5 - Stability & Change: The Reformational Colonies
Lesson 5
STABILITY & CHANGE: THE REFORMATIONAL
COLONIES
Lecture 5.1THE PRINCIPLE
ASSIGNMENT: Read the following quote by Abraham Kuyper and write
an essay explaining how this worldview which was derived from the
Reformation affects the way people live. Give specific examples.
QUOTE: "Oh, no single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically
sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole
domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over
all, does not cry: 'Mine!'"
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 5 - Stability & Change: The Reformational Colonies
limbs are frequently broken by the weight of the peaches, which usually
are very fine. We have also introduced morecotoons (a kind of peach,)
apricots, several sorts of the best plums, almonds, persimmons, cornelian
cherries, figs, several sorts of currants, gooseberries, calissiens, and
thorn apples; and we do not doubt but that the olive would thrive and be
profitable, but we have them not. Although the land is full of many kinds
of grapes, we still want settings of the best kinds from Germany, for the
purpose of enabling our wine planters here to select the best kinds, and
to propagate the same. In short, every kind of fruit which grows in the
Netherlands is plenty already in the New-Netherlands, which have been
introduced by the lovers of agriculture, and the fruits thrive better here,
particularly such kinds as require a warmer climate.
25
Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 5 - Stability & Change: The Reformational Colonies
William Mullins, Mr. William White, Mr. Richard Warren, John Howland,
Mr. Steven Hopkins, Digery Priest, Thomas Williams, Gilbert Winslow,
Edmund Margesson, Peter Brown, Richard Britteridge, George Soule,
Edward Tilly, John Tilly, Francis Cooke, Thomas Rogers, Thomas Tinker,
John Ridgdale, Edward Fuller, Richard Clark, Richard Gardiner, Mr. John
Allerton, Thomas English, Edward Doten, Edward Liester.
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 5 - Stability & Change: The Reformational Colonies
Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 5 - Stability & Change: The Reformational Colonies
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 6 - A City Upon a Hill: The Puritans
Lesson 6
A CITY UPON A HILL: THE PURITANS
Lecture 6.1THE PRINCIPLE
ASSIGNMENT: Read A Model of Charity by John Winthrop. What
opportunity did the Puritans have in the New World? By what means
would they accomplish the City on a Hill?
SELECTION: A Model of Charity by John Winthrop.
God Almighty, in his most holy and wise providence, hath so
disposed of the condition of mankind, as in all times some must be rich,
some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity, others mean
and in subjection.
The reasons hereof: first, to hold conformity with the rest of his
works. Being delighted to show forth the glory of his wisdom in the
variety and difference of the creatures; and the glory of his power, in
ordering all these differences for the preservation and good of the whole;
and the glory of his greatness, that as it is the glory of princes to have
many officers, so this great king will have many stewards, counting
himself more honored in dispensing his gifts to man by man, than if he
did it by his own immediate hands.
Secondly, that he might have the more occasion to manifest the
work of his Spirit. First, upon the wicked, in moderating and restraining
them: so that the rich and mighty should not eat up the poor, nor the
poor and despised rise up against their superiors and shake off their
yoke. Secondly, in the regenerate, in exercising his graces in them: as in
the great ones, their love, mercy, gentleness, temperance etc.; in the poor
and inferior sort, their faith, patience, obedience etc.
Thirdly, that every man might have need of other, and from hence
they might be all knit more nearly together in the bond of brotherly
affection. From hence it appears plainly that no man is made more
honorable than another, or more wealthy etc., out of any particular and
singular respect to himself, but for the glory of his creator and the
common good of the creature, man. Therefore God still reserves the
property of these gifts to himself, as Ezekiel, 16.17: he there calls wealth
his gold and his silver; Proverbs, 3.9: he claims their service as his due:
honor the Lord with thy riches etc. All men being thus (by divine
providence) ranked into two sorts, rich and poor, under the first are
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 6 - A City Upon a Hill: The Puritans
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 6 - A City Upon a Hill: The Puritans
ought to account ourselves knit together by this bond of love, and live in
the exercise of it, if we would have comfort of our being in Christ.
Secondly, for the work we have in hand. It is by a mutual consent
through a special overvaluing providence and a more than an ordinary
approbation of the churches of Christ, to seek out a place of cohabitation
and consortship under a due form of government both civil and
ecclesiastical. In such cases as this, the care of the public must oversay
all private respects, by which not only conscience, but mere civil policy,
cloth bind us. For it is a true rule that particular estates cannot subsist in
the ruin of the public.
Thirdly, the end is to improve our lives to do more service to the
Lord; the comfort and increase of the body of Christ whereof we are
members, that ourselves and posterity may be the better preserved from
the common corruptions of this evil world, to serve the Lord and work
out our salvation under the power and purity of his holy ordinances.
Fourthly, for the means whereby this must be effected. They are
twofold, a conformity with the work and end we aim at. These we see are
extraordinary, therefore we must not content ourselves with usual
ordinary means: whatsoever we did, or ought to have done, when we lived
in England, the same must we do, and more also, where we go. That
which the most in their churches maintain as a truth in profession only,
we must bring into familiar and constant practice, as in this duty of love.
We must love brotherly without dissimulation, we must love one another
with a pure heart fervently, we must bear one another's burdens, we must
not look only on our own things, but also on the things of our brethren.
Neither must we think that the Lord will bear with such failings at our
hands as he cloth from those among whom we have lived, and that for
three reasons.
First, in regard of the more near bond of marriage between him and
us, wherein he hath taken us to be his after a most strict and peculiar
manner, which will make him the more jealous of our love and obedience.
So he tells the people of Israel, you only have I known of all the families
of the earth, therefore will I punish you for your transgressions.
Secondly, because the Lord will be sanctioned in them that come near
him. We know that there were many that corrupted the service of the
Lord, some setting up altars before his own, others offering both strange
fire and strange sacrifices also; yet there came no fire from heaven or
other sudden judgment upon them, as did upon Nadab and Abihu, who
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 6 - A City Upon a Hill: The Puritans
yet we may think did not sin presumptuously. Thirdly, when God gives a
special commission he looks to have it strictly observed in every article.
When he gave Saul a commission to destroy Amalek, he indented with
him upon certain articles, and because he failed in one of the least, and
that upon a fair pretense, it lost him the kingdom which should have
been his reward if he had observed his commission.
Thus stands the cause between God and us. We are entered into
covenant with him for this work, we have taken out a commission, the
Lord hath given us leave to draw our own articles, we have professed to
enterprise these actions, upon these and those ends, we have hereupon
besought him of favor and blessing. Now if the Lord shall please to hear
us, and bring us in peace to the place we desire, then hath he ratified this
covenant and sealed our commission, [and] will expect a strict
performance of the articles contained in it. But if we shall neglect the
observation of these articles, which re the ends we have propounded,
and, dissembling with our God, shall fall to embrace this present world
and prosecute our carnal intentions, seeking great things for ourselves
and our posterity, the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us, be
revenged of such a perjured people and make us know the price of the
breach of such a covenant.
Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck, and to provide for our
posterity, is to follow the counsel of Micah: to do justly, to love mercy, to
walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together in this
work as one man, we must entertain each other in brotherly affection, we
must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply
of others' necessities, we must uphold a familiar commerce together in
all meekness, gentleness, patience and liberality; we must delight in each
other, make others' conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together,
labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission
and community in the work, our community as members of the same
body. So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. The
Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us as his own people,
and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see
much more of his wisdom, power, goodness and truth, than formerly we
have been acquainted with. We shall find that the God of Israel is among
us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies:
when he shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say of
succeeding plantations: the Lord make it like that of New England. For
we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill: The eyes of all
people are upon us, so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this
work we have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present help
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 6 - A City Upon a Hill: The Puritans
from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world: we
shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God and all
professors for God's sake. We shall shame the faces of many of God's
worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon
us, till we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going.
And to shut up this discourse with that exhortation of Moses, that
faithful servant of the Lord, in his last farewell to Israel, Deuteronomy,
30: beloved, there is now set before us life and good, death and evil, in
that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love
one another, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments and his
ordinance and his laws, and the articles of our covenant with him, that
we may live and be multiplied, and that the Lord our God may bless us in
the land whither we go to possess it. But if our hearts shall turn away, so
that we will not obey, but shall be seduced, and worship other God-our
pleasures and profits-and serve them , it is propounded unto us this day,
we shall surely perish out of the good land whither we pass over this vast
sea to possess it: Therefore let us choose life, that we and our seed may
live by obeying His voice and cleaving to Him, for He is our life, and our
prosperity.
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 6 - A City Upon a Hill: The Puritans
2.
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 6 - A City Upon a Hill: The Puritans
3.
4.
5.
6.
service of Satan, you must not follow the vanities of this world, you
must lead a life of serious religion.
