Of the leaders one usually associates with founding the US, what were their religious faiths? I assume most all were Christian, but I assume also that a few were agnostic. Any atheist? What Christian branches were they from?
This is not an invitation to witness or flame. Thanks.
Adams was a Congregationalist/Unitarian. Washington and Jefferson were both nominally Episcopalians (Jefferson was in reality a deist, and Washington was generally indifferent about religion). Hamilton, I believe, was a Presbytarian. Among the Continental Congress and the early Congresses, the congressmen represented pretty much all of the major Christian denominations.
Thanks. Was Thomas Paine an athiest? I guess I veiw him as something of a founder. Certainly a rabble rouser, and well known back then.
Benjamin Franklin was a deist, and therefore not part of a particular organized religion.
Thomas Paine was a Deist, I think. This quote:
“I do not believe because a man and a woman make a child that it imposes on the Creator the unavoidable obligation of keeping the being so made in eternal existance hereafter. It is in His power to do so, or not to do so, and it is not in my power to decide which He will do.”
seems to indicate a belief in some kind of God.
Benjamin Franklin was also a deist:
“As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupt changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some Doubts as to his divinity; tho’ it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and I think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble…” (Carl Van Doren. Benjamin Franklin. New York: The Viking Press, 1938, p. 777.)
and:
“…Some books against Deism fell into my hands…It happened that they wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by them; for the arguments of the Deists, which were quote to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger than the refutations, in short, I soon became a thorough Deist.”
I think that overall, the founding fathers were Deists, with a few Unitarians thrown in for good measure.
I don’t think any of the major Founding Fathers were Catholic. There was only 1 Catholic signer of the Declaration, Charles Carroll of MD.
15 of the Declaration Signers were Episcopals, 11 were Congregationalists, only 3 (Jefferson, Franklin and James Wilson were definitely Deists). Many we don’t know.
http://www.usconstitution.net/declarsigndata.html
Only 2 of the 55 Delegates to The Constitutional Convention were Roman Catholic
http://wae.com/freedom/confath.html
Washington’s Army were Founding Fathers too in my book. I don’t know thier religions by %
I’m tempted to say (without contradicting the earlier posts) that they weren’t a very religious bunch.
Interesting quotes from Jefferson:
“I am of a sect by myself, as far as I know.”
“I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature.”
I’ve seen some debate on whether or not Washington ever went to church, took communion, or did other things. I think it’s misleading to say that they were all Christians, drhess. You can find quotes from many of them slamming Christianity.
Here is a list of all of our presidents, along with their party affiliation and religion, as well as (oddly enough) how old they would be if they were alive today. As an aside, and interestingly, Andrew Johnson is the only one who has nothing under religious affiliation. Anyway, the information comes from GIA, which turns out to be chock full of useful information. I haven’t taken a look at any of the currently reported stuff, just the historical stuff. I’ve been impressed so far.
In the book “The Duel” about the rivalry between Hamilton and Burr, the author says that Hamilton was an Episcopalian, which was one more thing his political oppponents would throw up as proof of his crypto-angloman status.
Thanks presidebt that’s a great link. I didn’t know that UU was around back then. Was it as liberal as it is today? Guess not, if they had slaves…
It wasn’t. That site is wrong (albeit mainly in semantic terms).
“Unitarian Universalism” came about in a 1961 merger. Prior to then, one was either Unitarian or Universalist.
That site is cool, but one other error is in assigning Washington to the “Federalist Party.” Washington aborred partisanship and hoped that the United States government would function without parties (or “factions,” as he called them).
Most of the effective men in Washington’s administration, led by Hamilton and Adams, aligned themselves with the Federalists by the second term. Jefferson felt shut out from that bunch. But Washington himself believed it was important for the president to remain above party politics, and he never joined any party at all. Washington’s second term had a discernably Federalist flavor, but it’s still wrong to say that “Washington was in the Federalist party.”
And, both early Unitarianism and early Universalism were more explicitly Christian at the time than they are now.
Piper, thanks for the correction on Hamilton.
One thing to remember about the religious beliefs of the Virginian founding fathers is that most of them were in the colonial House of Burgesses, which, at that time, required its members to be members of the Episcopal church. So people like Washington, Jefferson, Madison, et. al., while some of them may not have believed in Christianity, were still members of the Episcopal Church.
I find Lincoln’s religion as “Liberal Protestant” to be very interesting. Is that another way of saying “basically an athiest”?
Odinoneeye, Protestants are not athiests. Why would you think that?
I noticed that many Presidents were listed as “United Methodist.” That is an error. It was simply the Methodist Church at that time. In the mid 1960’s two or three denominations joined to become the United Methodist Church.
I tend to think of “liberal Protestants” as belonging to Presbyterian, Episcopal, Unitarian and perhaps Quaker denominations. I’m sure I’ve left out some.