The Role of Education in Preserving Our Nation

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.”

- Thomas Jefferson  

(John P. Foley, The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, P. 605)

 “Let the Constitution be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in primers, spelling-books, and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in the courts of justice.  And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation."

–Abraham Lincoln  

(Complete Woks of Abraham Lincoln, ed. John G. Nicolay and  John Hay, vol. 1(New York; Francis D. Tandy Co., 1905), p.43)

“Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.”

-Benjamin Franklin  (

The Works of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, p. 87)

 “A nation of well-informed men, who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them, cannot be enslaved. It is in the regions of ignorance that tyranny reigns.

                                                     -Dr. Henry Stuber

“Every member of the State ought diligently to read and to study the Constitution of his country … by knowing their rights, they will soon perceive when they are violated and be the better prepared to defend and assert them.”

-John Jay 

(Charge to the Grand Jury of Ulster County 1777)

 “We therefore commend and encourage every person and every group who are sincerely seeking to study Constitutional principles and awaken a sleeping and apathetic people to the alarming conditions that are rapidly advancing about us.  We wish all of our citizens throughout the land were participating in some type of organized self-education in order that they could better appreciate what is happening and know what they can do about it.”

-David O. McKay  

(The Improvement Era, June 1966, p. 477)

"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome direction, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education.”

-Thomas Jefferson 

 (Jefferson to William C. Jarvis, 1820. ME 15:278.)

“A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.... If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.”

-Samuel Adams  

(The Writings of Samuel Adams, ed., Harry Alonzo Cushing (G. P. Putman's Sons, 1908), Vol. 4, p. 124.

“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of the government in the next.”

-Abraham Lincoln 

(William J. Federer, America’s God and Country, Encyclopedia of Quotations, P. 392)

 “Next to being one in worshiping God, there is nothing which this Church should be more united than in upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States.”

-David O. McKay   

(The Instructor, Feb. 1956, p. 34)

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Thoughts on the Constitution By Ezra Taft Benson, Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture

“The Constitution of this land, with which we should all be familiar, is the only constitution in the world bearing the stamp of approval of the Lord Jesus Christ.”  (Be True to God, Country, and Self; Young Adult Fireside; 11 February 1979.)

“About two hundred years ago some inspired men walked this land.  Not perfect men, but men raised up by the Perfect Man to perform a great work.  Foreordained were they to lay the foundation of this republic.  Blessed by the Almighty in their struggle for liberty and independence, the power of heaven rested on these founders as they drafted that great document for governing men – the Constitution of the United States.  Like the Ten Commandments – the truths on which the Constitution were based were timeless; and also as with the Decalogue – the hand of the Lord was in it.  They filled their mission well.  From them we were endowed with a legacy of liberty – a constitutional republic.”  (An Enemy Hath Done This, p. 53)

            “It is my firm conviction – no, more than that – it is my certain knowledge that the greatness of our beloved nation was foreshadowed and foreseen by ancient prophets who lived here.  It is assuring to know that this nation has a prophetic history, that of the great events that have transpired here, including the coming of Columbus, the Pilgrim Fathers, and the War for Independence, were foreseen by ancient prophets.” (The Red Carpet, p. 107)

             “The Constitution was designed to work only with a moral and righteous people.  ‘Our Constitution,’ said John Adams, ‘was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate in the government of any other.’”

“In recognizing God as the source of their rights, the Founding Fathers declared Him to be the ultimate authority for their basis of law.  This led them to the conviction that people do not make law but merely acknowledge preexisting law, giving it specific application.  The Constitution was conceived to be such an expression of higher law.  And when their work was done, James Madison wrote: ‘It is impossible for the man on pious reflection not to perceive in it a finder of the Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stage of the revolution.’” (The Constitution: A Heavenly Banner, p. 23.)

“The coming forth of the Constitution is of such transcendent importance in the Lord’s plan that ancient prophets foresaw the event and prophesied of it.  In the dedicatory prayer for the Idaho Falls Temple, President George Albert Smith indicated that the Constitution fulfilled the ancient prophecy of Isaiah that ‘out of Zion shall go forth the law’ (Isaiah 2:3).  He said:

“’We thank thee that thou hast revealed to us that those who gave us our constitutional form of government were wise men in thy sight and that thou didst raise them up for the very purpose of putting forth that sacred document [the Constitution of the United States]. . . .