Let me daily pray for my children with constancy, with fervency,
with agony. Yea, by name let me mention each one of them every
day before the Lord. I will importunately beg for all suitable
blessings to be bestowed upon them: that God would give them
grace, and give them glory, and withhold no good thing from them;
that God would smile on their education, and give His good angels
the charge over them, and keep them from evil, that it may not
grieve them; that when their father and mother shall forsake them,
the Lord may take them up. With importunity I will plead that
promise on their behalf: "The Heavenly Father will give the Holy
Spirit unto them that ask Him." Oh! happy children, if by asking I
may obtain the Holy Spirit for them!
I will early entertain the children with delightful stories out of the
Bible. In the talk of the table, I will go through the Bible, when the
olive-plants about my table are capable of being so watered. But I
will always conclude the stories with some lessons of piety to be
inferred from them.
I will single out some Scriptural sentences of the greatest
importance; and some also that have special antidotes in them
against the common errors and vices of children. They shall quickly
get those golden sayings by heart, and be rewarded with silver or
gold, or some good thing, when they do it. Such as,
Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 6 - A City Upon a Hill: The Puritans
7.
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 6 - A City Upon a Hill: The Puritans
11. I wish that my children may as soon as may be, feel the principles
of reason and honor working in themand that I may carry on
their education, very much upon those principles. Therefore, first, I
will wholly avoid that harsh, fierce, crabbed usage of the children
that would make them tremble and abhor to come into my
presence. I will treat them so that they shall fear to offend me, and
yet mightily love to see me, and be glad of my coming home if I
have been abroad at any time. I will have it looked upon as a severe
and awful punishment to be forbidden for awhile to come into my
presence. I will raise in them an high opinion of their father's love
to them, and of his being better able to judge what is good for
them than they are for themselves. I will bring them to believe 'tis
best for them to be and do as I will have them. Hereupon I will
continually magnify the matter to them, what a brave thing 'tis to
know the things that are excellent; and more brave to do the things
that are virtuous. I will have them to propose it as a reward of their
well-doing at any time, I will now go to my father, and he will teach
me something that I was never taught before. I will have them
afraid of doing any base thing, from an horror of the baseness in it.
My first response to finding a lesser fault in them shall be a
surprise, a wonder, vehemently expressed before them, that ever
they should be guilty of doing so foolishly; a vehement belief that
they will never do the like again; a weeping resolution in them, that
they will not. I will never dispense a blow, except it be for an
atrocious crime or for a lesser fault obstinately persisted in; either
for an enormity, or for an obstinacy. I will always proportion the
chastisements to the miscarriages; neither smiting bitterly for a
very small piece of childishness nor frowning only a little for some
real wickedness. Nor shall my chastisement ever be dispensed in a
passion and a fury; but I will first show them the command of God,
by transgressing whereof they have displeased me. The slavish,
raving, fighting way of discipline is too commonly used. I look
upon it as a considerable article in the wrath and curse of God
upon a miserable world.
12. As soon as we can, we'll get up to yet higher principles. I will often
tell the children what cause they have to love a glorious Christ, who
has died for them. And how much He will be well-pleased with
their well-doing. And what a noble thing 'tis to follow His example;
which example I will describe unto them. I will often tell them that
the eye of God is upon them; the great God knows all they do and
hears all they speak. I will often tell them that there will be a time
when they must appear before the Judgment-Seat of the holy Lord;
and they must now do nothing that may then be a grief and shame
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13.
14.
15.
16.
unto them. I will set before them the delights of that Heaven that is
prepared for pious children; and the torments of that Hell that is
prepared of old for naughty ones. I will inform them of the good
things the good angels do for little ones that have the fear of God
and are afraid of sin. And how the devils tempt them to do ill
things; how they hearken to the devils, and are like them, when
they do such things; and what mischiefs the devils may get leave to
do them in this world, and what a sad thing 'twill be, to be among
the devils in the Place of Dragons. I will cry to God, that He will
make them feel the power of these principles.
When the children are of a fit age for it, I will sometimes closet
them; have them with me alone; talk with them about the state of
their souls; their experiences, their proficiencies, their temptations;
obtain their declared consent unto every jot nd tittle of the gospel;
and then pray with them, and weep unto the Lord for His grace, to
be bestowed upon them, and make them witnesses of the agony
with which I am travailing to see the image of Christ formed in
them. Certainly, they'll never forget such actions!
I will be very watchful and cautious about the companions of my
children. I will be very inquisitive what company they keep; if they
are in hazard of being ensnared by any vicious company, I will
earnestly pull them out of it, as brands out of the burning. I will
find out, and procure, laudable companions for them.
As in catechizing the children, so in the repetition of the public
sermons, I will use this method. I will put every truth into a
question to be answered with Yes or No. By this method I hope to
awaken their attention as well as enlighten their understanding.
And thus I shall have an opportunity to ask, "Do you desire such or
such a grace of God?" and the like. Yea, I may have opportunity to
demand, and perhaps to obtain their early and frequent (and why
not sincere?) consent unto the glorious gospel. The Spirit of Grace
may fall upon them in this action; and they may be seized by Him,
and held as His temples, through eternal ages.
When a Day of Humiliation arrives, I will make them know the
meaning of the day. And after time given them to consider of it, I
will order them to tell me what special afflictions they have met
with, and what good they hope to get by those afflictions. On a Day
of Thanksgiving, they shall also be made to know the intent of the
Day. And after consideration, they shall tell me what mercies of
God unto them they take special notice of, and what duties to God
they confess and resolve under such obligations. Indeed, for
something of this importance, to be pursued in my conversation
with the children, I will not confine myself unto the solemn days,
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which may occur too seldom for it. Very particularly, on the
birthdays of the children, I will take them aside, and mind them of
the age which (by God's grace) they are come unto; how thankful
they should be for the mercies of God which they have hitherto
lived upon; how fruitful they should be in all goodness, that so
they may still enjoy their mercies. And I will inquire of them
whether they have ever yet begun to mind the work which God sent
them into the world upon; how far they understand the work; and
what good strokes they have struck at it; and, how they design to
spend the rest of their time, if God still continue them in the world.
17. When the children are in any troubleif they be sick, or painedI
will take advantage therefrom, to set before them the evil of sin,
which brings all our trouble; and how fearful a thing it will be to be
cast among the damned, who are in ceaseless and endless trouble. I
will set before them the benefit of an interest in a CHRIST, by
which their trouble will be sanctified unto them, and they will be
prepared for death, and for fullness of joy in a happy eternity after
death.
18. Among all the points of education which I will endeavor for my
children, I hope to see that each of themthe daughters as well as
the sonsmay gain insight into some skill that lies in the way of
gain (however their own inclination may most carry them), so that
they may be able to subsist themselves, and get something of a
livelihood, in case the Providence of God should bring them into
necessities. Why not they as well as Paul the Tent-Maker! The
children of the best fashion, may have occasion to bless the
parents that make such a provision for them! The Jews have a
saying worth remembering: "Whoever doesn't teach his son some
trade or business, teaches him to be a thief."
19. As soon as ever I can, I will make my children apprehensive of the
main end for which they are to live; that so they may as soon as
may be, begin to live; and their youth not be nothing but vanity. I
will show them, that their main end must be, to, acknowledge the
great God, and His glorious Christ; and bring others to
acknowledge Him: and that they are never wise nor well, but when
they are doing so. I will make them able to answer the grand
question of why they live; and what is the end of the actions that
fill their lives? I will teach them that their Creator and Redeemer is
to be obeyed in everything, and everything is to be done in
obedience to Him. I will teach them how even their diversions, and
their ornaments, and the tasks of their education, must all be to fit
them for the further service of Him to whom I have devoted them;
and how in these also, His commandments must be the rule of all
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1. Define the term City Upon a Hill and explain what it meant to the
Puritans in America.
2. How were Gospel Charity and Fruitful Labors important to the
Puritans? Give specific examples as a part of your answer.
3. What is a Puritan?
4. List and define the 5 Puritan Values.
5. Who was John Winthrop? Identify him briefly through his life and
works in Boston by giving at least 3 specific items about him.
6. Who were Simon and Anne Bradstreet? Identify them briefly through
their life and works in Massachusetts by giving at least 3 specific items
about them.
7. Who was John Eliot? Identify him briefly through his life and works in
the Roxbury area by giving at least 3 specific items about him.
8. Narrate the life of Cotton Mather.
9. How did the life of Cotton Mather illustrate the typical values of the
Puritans?
10. Why are the Puritans so important in the history of America?
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Dave Raymonds American History | Lesson 7 - A Foreign War at Home: Wars of Control
Lesson 7
A FOREIGN WAR AT HOME: WARS OF
CONTROL
Lecture 7.1THE PRINCIPLE
ASSIGNMENT: Read the selection from the beginning of The Last of the
Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. How does this selection show
the foreign war played out in the home of the American colonists?
