Recorded Books Inc. - The light and the glory: 1492-1793

1977, 2009 by Peter J. Marshall and David B. Manuel Jr.

Published by Revell

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.revellbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-58558-030-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked KJV is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture marked AMPLIFIED is taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

C ONTENTS

A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to express their gratitude to David Barton and Wallbuilders Inc. of Aledo, Texas, for the timely and capable research assistance of his staff, particularly Katie Schonhoff and Sarah Freeman. We would also like to add a word of thanks to Linda Triemstra for her professional creation of a first-rate index to the book.

A G ENERATION L ATER ...

Can thirty-two years have passed since the The Light and the Glory was first published? It seems more like a dozen since we turned in the final manuscript to the Fleming H. Revell Company and held our breath. Throughout our prayerful research and writing, God had kept us focused on our assignment. We were to give Americans a window into the rich Christian heritage that most of us did not even know our nation possessed, because secular historians often ignored it altogether. Now it was donewould anyone read it?

They did. The blessing that God placed on the book continues to this day. More than a million copies have gone out in all its permutations, which include a young readers edition and even a childrens activity book. It has become what every publisher (and author) hopes for: a continuing back-stock title.

Then why, after all these years, bring out a new edition?

When our publishers came to us with this possibility, Peter was receptive. He had always wanted to do a revision, correcting a few minor factual errors, but mostly adding new material from his ongoing research into American history. David was less receptive. It would mean at least six months work of difficult rewriting. But in writers workshops he had consistently taught that the number one enemy of Best is Good. Thirty-two years ago we had given God our best. But we have gotten better at our craft since then. After much prayer, we agreed.

One compelling reason for this new edition is that basic knowledge of our nations history has been eroding at an accelerating pace. This national amnesia was a serious problem at the time of our first edition; now it is staggering. High school and college-age young people seem to know nothing of our struggle for independence from Great Britain and cannot give the dates for the Civil War. We are losing what Abraham Lincoln referred to as the mystic chords of memory.

Why does that matter? Woodrow Wilson, who was President during World War I (191418), warned us: A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do. We are trying to do a futile thing, if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about.

As we began working, we introduced fresh material on Columbus, Roanoke and Jamestown, the Salem Witch Trials, and Founding Fathers Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and George Washington. We even added a new miracle story from the War for Independence.

We had intended to leave the rest alone, but we were soon rewriting practically every sentence. Thirty-two years had given us a deeper understanding of Gods hand in our nations founding, which affected the entire book.

Thankfully, there is renewed interest in Americas Founders, typified by David McCulloughs superb bestsellers 1776 and John Adams . Most of the new books, however, have not sought to counter the prevailing (and utterly false) opinion that all of the Founders were Deists and were not orthodox Christians. There is a need to set that record straight, using the words of the Founders themselves. Within our space constraints, this version attempts to do that.

If only the problem were merely ignorance of our past. The truth is, we have lost the founding vision for America. We no longer seem to know who we are, much less why we are here. We are like the ancient Israelites, who lost the Word of God (the Old Testament books of Moses) in the dusty recesses of the temple archives. The Bible alerts us to the consequences of this condition: Where there is no vision, the people perish (Prov. 29:18 KJV).

From the beginning this book has been about the search for that original vision. If we could find Gods hand in our nations beginnings, if we could discover that her foundations had been laid by Christian men and women who were conscious of being guided by God, maybe we could help modern Americans recover our national sense of purpose and destiny.

There is an urgency now about this update. In the 1970s we were alarmed at a divorce rate claiming one in four marriages. Now it is one in two. We were appalled at the rise of homosexuality, never dreaming that the Church would ordain practicing homosexuals as ministers or that the State would approve same-sex marriage. Abortion was a holocaust back then, but while public opinion has slowly been turning against it, in too many states it has been relegated to the status of a back-burner issue. Obscenity and profanity in movies and the media today are off the charts.

Nor is the new darkness restricted to adults; it permeates all age groups. Sexually transmitted diseases among college-age young people have become epidemic. Cheating on tests is routine, even for elementary school children.

We could go on, but you get the idea. We are in desperate shape. American morality has no firm footing; it is precariously perched on the shifting sands of the latest trend in lifestyles.

At the time of the birth of our Republic, Samuel Adams, one of its chief progenitors, declared: A general dissolution of principles and manners [meaning mores, not table 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.... [Yet] if virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.

The general dissolution seems to be upon us. Weve lost our moral compass. Just as the needle of a compass always points to the magnetic north, so the needle of Americas moral compass always points to God. From the beginning our national identity and destiny have been intertwined with our relationship with God and our belief in the Bibles authority for daily living.

The Founders of this country believed that the moral future of the nation depended on her maintaining a covenant with God, which is why they always conjoined the words morality and religion whenever they referred to them. Shortly before the Declaration of Independence was voted into existence, John Adams wisely observed: Statesmen... may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand.... Religion and virtue are the only foundations... of all free governments.