“’We pray that kings and rulers and the people of all nations under heaven may be persuaded of the blessings enjoyed by the people of this land by reason of their freedom and under thy guidance and be constrained to adopt similar government systems, thus to fulfill the ancient prophecy of Isaiah and Micah that ‘out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.’”   (The Constitution: A Heavenly Banner, p. 16.)

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Did the Founding Fathers Believe in God?

George Washington, Father of our Nation

“… Reason and experience both forbid to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

                                                                                     

Thomas Jefferson, Father of The Declaration of Independence

“I, too, have made a wee-little book from the same materials, which I call the Philosophy of Jesus; it is a paradigma of his doctrines, made by cutting the texts out of the book, and arranging them on the pages of a blank book, in a certain order of time or subject. A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen; it is a document in proof that I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.”

James Madison, Father of the Constitution

“Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe.”

Samuel Adams, Father of the American Revolution

 “The right to freedom being the gift of the Almighty...The rights of the colonists as Christians...may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutions of The Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.”

                                                                                                          

Patrick Henry, the first governor of Virginia

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!"

John Adams, the first Vice President, the second President of the United States

“The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were. . . . the general principles of Christianity. . . . I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God; and that those principles of liberty are as unalterable as human nature.”

Benjamin Franklin, Father of Morality

“… The longer I live the more convinced I become that God governs in the affairs of men …And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance?”

“Here is my creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe. That he governs by his Providence. That he ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable service we render to him is doing to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting his conduct in this.”

John Jay, Author of the Federalist Papers, First Justice of the Supreme Court

“While in France . . . I do not recollect to have had more than two conversations with atheists about their tenants. The first was this: I was at a large party, of which were several of that description. They spoke freely and contemptuously of religion. I took no part in the conversation. In the course of it, one of them asked me if I believed in Christ? I answered that I did, and that I thanked God that I did.”

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Reason for Optimism in America

It’s easy to become overwhelmed as we listen to the news about America.  Everywhere we turn, we hear stories of murder, crime, and corruptions.  There are seemingly endless reports of rising taxes, political assaults, national debt, embezzlements, pollutions, immoralities, military actions, and attacks on family life.  When I find myself feeling overwhelmed by the problems, I turn to a very simple and direct quote from Dr. Cleon Skousen that brings things back into perspective:

“I am not pessimistic about the future.  I think the soul of America is going to be cleansed by events which will humble the whole nation and put us back on our knees where we can talk with God and recommit ourselves to lives of virtue and morality.  I am a great believer in the promise of God which appears in 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says:

“‘If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’

“Of course, I know the skeptics, the immoral, the political sophisticates and the cynics might laugh at this scripture, but I believe it.  And I further believe that God will not be mocked and that if this nation does not seek God and turn from their wicked ways – their crimes, drugs, abortions and political corruption – there will be a crisis and a cleansing that will turn the people from their wicked ways and put them on their knees.  I have lived long enough to see this happen several times before. 

“But we need not be pessimists, just realists.  Every family needs to do whatever it can to put its house in order.  A home can become a refuge against the coming storm.  The love developed between parents and among children for their parents is God’s supreme formula for his kind of social security. Wherever I find families struggling to build these bonds of trust and love I know they are paying the dividends for a kind of insurance that will hold them together through the pressures and trials that may reach their peak one of these days. 

“Now I know you may have heard me say this before, but sometimes people say, ‘Dr. Skousen, you have studied the problems of our country most of your adult life, and yet you remain optimistic.  How can you be optimistic when you know from your own experience how serious things are?’“My answer is rather simple.  I tell them, ‘I have read the book, and in the end we win!’”[1]

In his inaugural address, President Reagan also expressed this same optimism when he said, “We're not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin.” God will bless America; whether or not we enjoy the process is pretty much up to us!