SELECTION: From Chapter 1 of The Last of the Mohicans by James
Fenimore Cooper.
"Mine ear is open, and my heart prepared:
The worst is worldly loss thou canst unfold:
Say, is my kingdom lost?
Shakespeare
It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North America, that
the toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be encountered before the
adverse hosts could meet. A wide and apparently an impervious
boundary of forests severed the possessions of the hostile provinces of
France and England. The hardy colonist, and the trained European who
fought at his side, frequently expended months in struggling against the
rapids of the streams, or in effecting the rugged passes of the mountains,
in quest of an opportunity to exhibit their courage in a more martial
conflict. But, emulating the patience and self-denial of the practiced
native warriors, they learned to overcome every difficulty; and it would
seem that, in time, there was no recess of the woods so dark, nor any
secret place so lovely, that it might claim exemption from the inroads of
those who had pledged their blood to satiate their vengeance, or to
uphold the cold and selfish policy of the distant monarchs of Europe.
Perhaps no district throughout the wide extent of the intermediate
frontiers can furnish a livelier picture of the cruelty and fierceness of the
savage warfare of those periods than the country which lies between the
head waters of the Hudson and the adjacent lakes.
The facilities which nature had there offered to the march of the
combatants were too obvious to be neglected. The lengthened sheet of
the Champlain stretched from the frontiers of Canada, deep within the
borders of the neighboring province of New York, forming a natural
passage across half the distance that the French were compelled to
master in order to strike their enemies. Near its southern termination, it
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from the proud elevation on which it had been placed by the talents and
enterprise of her former warriors and statesmen. No longer dreaded by
her enemies, her servants were fast losing the confidence of self-respect.
In this mortifying abasement, the colonists, though innocent of her
imbecility, and too humble to be the agents of her blunders, were but the
natural participators. They had recently seen a chosen army from that
country, which, reverencing as a mother, they had blindly believed
invincible--an army led by a chief who had been selected from a crowd of
trained warriors, for his rare military endowments, disgracefully routed
by a handful of French and Indians, and only saved from annihilation by
the coolness and spirit of a Virginian boy, whose riper fame has since
diffused itself, with the steady influence of moral truth, to the uttermost
confines of Christendom. A wide frontier had been laid naked by this
unexpected disaster, and more substantial evils were preceded by a
thousand fanciful and imaginary dangers. The alarmed colonists believed
that the yells of the savages mingled with every fitful gust of wind that
issued from the interminable forests of the west. The terrific character of
their merciless enemies increased immeasurably the natural horrors of
warfare. Numberless recent massacres were still vivid in their
recollections; nor was there any ear in the provinces so deaf as not to
have drunk in with avidity the narrative of some fearful tale of midnight
murder, in which the natives of the forests were the principal and
barbarous actors. As the credulous and excited traveler related the
hazardous chances of the wilderness, the blood of the timid curdled with
terror, and mothers cast anxious glances even at those children which
slumbered within the security of the largest towns. In short, the
magnifying influence of fear began to set at naught the calculations of
reason, and to render those who should have remembered their
manhood, the slaves of the basest passions. Even the most confident and
the stoutest hearts began to think the issue of the contest was becoming
doubtful; and that abject class was hourly increasing in numbers, who
thought they foresaw all the possessions of the English crown in America
subdued by their Christian foes, or laid waste by the inroads of their
relentless allies.
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The 23rd day of the month, betimes in the morning, the Spaniards
taking the benefit of a northerly wind, turned about against the English,
who for their advantage soon turned aside towards the west. And after
they had strived to get the wind one of another, they prepared
themselves on both sides to fight, and fight they did confusedly and with
variable fortune, whilst on the one side the English manfully rescued the
ships of London that were hemmed in by the Spaniards, and on the other
side the Spaniards as stoutly delivered Recalde, being in danger. Never
was heard greater thundering of ordnance on both sides, which
notwithstanding from the Spaniards flew for the most part over the
English without harm. Only Cock, an Englishman, died with honor in the
midst of the enemies in a small ship of his. For the English ships, being
far the lesser, charged the enemy with marvelous agility, and having
discharged their broad sides, flew forth presently into the deep, and
leveled their shot directly without missing at those great ships of the
Spaniards, which were heavy and altogether unwieldy. And the Lord
Admiral thought not good to hazard fight by grappling with them, as
some unadvised people persuaded him. For the enemy had a strong army
in the fleet, he had none. Their ships were far mo in number, of bigger
burthen, stronger, and higher built, so as from those which defended
aloft from the hatches nothing but certain death would hang over the
heads of those which should charge from beneath. And he foresaw that
the overthrow would damage him much more then the victory would
avail him. For being vanquished he should have brought England into
extreme hazard; and being conqueror, he should only have gained a little
glory for overthrowing the fleet and beating the enemy.
The 24th day of the month they ceased on both sides from
fighting. The Lord Admiral sent some of the smaller ships to the next
coasts of England to fetch powder and other provision for fight; and
divided the whole fleet into four squadrons, whereof the first he
commanded himself, the second the committed to Drake, the third to
Hawkins, and the fourth to Forbisher; and appointed out of every
squadron certain small vessels to give the charge from divers parts in the
dead of the night; but being becalmed, his design failed of the effect.
The 25th, which was Saint James his day, the Saint Anne a galleon
of Portugal, which could not hold course with the rest, was set upon by
certain small English ships; to whose rescue cane Lena and Don Diego
Telles Enriques with three galleasses; which the Lord Admiral himself,
and the Lord Thomas Howard in the Golden Lyon, towing three ships with
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their boats (so great was the calm) charged in such sort with force of
their ordinance, that much ado they had, and not without loss, to free the
galleon; and from that time no galleasses would undertake to fight. The
Spaniards report that the English the same day beat the Spanish Admirall
in the utter squadron with their great ordinance nearer then before, and
having slain many men, shot down her maine mast, but Mexia and
Recalde in good time repulsed the English. That then the Spanish
Admirall, assisted by Recalde and others, set upon the English Admiral,
and that the English Admiral escaped by means of the wind turning. That
the Spaniards from that time gave over the pursuit, and holding on to
their course, dispatched a messenger again to Parma to join his fleetewith
all speed with the kings Armada, and withal to send great shot. These
things were unknown to the English, who write that from one of the
Spanish ships they rent the lantern, and from another the beak-head, and
did much hurt to the third. That the Non-Pariglia and the Mary-rose
fought a while with the Spaniards; and that other ships rescued the
Triumph which was in danger. Thus in the manner of the fights they
which were present thereat doe not report the same things of the same,
whilst every one on both sides mentioned what he himself observed.
The next day the Lord Admiral knighted the Lord Thomas Howard,
the Lord Sheffield, Roger Townsend, John Hawkins, and Martin Forbisher,
for their valor. And it was resolved, from thence forth to assail the enemy
no more till they came to the British forth or Straight of Calais, where the
Lord Henry Seimore and Sir William Winter awaited their coming. So with
a faire Etesian gale (which in our sky bloweth for the most part from the
Southwest and by South clear and fair), the Spanish fleet sailed forward,
the English fleet following it close at the heels. But so far was it from
terrifying the sea-coast with the name of Invincible, or with the terrible
spectacle, that the youth of England with a certain incredible alacrity
(leaving their parents, wives, children, cousins, and friends, out of their
entire love to their Country) hires ships from all parts at their own
private charges, and joined with the fleet in great number; and amongst
others the Earls of Oxford, Northumberland, Cumberland, Thomas and
Robert Cecil, Henry Brooke, Charles Blunt, Walter Raleigh, William Hatton,
Robert Cary, Ambrose Willoughby, Thomas Gerard, Arthur Gorges, and
others of good note.
But the Spaniards, now casting away all hope of returning, and
seeking to save themselves by no other means by flight, stayed in no
place. And thus the Armada, which had been full three years in rigging
and preparing with infinite expense, was within one month many times
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assailed, and at the length defeated with the slaughter of many men; not
an hundred of the English being lacking, nor one small ship lost, save
only that of Cocks (for all the shot out of the tall Spanish ships flew
quite over the English ships), and after it had been driven round about all
Britain, by Scotland, the Orkneys, and Ireland, most grievously tossed,
and very much distressed and wasted by storms, wrecks, and all kind of
miseries, at length returned home with dishonor. Whereupon moneys
were stamped, some in memory thereof with a fleet flying with full sails,
and this inscription, Venit, Vidit, Fugit, that is, It Came, It Saw, It Fled;
others in honor of the Queen, with incendiary ships and a fleet confused,
and inscribed Dux Femina Facti, that is, A woman was a leader of the fact.
