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Abstract: Did America have a Christian Founding? This disputed question, far from being only of historical interest, has important implications for how we conceive of the role of religion in the American republic. Mark David Hall begins by considering two popular answers to the query—“Of course not!” and “Absolutely!”—both of which distort the Founders’ views. After showing that Christian ideas were one of the important intellectual influences on the Founders, he discusses three major areas of agreement with respect to religious liberty and church–state relations at the time of the Founding: Religious liberty is a right and must be protected; the national government should not create an established church, and states should have them only if they encourage and assist Christianity; and religion belongs in the public square....

Even in Washington's time, there were many who speculated about George Washington's religious views and practices. Mount Vernon had the chance to speak with Mary V. Thompson, author of "In the Hands of a Good Providence: Religion in the Life of George Washington" about her book and this interesting subject.   The Interview starts with this question....

"I think myself happy that, after reiterated invitations from this honourable court, I am at length permitted by divine providence, though under peculiar difficulties, and in the decline of life, to appear in this place, and speak on this public occasion, when the principal officers of government are to be appointed to their several departments, according to the suffrages of the people. I will endeavor to give due honor to the rulers of the people, while I declare, with simplicity of heart and honest freedom, the admonitions which the great Lord of the universe gives; and offer my best thoughts as to the general administration of public affairs, and the way to secure the prosperity and happiness of a nation....

The World Socialist Web Site recently spoke to James Oakes, Distinguished Professor of History and Graduate School Humanities Professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, on the New York Times’ 1619 Project. Oakes is the author of two books which have won the prestigious Lincoln Prize:The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of anti-slavery Politics (2007); and Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861–1865 (2012). His most recent book is The Scorpion’s Sting: anti-slavery and the Coming of the Civil War (2014).....

The Continental-Confederation Congress, a legislative body that governed the United States from 1774 to 1789, contained an extraordinary number of deeply religious men. The amount of energy that Congress invested in encouraging the practice of religion in the new nation exceeded that expended by any subsequent American national government. Although the Articles of Confederation did not officially authorize Congress to concern itself with religion, the citizenry did not object to such activities. This lack of objection suggests that both the legislators and the public considered it appropriate for the national government to promote a nondenominational, nonpolemical Christianity....

The evangelical chaplain David Avery of Franklin, Connecticut, saw his first action of the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Bunker Hill. That June in 1775, minutemen from New England seized Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, just to the north of British-occupied Boston. Under the cover of darkness, the colonial troops hastily built fortifications atop Breed's Hill that would allow them to bombard the British army across the river. The sight of the fort so provoked the British that they decided to assault the insolent militiamen and drive them from the Charlestown heights. The British navy barraged Charlestown, setting the small town's wooden buildings ablaze, while 2,300 British infantrymen crossed the narrow Charles River to attack the 1,500 colonists occupying the hill. As the redcoats began to ascend Breed's Hill, Avery stood on nearby Bunker Hill and raised his arms toward heaven, praying for God to bless the American forces. For a time, his prayers seemed to work [but then]....