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[1] (God’s Hand in the building of America, Volume 1, Forward, by Glenn J. Kimber PHD & Julianne S. Kimber MA)

D-Day Prayer - June 6, 1944 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Note: This prayer was originally titled "Let Our Hearts Be Stout" written by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as Allied troops were invading German-occupied Europe during World War II. The prayer was read to the Nation on radio on the evening of D-Day, June 6, 1944, while American, British and Canadian troops were fighting to establish five beach heads on the coast of Normandy in northern France.

The previous night, June 5th, the President had also been on the radio to announce that Allied troops had entered Rome. The spectacular news that Rome had been liberated was quickly superseded by news of the gigantic D-Day invasion which began at 6:30 a.m. on June 6th. By midnight, about 57,000 American and 75,000 British and Canadian soldiers had made it ashore, amid losses that included 2,500 killed and 8,500 wounded.

My Fellow Americans:

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.  And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces. And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.  Amen.

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General Ulysses Grant and the Power to Forgive

Appomattox came four years almost to the day from the fall of Fort Sumpter [first battle of the Civil War].  It marked the end of one of the bloodiest fratricidal wars of history.  As always in such cases, passions had run high on both sides; both sides had been guilty of excesses; great amounts of property had been destroyed; the war cost a million men; there was mourning and suffering throughout the land.  A seedbed had been prepared that could have been sown for recurring crops of war and misery during long generations to come. 

Having surrounded Lee’s army, Grant [commander of the Union Army], moved by loft motives of humanity, opened negotiations to stop “further effusion of blood.”  Lee, moved with a like motive, accepted the approach.  Grant suggested a desire for peace stating the one condition he would insist upon – “that the men and officers surrendered shall be disqualified to taking up arms against the United States until properly exchanged.”  Lee responded stating his earnest desire for peace and asked if Grant’s proposals would lead to that end.  Grant answered he lacked authority for such negotiations, but assured Lee that he was equally desirous with Lee for peace, and so was the whole North.

Lee then proposed the surrender of his army.  Grant, the victor asked Lee, the vanquished, where he would like the interview between them to take place. Lee chose the house of McLean, in the village of Appomattox.  Grant appeared dressed as were his private soldiers, save for shoulder straps that indicated his rank.  Grant, seeking to cause as little humiliation as possible, began the interview with Lee by recalling their joint service in Mexico.  They so conversed pleasantly for a short time, when Lee brought up the subject of their meeting, asking Grant for his terms.  Grant repeated those he had already given, adding that all arms, ammunition, and supplies were to be treated as captured property.

Grant, still anxious to avoid Lee’s unnecessary humiliation, began to talk in a pleasant vein about the prospects of peace; Lee again returned to the subject of the meeting and suggested the terms be submitted.

Grant then wrote out the formal proposals.  As he came to the term covering arms, ammunition, and supplies, he glanced at the handsome sword Lee carried, and still urged by the desire to cause as little humiliation as possible, he added a provision that officers should retain their side arms, horses, and baggage.  Grant finished the terms with the provision as to the parole of officers and men. 

Lee read the terms and observed, “This will have a very happy effect upon my army.”

Grant asked if Lee had any suggestion to offer as to the form of the terms.  Lee observed that in his army cavalry men and artillerists owned their own horses and asked if they would be permitted to retain their horses.  Grant said the terms did not cover this.  Lee’s face showing some anxiety, Grant said the subject was new to him, but, while the terms would stand as written, he would give orders that all men claiming horses would be permitted to take the animals to be used on their farms. To this generous, unrequested kindness by Grant, Lee observed: “This will have the best possible effect upon the men.  It will be very gratifying and will do much towards conciliating our people.”

Lee informed Grant that he had no food, either for his own men or for his prisoners.  He asked Grant if he might return the prisoners.  Grant said yes, and asked Lee how much food he needed for his own men.  Lee did not know.  Grant asked if 25,000 rations would help.  Lee replied that this “would be a great relief.”  Meanwhile, news of the surrender reached the Union army, who began firing salutes. Grant ordered these stopped at once, declaring: “The war is over, the rebels are our countrymen again, and the best sign of rejoicing after the victory will be to abstain from all demonstrations in the field.”  The men in blue mingled together around the common campfires with the men in gray, often eating from a common mess.  The war was actually over. 