In their flight certain it is that many ships were cast away upon the
coasts of Scotland and Ireland, and about 700 soldiers and sailors cast on
land in Scotland, which at the intercession of the Prince of Parma to the
King of Scotts, and by permission of Queen Elizabeth, were after a year
sent over into the Low-Countries. But more unmercifully were those
miserable wretches dealt withal, whose happening was to be driven by
tempests into Ireland. For they were slain, some of them by the wild Irish,
and some put to the sword by commandment of the Lord Deputy. For he,
fearing least they would join with the Irish rebels, and seeing that
Bingham Governor of Connacht, having been once or twice commanded
to show rigor upon them which had yielded themselves, had refused to
doe it, sent Fowl Deputy marshall, who drew them out of their lurking
holes and beheaded about 200 of them; which the Queen from her heart
condemned as a matter full of cruelty. Herewith the rest being terrified,
sick and starved as they were, they committed themselves to the sea in
their broken vessels, and were many of them swallowed of the waves.
Lecture 7.3WARS
ASSIGNMENT: Read the poem, he Battle of La Prairie, by William Douw
Schuyler-Lighthall. How was honor in the face of overwhelming odds
a major factor in why soldiers fought?
SELECTION: The Battle of La Prairie, by William Douw Schuyler-Lighthall.
The Battle of La Prairie
That was a brave old epoch,
Our age of chivalry,
When the Briton met the French-man
At the fight of La Prairie;
And the manhood of New England,
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Lesson 8
GRACE, THE FOUNDER OF LIBERTY: THE
GREAT AWAKENING
Lecture 8.1THE PRINCIPLE
ASSIGNMENT: Read all of Revelation 21. Discuss how the view of the
coming New Heavens and New Earth should affect a Christians work
in this world.
due time, seems to imply the following things, relating to the punishment
and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed.
1. That they were always exposed to destruction; as one that
stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. This
is implied in the manner of their destruction coming upon them,
being represented by their foot sliding. The same is expressed,
Psalm 73:18. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou
castedst them down into destruction."
2. It implies, that they were always exposed to sudden unexpected
destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment
liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall
stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once
without warning: Which is also expressed in Psalm 73:18,19.
"Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst
them down into destruction: How are they brought into
desolation as in a moment!"
3. Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of
themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another;
as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but
his own weight to throw him down.
4. That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall
now is only that God's appointed time is not come. For it is said,
that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot
shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by
their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery
places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very
instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on
such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot
stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.
The observation from the words that I would now insist upon is
this. -- "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment
out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." -- By the mere pleasure
of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained
by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more
than if nothing else but God's mere will had in the least degree, or
in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked
men one moment. -- The truth of this observation may appear by
the following consideration.
1. There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at
any moment. Men's hands cannot be strong when God rises up.
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The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver
out of his hands. -- He is not only able to cast wicked men into
hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince
meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, who has
found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by
the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is
no fortress that is any defence from the power of God. Though
hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God's enemies
combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in
pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the
whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring
flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we
see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a
slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God,
when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we,
that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the
earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?
2. They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never
stands in the way, it makes no objection against God's using his
power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary,
justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins.
Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of
Sodom, "Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?" Luke 13:7.
The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over
their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy,
and God's mere will, that holds it back.
3. They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell.
They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the
sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of
righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is
gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they
are bound over already to hell. John 3:18. "He that believeth not
is condemned already." So that every unconverted man properly
belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is, John 8:23.
"Ye are from beneath:" And thither he is bound; it is the place
that justice, and God's word, and the sentence of his
unchangeable law assign to him.
4. They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of
God, that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason
why they do not go down to hell at each moment, is not because
God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them;
as he is with many miserable creatures now tormented in hell,
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who there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is
a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on
earth: yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this
congregation, who it may be are at ease, than he is with many of
those who are now in the flames of hell.
So that it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness,
and does not resent it, that he does not let loose his hand and
cut them off. God is not altogether such an one as themselves,
though they may imagine him to be so. The wrath of God burns
against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is
prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready
to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering
sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its
mouth under them.
5. The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his
own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him;
he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion.
The scripture represents them as his goods, Luke 11:12. The
devils watch them; they are ever by them at their right hand;
they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see
their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept
back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are
restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls.
The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to
receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily
swallowed up and lost.
6. There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles
reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell
fire, if it were not for God's restraints. There is laid in the very
nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell.
There are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them,
and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell fire. These
principles are active and powerful, exceeding violent in their
nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon
them, they would soon break out, they would flame out after the
same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in
the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments
as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in scripture
compared to the troubled sea, Isa. 57:20. For the present, God
restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the
raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, "Hitherto shalt thou
come, but no further;" but if God should withdraw that
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restraining power, it would soon carry all before it. Sin is the
ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if
God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing
else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the
heart of man is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while
wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God's restraints,
whereas if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of
nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so if sin was not
restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into fiery oven, or
a furnace of fire and brimstone.
7. It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are
no visible means of death at hand. It is no security to a natural
man, that he is now in health, and that he does not see which
way he should now immediately go out of the world by any
accident, and that there is no visible danger in any respect in his
circumstances. The manifold and continual experience of the
world in all ages, shows this is no evidence, that a man is not on
the very brink of eternity, and that the next step will not be into
another world. The unseen, unthought-of ways and means of
persons going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and
inconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a
rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this
covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these
places are not seen. The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day;
the sharpest sight cannot discern them. God has so many
different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the
world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it
appear, that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or
go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any
wicked man, at any moment. All the means that there are of
sinners going out of the world, are so in God's hands, and so
universally and absolutely subject to his power and
determination, that it does not depend at all the less on the
mere will of God, whether sinners shall at any moment go to
hell, than if means were never made use of, or at all concerned
in the case.
8. Natural men's prudence and care to preserve their own lives, or
the care of others to preserve them, do not secure them a
moment. To this, divine providence and universal experience do
also bear testimony. There is this clear evidence that men's own
wisdom is no security to them from death; that if it were
otherwise we should see some difference between the wise and
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your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation.
But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his
hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the
thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it.
Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to
tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and
if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly
descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy
constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best
contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more
influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's
web would have to stop a falling rock. Were it not for the sovereign
pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you
are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is
made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the
sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin
and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy
your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be
acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to
maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life
in the service of God's enemies. God's creatures are good, and were
made for men to serve God with, and do not willingly subserve to
any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so
directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would
spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath
subjected it in hope. There are the black clouds of God's wrath now
hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and
big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it
would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of
God, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come
with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and
you would be like the chaff on the summer threshing floor.
The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the
present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher,
till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the
more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. It is
true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed
hitherto; the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld; but
your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are
every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly
rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but
the mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back, that are
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other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since
you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up.
There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell,
since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure
eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn
worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason
why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.
O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great
furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of
wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath
is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of
the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames
of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe
it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator,
and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the
flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have
done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one
moment. -- And consider here more particularly,
1. Whose wrath it is: it is the wrath of the infinite God. If it were
only the wrath of man, though it were of the most potent prince,
it would be comparatively little to be regarded. The wrath of
kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute monarchs,
who have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in
their power, to be disposed of at their mere will. Prov. 20:2. "The
fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: Whoso provoketh him
to anger, sinneth against his own soul." The subject that very
much enrages an arbitrary prince, is liable to suffer the most
extreme torments that human art can invent, or human power
can inflict. But the greatest earthly potentates in their greatest
majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest
terrors, are but feeble, despicable worms of the dust, in
comparison of the great and almighty Creator and King of
heaven and earth. It is but little that they can do, when most
enraged, and when they have exerted the utmost of their fury.
All the kings of the earth, before God, are as grasshoppers; they
are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their
hatred is to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is
as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater.
Luke 12:4,5. "And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of
them that kill the body, and after that, have no more that they
can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: fear him,
which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say
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design, and what he has determined, even to show how terrible the
unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness of Jehovah is, he will
do it to effect. There will be something accomplished and brought
to pass that will be dreadful with a witness. When the great and
angry God hath risen up and executed his awful vengeance on the
poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight
and power of his indignation, then will God call upon the whole
universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to
be seen in it. Isa. 33:12-14. "And the people shall be as the burnings
of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burnt in the fire. Hear ye
that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near,
acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness
hath surprised the hypocrites," etc.
Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you
continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness of
the omnipotent God shall be magnified upon you, in the ineffable
strength of your torments. You shall be tormented in the presence
of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you
shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of
heaven shall go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they
may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is; and
when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore that great
power and majesty. Isa. 66:23,24. "And it shall come to pass, that
from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another,
shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they
shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have
transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall
their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all
flesh."
3. It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this
fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you
must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this
exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see
a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will
swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will
absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any
mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must
wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and
conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then
when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been
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spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a
point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be
infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such
circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but
a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and
inconceivable: For "who knows the power of God's anger?"
