Some may not agree, but according to their own records, the Founding Fathers were Christians. They resorted to the Bible for help is discerning what kind of nation to establish. They asked for the help of God in the process. In their minds and words, we are a Christian nation.
In a visit with my 96 year old mother today, she wanted me to read to her from my book “The Illegal Trial of Christ.” We read together. When we came to the following words, she cried:
“The requests to put the information shared in my presentations into book form have become more persuasive and have increased in persistence. I was finally convinced to give it a try. I turned to my friend and editor, Rosemary Green, for her assistance. She has taken my sometimes convoluted notes, disjointed outlines, and rudimentary book drafts and through her care, close attention, and long-suffering has turned them into this book.
We know that Benjamin Franklin was a great scientist, inventor, printer, businessman, diplomat, horseman, ambassador, mentor, public servant, and Founding Father. But we don’t often think of him as an author. But we should.
When John Adams was still a young attorney, the Boston Massacre took place. No lawyer wanted to defend the British soldiers that were accused of murder in the case. John Adams eventually learned that the whole matter would probably end with the British being found guilty. Because his cousin Sam Adams was there, John knew some of the facts. He also knew that no one would defend the soldiers.
Alexander Hamilton was a favorite of General George Washington. Few remember that Hamilton was with Washington as he crossed the Delaware and captured the Hessian fighting force at Trenton in December, 1776. Hamilton actually lit the touchholes with the flames that fired the canon at the Hessian barracks that night. James Monroe, the future President, was in charge of the charge. You remember, they won that battle and much later went on the win the Revolutionary war.
The past few days so many editorialists and commentators have touted that we have a great democracy. I must remind you once again, we, in America, do NOT have a democracy. Remember how after the Constitution was finally approved by the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked “what was the result of the deliberations. What kind of government do we have?”
Benjamin Franklin did not, no he didn’t, write the first American novel. However, as a printer, he did publish the first novel in America. The first novel written in plain English was “Pamela” by Samuel Richardson. That was published in London in 1742. Benjamin Franklin brought it to America and published it himself in his printing shop in 1744.
Some say that whatever a man has decided to have placed on his tombstone says a lot about what that man considered to be of greatest importance in his life. Knowing that you would think that a man who accomplished as much in his life as did Thomas Jefferson would need a large grave marker. Or perhaps he’d need several tombstones to give the full story.