Grant and Lee met as gentlemen; they negotiated as gentlemen; they parted as gentlemen.  The next day Grant made a formal call upon Lee and they visited together for half an hour.  There was no bitterness, no hatred.  They, for themselves, buried the past.  Grant’s terms for Lee’s surrender became the terms for the surrender of all the Southern armies. 

Appomattox showed the temper of this people of ours, not in the course of a long period of growth, advancement, and peace, but at the close of a bloody, fratricidal war, where literally father fought son, and son father, and brother fought brother - a kind of war that makes more and deeper wounds that any other kind of conflict.  Yet this temper and concept, this high idealism and lofty purpose of Grant and Lincoln, seemingly fostered by the tragedies of the war, followed us for a half a century thereafter. 

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Davy Crockett Learns About the Constitution

“One winter evening while standing on the steps of the Capitol, I and other members of congress saw, as the result of a large fire, great light coming from Georgetown. We drove over as fast as we could. When we got there I went to work but in spite of all that could be done, many houses were burned and many families made homeless, and, besides, some of them had lost all but the clothes they had on. The next morning, a bill was introduced appropriating $20,000 for their relief. We put aside all other business and rushed it through as soon as it could be done.

“The following summer, while working for reelection, I stopped to talk with a farmer in one of my districts. The man turned to his plow and was about to start off when I said, ‘Don’t be in such a hurry, my friend, I want to have a little talk with you, and get better acquainted.’ The man replied, ‘Yes, I know you; you are Colonel Crockett. . . I shall not vote for you again.’

“I asked what was the matter, to which the man replied, ‘You gave a vote last winter which shows that either you have not capacity to understand the Constitution, or that you are wanting in the honesty and firmness to be guided by it. In either case you are not the man to represent me. If the Constitution is to be worth anything, it must be held sacred, and rigidly observed in all its provisions.’

“I replied, ‘I admit the truth of all you say, but there must be some mistake about it, for I do not remember that I gave any vote last winter upon any Constitutional question.’ The man answered, ‘No, Colonel, there’s no mistake . . . last winter you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000 to some sufferers by a fire in Georgetown. Is that true?’

“I answered, ‘Well, my friend, I may as well own up. You have got me there. But certainly nobody will complain that a great and rich country likes ours should give the insignificant sum of $20,000 to relieve its suffering women and children, particularly with a full and overflowing treasury, and I am sure, if you had been there, you would have done just as I did.’

“The man responded, ‘It is not the amount, Colonel that I complain of; it is the principle. . . The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be entrusted to man . . . you see, that while you are contributing to relieve one, you are drawing it from thousands . . . Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity. Individual members may give as much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose . . . The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a violation of the Constitution. . . So you see, Colonel, you have violated the Constitution in what I consider a vital point. It is a precedent fraught with danger to the country, for when Congress once begins to stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution, there is no limit to it, and no security for the people.’

“Realizing the man was right, I replied, ‘Well, my friend, you hit the nail upon the head when you said I did not have sense enough to understand the Constitution. I intended to be guided by it, and thought I had studied it fully. If I had ever taken the view of it that you have, I would have put my head into the fire before I would have given that vote, and . . . if I ever vote for another unconstitutional law I wish I may be shot.’

“Following this experience, a bill was raised to appropriate money to the widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches were made in its support. It appeared the bill would pass unanimously when I arose and spoke. ‘Mr. Speaker—I have much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the suffering of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please to charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money. We cannot, without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as charity. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week’s pay to the object, and, if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks.’  As a result of my speech, the bill failed, receiving very few votes. I had honored my oath to ‘support the Constitution.’”

Note: This is a retelling of actual events as written by Cameron C. Taylor in his new book Preserve, Protect, and Defend. Used by permission.  See also: Edward S. Ellis, The Life of Colonel David Crockett (Philadelphia: Poter & Coates, 1884), 138–148.

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