How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in
the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the
dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been
born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may
otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young
or old! There is reason to think, that there are many in this
congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the
subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not who they
are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have. It
may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without
much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are
not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we
knew that there was one person, and but one, in the whole
congregation, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an
awful thing would it be to think of! If we knew who it was, what an
awful sight would it be to see such a person! How might all the rest
of the congregation lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over him!
But, alas! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this
discourse in hell? And it would be a wonder, if some that are now
present should not be in hell in a very short time, even before this
year is out. And it would be no wonder if some persons, that now
sit here, in some seats of this meeting-house, in health, quiet and
secure, should be there before tomorrow morning. Those of you
that finally continue in a natural condition, that shall keep out of
hell longest will be there in a little time! your damnation does not
slumber; it will come swiftly, and, in all probability, very suddenly
upon many of you. You have reason to wonder that you are not
already in hell. It is doubtless the case of some whom you have
seen and known, that never deserved hell more than you, and that
heretofore appeared as likely to have been now alive as you. Their
case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme misery and perfect
despair; but here you are in the land of the living and in the house
of God, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. What would
not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day's
opportunity such as you now enjoy!
And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein
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Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in
calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein
many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God.
Many are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many
that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are
in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to
him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his
own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is
it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting,
while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and
singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow
of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one
moment in such a condition? Are not your souls as precious as the
souls of the people at Suffield, where they are flocking from day to
day to Christ?
Are there not many here who have lived long in the world, and
are not to this day born again? and so are aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and have done nothing ever since they
have lived, but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath? Oh, sirs,
your case, in an especial manner, is extremely dangerous. Your
guilt and hardness of heart is extremely great. Do you not see how
generality persons of your years are passed over and left, in the
present remarkable and wonderful dispensation of God's mercy?
You had need to consider yourselves, and awake thoroughly out of
sleep. You cannot bear the fierceness and wrath of the infinite God.
-- And you, young men, and young women, will you neglect this
precious season which you now enjoy, when so many others of
your age are renouncing all youthful vanities, and flocking to
Christ? You especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but
if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as with those persons who
spent all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to
such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness. -- And you,
children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going
down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now
angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be
the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land
are converted, and are become the holy and happy children of the
King of kings?
And let every one that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the
pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or
young people, or little children, now hearken to the loud calls of
God's word and providence. This acceptable year of the Lord, a day
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sacrament, read your Bibles, and never felt the power of God upon
your hearts; you that are formal professors, you that are baptized
heathens; awake, awake, and do not rest on a false bottom. Blame
me not for addressing myself to you; indeed, it is out of love to
your souls. I see you are lingering in your Sodom, and wanting to
stay there; but I come to you as the angel did to Lot, to take you by
the hand. Come away, my dear brethren -- fly, fly, fly for your lives
to Jesus Christ, fly to a bleeding God, fly to a throne of grace; and
beg of God to break your hearts, beg of God to convince you of
your actual sins, beg of God to convince you of your original sin,
beg of God to convince you of your self-righteousness -- beg of God
to give you faith, and to enable you to close with Jesus Christ.
O you that are secure, I must be a son of thunder to you, and O
that God may awaken you, though it be with thunder; it is out of
love, indeed, that I speak to you. I know by sad experience what it
is to be lulled asleep with a false peace; long was I lulled asleep,
long did I think myself a Christian, when I knew nothing of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I went perhaps farther than many of you do; I
used to fast twice a-week, I used to pray sometimes none times aday, I used to receive the sacrament constantly every Lord"s-day;
and yet I knew nothing of Jesus Christ in my heart, I knew not that
I must be a new creature -- I knew nothing of inward religion in my
soul.
And perhaps, many of you may be deceived as I, poor creature,
was; and, therefore, it is out of love to you indeed, that I speak to
you. O if you do not take care, a form of religion will destroy your
soul; you will rest in it, and will not come to Jesus Christ at all;
whereas, these things are only the means, and not the end of
religion; Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to all that
believe. O, then, awake, you that are settled on your lees; awake
you Church professors; awake you that have got a name to live,
that are rich and think you want nothing, not considering that you
are poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel you to come and buy of
Jesus Christ gold, white raiment, and eye-salve.
But I hope there are some that are a little wounded; I hope God
does not intend to let me preach in vain; I hope God will reach
some of your precious souls, and awaken some of you out of your
carnal security; I hope there are some who are willing to come to
Christ, and beginning to think that they have been building upon a
false foundation. Perhaps the devil may strike in, and bid you
despair of mercy; but fear not, what I have been speaking to you is
only out of love to you -- is only to awaken you, and let you see
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your danger.
If any of you are willing to be reconciled to God, God the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is willing to be reconciled to you. O
then, though you have no peace as yet, come away to Jesus Christ;
he is our peace, he is our peace-maker -- he has made peace betwixt
God and offending man. Would you have peace with God? Away,
then, to God through Jesus Christ, who has purchased peace; the
Lord Jesus has shed his heart"s blood for this. He died for this; he
rose again for this; he ascended into the highest heaven, and is now
interceding at the right hand of God.
Perhaps you think there will be no peace for you. Why so?
Because you are sinners? Because you have crucified Christ -- you
have put him to open shame -- you have trampled under foot the
blood of the Son of God? What of all this? Yet there is peace for
you. Pray, what did Jesus Christ say of his disciples, when he came
to them the first day of the week? The first word he said was,
"Peace be unto you;" he showed them his hands and his side, and
said, "Peace be unto you." It is as much as if he had said, Fear not,
my disciples; see my hands and my feet how they have been
pierced for your sake; therefore fear not.
How did Christ speak to his disciples? "Go tell my brethren, and
tell broken-hearted Peter in particular, that Christ is risen, that he
is ascended unto his Father and your Father, to his God and your
God." And after Christ rose from the dead, he came preaching
peace, with an olive branch of peace, like Noah"s dove; "My peace I
leave with you." Who were they? They were enemies of Christ as
well as we, they were deniers of Christ once as well as we. Perhaps
some of you have backslidden and lost your peace, and you think
you deserve no peace; and no more you do. But, then, God will heal
your backslidings, he will love you freely. As for you that are
wounded, if you are made willing to come to Christ, come away.
Perhaps some of you want to dress yourselves in your duties, that
are but rotten rags. No, you had better come naked as you are, for
you must throw aside your rags, and come in your blood. Some of
you may say, We would come, but we have got a hard heart. But
you will never get it made soft till ye come to Christ; he will take
away the heart of stone, and give you an heart of flesh; he will
speak peace to your souls; though ye have betrayed him, yet he will
be your peace.
Shall I prevail upon any of you this morning to come to Jesus
Christ? There is a great multitude of souls here; how shortly must
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apprehend Christ, they fell to the ground when Jesus said, "I am
he." And if they could not bear the sight of Christ when clothed
with the rags of mortality, how will they hear the sight of him when
he is on his Father"s throne?
Methinks I see the poor wretches dragged out of their graves by
the devil; methinks I see them trembling, crying out to the hills and
rocks to cover them. But the devil will say, Come, I will take you
away; and then they shall stand trembling before the judgment-seat
of Christ. They shall appear before him to see him once, and hear
him pronounce that irrevocable sentence, "Depart from me, ye
cursed." Methinks I hear the poor creatures saying, Lord, if we must
be damned, let some angel pronounce the sentence. No, the God of
love, Jesus Christ, will pronounce it. Will ye not believe this?
Do not think I am talking at random, but agreeably to the
Scriptures of truth. If you do not, then show yourselves men, and
this morning go away with full resolution, in the strength of God,
to cleave to Christ. And may you have no rest in your souls till you
rest in Jesus Christ! I could still go on, for it is sweet to talk of
Christ. Do you not long for the time when you shall have new
bodies -- when they shall be immortal, and made like Christ"s
glorious body? And then they will talk of Jesus Christ for evermore.
But it is time, perhaps, for you to go and prepare for your
respective worship, and I would not hinder any of you. My design
is, to bring poor sinners to Jesus Christ. O that God may bring
some of you to himself! May the Lord Jesus now dismiss you with
his blessing, and may the dear Redeemer convince you that are
unawakened, and turn the wicked from the evil of their way! And
may the love of God, that passeth all understanding, fill your
hearts. Grant this, O Father, for Christ"s sake; to whom, with thee
and the blessed Spirit, be all honor and glory, now and for
evermore. Amen.
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detail.
4. Describe the culture of the American colonies prior to the Great
Awakening in detail.
5. Describe the character, life, and work of Theodore
Frelinghuysen or William Tennent.
6. Describe the character, life, and work of Jonathan Edwards.
7. What is significant about the sermon Sinners in the Hands of
an Angry God? What did this sermon achieve?
