• The original intent of the Fore Fathers from the Declaration of
Independence to the Constitution and its First Amendment has Christian overtones. The
government is originally based on Christian teaching. The Revolution was the birth of
the United States. There were many pastors and godly men such as Samuel Davies and the
Muhlenburg brothers that had important influences at that time.
Samuel Davies, a Presbyterian preacher who helped lead the Great Awakening, helped get Virginians to defend their frontier during the British colonial period.[16]
On January 21, 1776, Reverend John Peter Muhlenberg announced from behind his pulpit that it was a time for war. He then took off his clerical robes to reveal that he was dressed in full military uniform. He reminded his parishioners that they must protect their liberties and encouraged them to join him in a fight for independence. About 300 men from his congregation joined him and they formed the Eighth Virginia Regiment.[17]
Reverend Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg was driven from his church by the British in 1777 and went on to be America’s first Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1778. His signature appears on the Bill of Rights.[18]