8. Narrate the early life of George Whitefield and explain how is
natural talents were used for his calling as a pastor and
preacher.
9. In what ways were George Whitefields sermons compelling?
Why do you think he had such an effect upon so many?
10.What did the Great Awakening provide for the colonies of
America? How did this movement help our later declaration of
independence from Great Britain?
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Lesson 9
FATHERS OF INDEPENDENCE: ADAMS,
FRANKLIN, WITHERSPOON, AND HENRY
Lecture 9.1THE PRINCIPLE
ASSIGNMENT: Read The Rights of the Colonists by Samuel Adams.
What principles does Samuel Adams appeal to to defend the
colonists? Are these principles found in the Scriptures? If so, where?
SELECTION: The Rights of the Colonists by Samuel Adams. Delivered
November 20, 1772.
I. Natural Rights of the Colonists as Men.
Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to
life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to
support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident
branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation,
commonly called the first law of nature.
All men have a right to remain in a state of nature as long as they
please; and in case of intolerable oppression, civil or religious, to leave
the society they belong to, and enter into another.
When men enter into society, it is by voluntary consent; and they
have a right to demand and insist upon the performance of such
conditions and previous limitations as form an equitable original
compact.
Every natural right not expressly given up, or, from the nature of a
social compact, necessarily ceded, remains.
All positive and civil laws should conform, as far as possible, to the
law of natural reason and equity.
As neither reason requires nor religion permits the contrary, every
man living in or out of a state of civil society has a right peaceably and
quietly to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience.
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established in, his natural right to worship God according to the dictates
of his own conscience. And, by the charter of this Province, it is granted,
ordained, and established (that is, declared as an original right) that there
shall be liberty of conscience allowed in the worship of God to all
Christians, except Papists, inhabiting, or which shall inhabit or be
resident within, such Province or Territory. Magna Charta itself is in
substance but a constrained declaration or proclamation and
promulgation in the name of the King, Lords, and Commons, of the sense
the latter had of their original, inherent, indefeasible natural rights, as
also those of free citizens equally perdurable with the other. That great
author, that great jurist, and even that court writer, Mr. Justice
Blackstone, holds that this recognition was justly obtained of King John,
sword in hand. And peradventure it must be one day, sword in hand,
again rescued and preserved from total destruction and oblivion.
III. The Rights of the Colonists as Subjects.
A commonwealth or state is a body politic, or civil society of men,
united together to promote their mutual safety and prosperity by means
of their union.
The absolute rights of Englishmen and all freemen, in or out of civil
society, are principally personal security, personal liberty, and private
property.
All persons born in the British American Colonies are, by the laws
of God and nature and by the common law of England, exclusive of all
charters from the Crown, well entitled, and by acts of the British
Parliament are declared to be entitled, to all the natural, essential,
inherent, and inseparable rights, liberties, and privileges of subjects born
in Great Britain or within the realm. Among those rights are the
following, which no man, or body of men, consistently with their own
rights as men and citizens, or members of society, can for themselves
give up or take away from others.
First, "The first fundamental, positive law of all common wealths or
states is the establishing the legislative power. As the first fundamental
natural law, also, which is to govern even the legislative power itself, is
the preservation of the society."
Secondly, The Legislative has no right to absolute, arbitrary power
over the lives and fortunes of the people; nor can mortals assume a
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prerogative not only too high for men, but for angels, and therefore
reserved for the exercise of the Deity alone.
"The Legislative cannot justly assume to itself a power to rule by
extempore arbitrary decrees; but it is bound to see that justice is
dispensed, and that the rights of the subjects be decided by promulgated,
standing, and known laws, and authorized independent judges"; that is,
independent, as far as possible, of Prince and people. "There should be
one rule of justice for rich and poor, for the favorite at court, and the
countryman at the plough."
Thirdly, The supreme power cannot justly take from any man any
part of his property, without his consent in person or by his
representative.
These are some of the first principles of natural law and justice,
and the great barriers of all free states and of the British Constitution in
particular. It is utterly irreconcilable to these principles and to many
other fundamental maxims of the common law, common sense, and
reason that a British House of Commons should have a right at pleasure
to give and grant the property of the Colonists. (That the Colonists are
well entitled to all the essential rights, liberties, and privileges of men
and freemen born in Britain is manifest not only from the Colony
charters in general, but acts of the British Parliament.) The statute of the
13th of Geo. 2, C. 7, naturalizes even foreigners after seven years'
residence. The words of the Massachusetts charter are these: "And
further, our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby for us, our heirs, and
successors, grant, establish, and ordain, that all and every of the subjects
of us, our heirs, and successors, which shall go to, and inhabit within our
said Province or Territory, and every of their children, which shall happen
to be born there or on the seas in going thither or returning from thence,
shall have and enjoy all liberties and immunities of free and natural
subjects within any of the dominions [422]of us, our heirs, and
successors, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever as if
they and every one of them were born within this our realm of England."
Now what liberty can there be where property is taken away
without consent? Can it be said with any color of truth and justice, that
this continent of three thousand miles in length, and of a breadth as yet
unexplored, in which, however, it is supposed there are five millions of
people, has the least voice, vote, or influence in the British Parliament?
Have they all together any more weight or power to return a single
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of human greatness shall be laid in ashes, for "the earth itself, and all the
works that are therein shall be burnt up."
Wherefore, my beloved hearers, as the ministry of reconciliation is
committed to me, I beseech you in the most earnest manner, to attend to
"the things that belong to your peace, before they are hid from your
eyes". How soon, and in what manner a seal shall be set upon the
character and state of every person here present, it is impossible to
know. But you may rest assured, that there is no time more suitable, and
there is none so safe as that which is present, since it is wholly uncertain
whether any other shall be yours. Those who shall first fall in battle, have
not many more warnings to receive. There are some few daring and
hardened sinners, who despise eternity itself, and set their Maker at
defiance; but the far greater number, by staving off their convictions to a
more convenient season, have been taken unprepared, and thus eternally
lost. I would therefore earnestly press the apostles exhortation, 2
Corinthians 6: 1-2... "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the
day of salvation."
Suffer me to beseech you, or rather to give you warning, not to rest
satisfied with a form of godliness, denying the power thereof. There can
be no true religion, till there be a discovery of your lost state by nature
and practice, and an unfeigned acceptance of Christ Jesus, as he is
offered in the gospel. Unhappy are they who either despise his mercy, or
are ashamed of his cross. Believe it, "There is no salvation in any other."
"There is no other name under heaven given amongst men by which we
must be saved." Unless you are united to him by a lively faith, not the
resentment of a haughty monarch, the sword of divine justice hangs over
you, and the fulness of divine vengeance shall speedily overtake you. I do
not speak this only to the heaven-daring profligate or groveling
sensualist, but to every insensible, secure sinner; to all those, however
decent and orderly in their civil deportment, who live to themselves, and
have their part and portion in this life; in fine, to all who are yet in a state
of nature, for "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God". The fear of man may make you hide your profanity; prudence and
experience may make you abhor intemperance and riot; as you advance in
life one vice may supplant another and hold its place; but nothing less
than the sovereign grace of God can produce a saving change of heart
and temper, or fit you for his immediate presence...
While we give praise to God, the supreme Disposer of all events, for
his interposition in our behalf, let us guard against the dangerous error
of trusting in, or boasting of an arm of flesh. I could earnestly wish, that
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while our arms are crowned with success, we might content ourselves
with a modest ascription of it to the power of the Highest. It has given me
great uneasiness to read some ostentatious, vaunting expressions in our
newspapers, though happily, I think, much restrained of late. Let us not
return to them again. If I am not mistaken, not only the Holy Scriptures in
general, and the truths of the glorious gospel in particular, but the whole
course of providence, seem intended to abase the pride of man, and lay
the vain-glorious in the dust...
From what has been said you may learn what encouragement you
have to put your trust in God, and hope for his assistance in the present
important conflict. He is the Lord of hosts, great in might, and strong in
battle. Whoever hath his countenance and approbation, shall have the
best at last. I do not mean to speak prophetically, but agreeably to the
analogy of faith, and the principles of Gods moral government. I leave
this as a matter rather of conjecture than certainty, but observe, that if
your conduct is prudent, you need not fear the multitude of opposing
hosts.
If your cause is just, you may look with confidence to the Lord, and
intreat him to plead it as his own. You are all my witnesses, that this is
the first time of my introducing any political subject into the pulpit. At
this season, however, it is not only lawful but necessary, and I willingly
embrace the opportunity of declaring my opinion without any hesitation,
that the cause in which America is now in arms, is the cause of justice, of
liberty, and of human nature. So far as we have hitherto proceeded, I am
satisfied that the confederacy of the colonies has not been the effect of
pride, resentment, or sedition, but of a deep and general conviction that
our civil and religious liberties, and consequently in a great measure the
temporal and eternal happiness of us and our posterity, depended on the
issue. The knowledge of God and his truths have from the beginning of
the world been chiefly, if not entirely confined to those parts of the earth
where some degree of liberty and political justice were to be seen, and
great were the difficulties with which they had to struggle, from the
imperfection of human society, and the unjust decisions of usurped
authority. There is not a single instance in history, in which civil liberty
was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire. If therefore we yield up
our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into
bondage.
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Lesson 10
LIBERTY OR DEATH: THE DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE
Lecture 10.1THE PRINCIPLE
ASSIGNMENT: Read Liberty or Death by Patrick Henry. How does
Henry convince people that a fight is the just and only option?
SELECTION: Liberty or Death by Patrick Henry, delivered March 23, 1775.
No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as
abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the
House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights;
and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those
gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to
theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This
is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful
moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less
than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the
magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only
in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great
responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back
my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should
consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of
disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly
kings.
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of
hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to
the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of
wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we
disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and,
having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal
salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am
willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the
lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the
past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the
conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those
hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and
the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been
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lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer
not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this
gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike
preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and
armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown
ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win
back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements
of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask
gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to
force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive
for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call
for all this accumulation of navies and armies?
No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for
no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which
the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to
oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for
the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject?
Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable;
but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble
supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already
exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we
have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now
coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have
supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have
implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry
and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances
have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have
been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the
foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond
hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If
we wish to be freeif we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable
privileges for which we have been so long contendingif we mean not
basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long
engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until
the glorious object of our contest shall be obtainedwe must fight! I
repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is
all that is left us!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so
formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the
next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and
when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather
strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of
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An ancient Sage valued himself upon this, that tho' he could not fiddle,
he knew how to make a great City of a little one. The Science that I, a
modern Simpleton, am about to communicate is the very reverse.
I address myself to all Ministers who have the Management of extensive
Dominions, which from their very Greatness are become troublesome to
govern, because the Multiplicity of their Affairs leaves no Time for
fiddling.
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I.
And lest the People should think you cannot possibly go any
farther, pass another solemn declaratory Act, that `King, Lords,
and Commons had, hath, and of Right ought to have, full Power
and Authority to make Statutes of sufficient Force and Validity to
bind the unrepresented Provinces IN ALL CASES WHATSOEVER.'
This will include spiritual with temporal; and taken together, must
operate wonderfully to your Purpose, by convincing them, that they
are at present under a Power something like that spoken of in the
Scriptures, which can not only kill their Bodies, but damn their
Souls to all Eternity, by compelling them, if it pleases, to worship
the Devil.
VII. To make your Taxes more odious, and more likely to procure
Resistance, send from the Capital a Board of Officers to
superintend the Collection, composed of the most indiscreet, illbred and insolent you can find. Let these have large Salaries out of
the extorted Revenue, and live in open grating Luxury upon the
Sweat and Blood of the Industrious, whom they are to worry
continually with groundless and expensive Prosecutions before the
above-mentioned arbitrary Revenue-Judges, all at the Cost of the
Party prosecuted tho' acquitted, because the King is to pay no
Costs. -- Let these Men by your Order be exempted from all the
common Taxes and Burthens of the Province, though they and their
Property are protected by its Laws. If any Revenue Officers are
suspected of the least Tenderness for the People, discard them. If
others are justly complained of, protect and reward them. If any of
the Under-officers behave so as to provoke the People to drub
them, promote those to better Offices: This will encourage others
to procure for themselves such profitable Drubbings, by
multiplying and enlarging such Provocations, and all with work
towards the End you aim at.
VIII. If the Parliaments of your Provinces should dare to claim Rights or
complain of your Administration, order them to be harass'd with
repeated Dissolutions. If the same Men are continually return'd by
new Elections, adjourn their Meetings to some Country Village
where they cannot be accommodated, and there keep them during
Pleasure; for this, you know, is your PREROGATIVE; and an
excellent one it is, as you may manage it, to promote Discontents
among the People, diminish their Respect, and increase their Disaffection.
IX. If you are told of Discontents in your Colonies, never believe that
they are general, or that you have given Occasion for them;
therefore do not think of applying any Remedy, or of changing any
offensive Measure. Redress no Grievance, lest they should be
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That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.
It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.
It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, black and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.
It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadow brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket ball.
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For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and
altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested
with Powers to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection
and waging War against us.
He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and
destroyed the Lives of our People.
He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to
complete the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun
with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most
barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to
bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their
Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic Insurrections among us, and has endeavored to
bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages,
whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all
Ages, Sexes and Conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress
in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered
only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by
every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free
People.
Nor have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We
have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to
extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of
the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have
appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured
them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations,
which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence.
They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We
must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our
Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in
War, in Peace, Friends.
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 the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly
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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 the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our
Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
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Lesson 11
AWESOME PROVIDENCE: THE WAR OF
INDEPENDENCE I
Lecture 11.1THE PRINCIPLE
ASSIGNMENT: 1) Read Romans 13:1-6. What duties do believers owe
to the civil authority? Why? 2) Read Judges 3. How do the
resistances of Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar demonstrate a respect for
proper authority? Or, who was the proper authority over Israel? 3)
Read Acts 4:1-22 and 5:17-42. For what valid reasons did the apostles
resist the local authorities? 4) Read Proverbs 24:10-12. What justice
does this verse require? How was this evident in the American War of
Independence with the British governments treatment of Boston, etc.?
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enemy carries fire and sword to your very doors? No, it shall not be. Go
forth then in the strength of your manhood to the aid of your brethren,
the defense of your liberty and the protection of your homes. And may
the God of Justice be with you and give you victory. Let Us Pray.
Almighty and gracious God! Thou hast been the refuge and
strength of Thy people in all ages. In time of sorest need we have learned
to come to Thee - our Rock and our Fortress. Thou knowest the dangers
and snares that surround us on march and in battle. Thou knowest the
dangers that constantly threaten the humble, but well beloved homes
which Thy servants have left behind them. O, in Thine infinite mercy,
save us from the cruel hand of the savage, and of Tyrant. Save the
unprotected homes while fathers and husbands and sons are far away
fighting for freedom and helping the oppressed. Thou, who promised to
protect the Sparrow in its flight, keep ceaseless watch, by day and by
night, over our loved ones. The helpless woman and little children, we
commit to Thy care. Thou wilt not leave them or forsake them in times of
loneliness and anxiety and terror. O, God of Battle, arise in Thy might.
Avenge the slaughter of Thy people. Confound those who plot for our
destruction. Crown this mighty effort with victory, and smite those who
exalt themselves against liberty and justice and truth. Help us as good
soldiers to wield the sword of the Lord and Gideon. Amen.
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Lesson 12
AWESOME PROVIDENCE: THE WAR OF
INDEPENDENCE II
Lecture 12.1AMERICAN HEROES
ASSIGNMENT: Read Nathan Hale by Francis Miles Finch. Why was
Hale, who lived so short a life, remembered as a hero?
SELECTION: Nathan Hale by Francis Miles Finch.
To drum-beat and heart-beat,
A soldier marches by:
There is color in his cheek,
There is courage in his eye,
Yet to drum-beat and heart-beat
In a moment he must die.
By starlight and moonlight,
He seeks the Briton's camp;
He hears the rustling flag,
And the armed sentry's tramp;
And the starlight and moonlight
His silent wanderings lamp.
With slow tread and still tread,
He scans the tented line;
And he counts the battery guns
By the gaunt and shadowy pine;
And his slow tread and still tread
Gives no warning sign.
The dark wave, the plumed wave,
It meets his eager glance;
And it sparkles 'neath the stars,
Like the glimmer of a lance-A dark wave, a plumed wave,
On an emerald expanse.
A sharp clang, a steel clang,
And terror in the sound!
For the sentry, falcon-eyed,
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Lecture 12.2SARATOGA
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Americans lost in killed and wounded some seventy men, and the
Germans and British about twice as many, but the Americans took
about seven hundred prisoners, and completely wrecked the forces
of Baum and Breymann.
The blow was a severe one, and Burgoyne's army never recovered
from it. Not only had he lost nearly a thousand of his best
troops, besides cannon, arms, and munitions of war, but the
defeat affected the spirits of his army and destroyed his hold
over his Indian allies, who began to desert in large numbers.
Bennington, in fact, was one of the most important fights of the
Revolution, contributing as it did so largely to the final
surrender of Burgoyne's whole army at Saratoga, and the utter
ruin of the British invasion from the North. It is also
interesting as an extremely gallant bit of fighting. As has been
said, there was no strategy displayed, and there were no military
operations of the higher kind. There stood the enemy strongly
intrenched on a hill, and Stark, calling his undisciplined levies
about him, went at them. He himself was a man of the highest
courage and a reckless fighter. It was Stark who held the
railfence at Bunker Hill, and who led the van when Sullivan's
division poured into Trenton from the river road. He was
admirably adapted for the precise work which was necessary at
Bennington, and he and his men fought well their hand-to-hand
fight on that hot August day, and carried the entrenchments
filled with regular troops and defended by artillery. It was a
daring feat of arms, as well as a battle which had an important
effect upon the course of history and upon the fate of the
British empire in America.
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Lesson 13
A MORE PERFECT UNION: THE CONSTITUTION
Lecture 13.1THE PRINCIPLE
ASSIGNMENT: Read the Articles of Confederation. What powers did
the Articles grant to the United States government? How were States
individually respected?
SELECTION: The Articles of Confederation of the United States.
To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned Delegates
of the States affixed to our Names, send greeting.
Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America, in Congress
assembled, did, on the 15th day of November, in the Year of Our Lord
One thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy seven, and in the Second Year
of the Independence of America, agree to certain articles of
Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhode-island and Providence Plantations,
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina, and Georgia in the words
following, viz.
"Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the states of
New-hampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhode-island and Providence
Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina and Georgia".
Article I. The Style of this confederacy shall be "The United States of
America".
Article II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence,
and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by this
confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress
assembled.
Article III. The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of
friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of
their Liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves
to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon
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The united states in congress assembled shall also be the last resort on
appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting or that hereafter
may arise between two or more states concerning boundary, jurisdiction
or any other cause whatever; which authority shall always be exercised in
the manner following. Whenever the legislative or executive authority or
lawful agent of any state in controversy with another shall present a
petition to congress stating the matter in question and praying for a
hearing, notice thereof shall be given by order of congress to the
legislative or executive authority of the other state in controversy, and a
day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their lawful agents,
who shall then be directed to appoint by joint consent, commissioners or
judges to constitute a court for hearing and determining the matter in
question: but if they cannot agree, congress shall name three persons out
of each of the united states, and from the list of such persons each party
shall alternately strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the
number shall be reduced to thirteen; and from that number not less than
seven, nor more than nine names as congress shall direct, shall in the
presence of congress be drawn out by lot, and the persons whose names
shall be so drawn or any five of them, shall be commissioners or judges,
to hear and finally determine the controversy, so always as a major part
of the judges who shall hear the cause shall agree in the determination:
and if either party shall neglect to attend at the day appointed, without
showing reasons, which congress shall judge sufficient, or being present
shall refuse to strike, the congress shall proceed to nominate three
persons out of each state, and the secretary of congress shall strike in
behalf of such party absent or refusing; and the judgment and sentence
of the court to be appointed, in the manner before prescribed, shall be
final and conclusive; and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to
the authority of such court, or to appear or defend their claim or cause,
the court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence, or judgment,
which shall in like manner be final and decisive, the judgment or
sentence and other proceedings being in either case transmitted to
congress, and lodged among the acts of congress for the security of the
parties concerned: provided that every commissioner, before he sits in
judgment, shall take an oath to be administered by one of the judges of
the supreme or superior court of the state, where the cause shall be tried,
--well and truly to hear and determine the matter in question, according
to the best of his judgment, without favor, affection or hope of reward: -provided also, that no state shall be deprived of territory for the benefit
of the united states.
All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed under
different grants of two or more states, whose jurisdictions as they may
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respect such lands, and the states which passed such grants are adjusted,
the said grants or either of them being at the same time claimed to have
originated antecedent to such settlement of jurisdiction, shall on the
petition of either party to the congress of the united states, be finally
determined as near as may be in the same manner as is before prescribed
for deciding disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction between different
states. The united states in congress assembled shall also have the sole
and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin
struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective states--fixing
the standard of weights and measures throughout the united states-regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians, not
members of any of the states, provided that the legislative right of any
state within its own limits be not infringed or violated--establishing or
regulating post offices from one state to another, throughout all the
united states, and exacting such postage on the papers passing thro' the
same as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the said office-appointing all officers of the land forces, in the service of the united
states, excepting regimental officers--appointing all the officers of the
naval forces, and commissioning all officers whatever in the service of
the united states--making rules for the government and regulation of the
said land and naval forces, and directing their operations.
The united states in congress assembled shall have authority to appoint a
committee, to sit in the recess of congress, to be denominated "A
Committee of the States," and to consist of one delegate from each state;
and to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be
necessary for managing the general affairs of the united states under
their direction--to appoint one of their number to preside, provided that
no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than one
year in any term of three years; to ascertain the necessary sums of money
to be raised for the service of the united states, and to appropriate and
apply the same for defraying the public expenses to borrow money, or
emit bills on the credit of the united states, transmitting every half year
to the respective states an account of the sums of money so borrowed or
emitted,--to build and equip a navy--to agree upon the number of land
forces, and to make requisitions from each state for its quota, in
proportion to the number of white inhabitants in such state; which
requisition shall be binding, and thereupon the legislature of each state
shall appoint the regimental officers, raise the men and cloth, arm and
equip them in a soldier like manner, at the expense of the united states;
and the officers and men so clothed, armed and quipped shall march to
the place appointed, and within the time agreed on by the united states in
congress assembled: But if the united states in congress assembled shall,
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ARTICLE I
SECTION 1.
All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the
United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives.
SECTION 2.
The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen
every second year by the people of the several states, and the electors in
each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most
numerous branch of the state legislature.
No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the
age of twenty five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in
which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several
states which may be included within this union, according to their
respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole
number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
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The actual Enumeration shall be made within three years after the first
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every
subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct.
The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty
thousand, but each state shall have at least one Representative; and until
such enumeration shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall be
entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four,
Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North
Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any state, the
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other
officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
SECTION 3.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from
each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and each
Senator shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The
seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration
of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth
year, and the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one
third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by
resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any state,
the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next
meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of
thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States and who
shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall
be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate,
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Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time
publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require
secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any
question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on
the journal.
Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent
of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place
than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
SECTION 6.
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their
services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the
United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of
the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the
session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from
the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be
questioned in any other place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United
States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall
have been increased during such time: and no person holding any office
under the United States, shall be a member of either House during his
continuance in office.
SECTION 7.
All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments
as on other Bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the
Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the
United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it,
with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who
shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to
reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall
agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the
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anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any
bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of
contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or
duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary
for executing it's inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and
imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of
the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the
revision and control of the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage,
keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or
compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war,
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of
delay.
ARTICLE II
SECTION 1.
The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of
America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and,
together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as
follows:
Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may
direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and
Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but
no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.
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The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for
two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same
state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted
for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and
certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United
States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate
shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open
all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person
having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such
number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if
there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal
number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a
majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in
like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes
shall be taken by States, the representation from each state having one
vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members
from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be
necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the
person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the
Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal
votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the
day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same
throughout the United States.
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States,
at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the
office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who
shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen
Years a resident within the United States.
In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death,
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said
office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress
may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or
inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer
shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until
the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
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ARTICLE III
SECTION 1.
The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme
Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time
ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior
courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated
times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be
diminished during their continuance in office.
SECTION 2.
The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising
under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made,
or which shall be made, under their authority;--to all cases affecting
ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls;--to all cases of
admiralty and maritime jurisdiction;--to controversies to which the
United States shall be a party;--to controversies between two or more
states;--between a state and citizens of another state;--between citizens of
different states;--between citizens of the same state claiming lands under
grants of different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof,
and foreign states, citizens or subjects.
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls,
and those in which a state shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have
original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme
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Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such
exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury;
and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall have
been committed; but when not committed within any state, the trial shall
be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.
SECTION 3.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war
against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and
comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony
of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.
The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but
no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture
except during the life of the person attainted.
ARTICLE IV
SECTION 1.
Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts,
records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the Congress
may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records,
and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
SECTION 2.
The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and
immunities of citizens in the several states.
A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who
shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, shall on demand of
the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up,
to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.
No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof,
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ARTICLE V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the
application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall
call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall
be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when
ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by
conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of
ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no
amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight
hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses
in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its
consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
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ARTICLE VI
All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption
of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this
Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made
in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made,
under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the
land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in
the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of
the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both
of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or
affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever
be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the
United States.
ARTICLE VII
The ratification of the conventions of nine states, shall be sufficient for
the establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying the
same.
AMENDMENT I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
AMENDMENT II
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AMENDMENT III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the
consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be
prescribed by law.
AMENDMENT IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,
and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath
or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and
the persons or things to be seized.
AMENDMENT V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual
service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject
for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall
be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall
private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
AMENDMENT VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy
and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the
crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been
previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to
have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
AMENDMENT VII
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AMENDMENT VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
AMENDMENT IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
AMENDMENT X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to
the people.
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