Nathan Hale was hanged without a trial September 22, 1776

American Minute with Bill Federer

“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country” were the last words of 21-year-old American patriot Nathan Hale, who was hanged by the British without a trial on SEPTEMBER 22, 1776.

A Yale graduate, 1773, he almost became a Christian minister, as his brother Enoch did, but instead became a teacher at Union Grammar School.

When the Revolutionary War began in 1775, Nathan Hale joined a Connecticut militia and served in the siege of Boston.

On July 4, 1775, Hale received a letter from his Yale classmate, Benjamin Tallmadge, who was now General Washington’s chief intelligence officer:

“Was I in your condition…I think the more extensive service would be my choice. Our holy Religion, the honour of our God, a glorious country, & a happy constitution is what we have to defend.”

Hale accepted a commission as first lieutenant in the 7th Connecticut Regiment under Colonel Charles Webb of Stamford.

The following Spring, they joined the Continental Army’s effort to prevent the British from taking New York City.

The tradition is that Nathan Hale was part of daring band of patriots who captured an English sloop filled with provisions from right under the guns of British man-of-war.

General Washington was desperate to know where the British planned to invade Manhattan Island, writing on September 6, 1776:

“We have not been able to obtain the least information on the enemy’s plans.”

Washington sought a spy to penetrate the British lines at Long Island to get information, and Nathan Hale was the only volunteer.

Fellow officer Captain William Hull attempted to talk him out it, but Hale responded:

“I wish to be useful, and every kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary. If the exigencies of my country demand a peculiar service, its claim to perform that service are imperious.”

On September 21, 1776, Hale was captured by the “Queen’s Rangers” commanded by an American loyalist, Lieut. Col. Robert Rogers.

General William Howe ordered him to be hanged the next morning.

Hale wrote a letter to his mother and brother, but the British destroyed them, not wanting it known a man could die with such firmness.

He asked for a Bible, but was refused.

Nathan Hale was marched out and hanged from an apple-tree in Rutgers’s orchard, near the present streets of East Broadway and Market in New York City.

The Essex Journal stated of Nathan Hale, February 13, 1777:

“At the gallows, he made a sensible and spirited speech; among other things, told them they were shedding the blood of the innocent, and that if he had ten thousand lives, he would lay them all down, if called to it, in defense of his injured, bleeding Country.”

Nathan Hale may have drawn inspiration for his last words “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country” from the well-known English play “Cato,” written by Joseph Addison in 1712, as Hale had been involved in theater while a student at Yale:

“How beautiful is death, when earn’d by virtue!
Who would not be that youth? What pity is it
That we can die but once to serve our country.”

Cato (95-46 BC), was a leader during the last days of the Roman Republic who championed individual liberty against government tyranny; representative republican government against a despotic dictatorship; and logic over emotion.

Attempting to prevent Julius Caesar from becoming a dictator, Cato was know for his immunity to bribes, his moral integrity, and his distaste for corruption.

George Washington had the play “Cato” performed for the Continental Army while they were encamped at Valley Forge.

American Heritage Magazine’s article, “The Last Days and Valiant Death of Nathan Hale” (April 1964), gave fellow soldier Lieutenant Elisha Bostwick’s description of Nathan Hale:

“He was undoubtedly pious; for it was remark’d that when any of the soldiers of his company were sick he always visited them & usually prayed for & with them in their sickness.”

Nathan Hale’s nephew was Massachusetts Governor Edward Everett, who spoke at the dedication of the Battlefield right before Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863.

Nathan Hale’s grand nephew was well-known author Edward Everett Hale, who wrote:

“We are God’s children, you and I, and we have our duties…Thank God I come from men who are not afraid in battle.”

Capturing this patriotic spirit, American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his poem, “Voluntaries” (1863):

“So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,
When Duty whispers low, ‘Thou must’
The youth replies, ‘I can’”

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The Moral Liberal contributing editor, William J. Federer, is the bestselling author of “Backfired: A Nation Born for Religious Tolerance no Longer Tolerates Religion,” and numerous other books. A frequent radio and television guest, his daily American Minute is broadcast nationally via radio, television, and Internet. Check out all of Bill’s books here.

President Calvin Coolidge’s concern for youth

American Minute with Bill Federer

On SEPTEMBER 21, 1924, America’s 30th President, Calvin Coolidge, addressed the Holy Name Society in Washington, D.C., saying:

“The worst evil that could be inflicted upon the youth of the land would be to leave them without restraint and completely at the mercy of their own uncontrolled inclinations.

Under such conditions education would be impossible, and all orderly development intellectually or morally would be hopeless.”

Calvin Coolidge continued:

“The Declaration of Independence…claims…the ultimate source of authority by stating…they were… ‘appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of’ their ‘intentions.’…

The foundations of our independence and our Government rests upon basic religious convictions.

Back of the authority of our laws is the authority of the Supreme Judge of the World, to whom we still appeal.”

President Calvin Coolidge concluded:

“It seems to me perfectly plain that the authority of law, the right to equality, liberty and property, under American institutions, have for their foundation reverence for God.

If we could imagine that to be swept away, these institutions of our American government could not long survive.”

Chief Justice of New York’s Supreme Court, James Kent, compiled Commentaries on American Law, 1826-30, and wrote in the case People v. Ruggles, 1811:

“Christianity was parcel of the law, and to cast contumelious reproaches upon it, tended to weaken the foundation of moral obligation, and the efficacy of oaths…

Whatever strikes at the root of Christianity tends manifestly to the dissolution of civil government…”

Chief Justice Kent continued:

“The authorities show that blasphemy against God and…profane ridicule of Christ or the Holy Scriptures…are offenses punishable at common law, whether uttered by words or writings…because it tends to corrupt the morals of the people, and to destroy good order…

The people of this State, in common with the people of this country, profess the general doctrines of Christianity, as the rule of their faith and practice;

and to scandalize the author of these doctrines is not only…impious, but…is a gross violation of decency and good order…”

Chief Justice Kent concluded:

“Nothing could be more injurious to the tender morals of the young, than to declare such profanity lawful…

The free, equal, and undisturbed enjoyment of religious opinion, whatever it may be, and free and decent discussions on any religious subject, is granted and secured; but to revile…the religion professed by almost the whole community, is an abuse of that right.”

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The Moral Liberal contributing editor, William J. Federer, is the bestselling author of “Backfired: A Nation Born for Religious Tolerance no Longer Tolerates Religion,” and numerous other books. A frequent radio and television guest, his daily American Minute is broadcast nationally via radio, television, and Internet. Check out all of Bill’s books here.

Our father’s God, to Thee, Author of Liberty…

American Minute with Bill Federer

“My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring!”

This hymn was written by Samuel Francis Smith, who died NOVEMBER 16, 1895.

A Harvard classmate of poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, Smith went to Andover Theological Seminary and became a Baptist minister.

While a student in 1832, Samuel Francis Smith admired a tune while translating a German Hymnal – the same tune was used for British, Canadian, Russian, Danish, Swedish and Swiss National anthems.

Smith stated:

“I instantly felt the impulse to write a patriotic hymn of my own, adapted to the tune.

Picking up a scrap of waste paper which lay near me, I wrote at once.”

In proclaiming “Let Freedom Ring Day,” July 3, 1986, President Ronald Reagan recalled the hymn’s 4th stanza, stating:

“As the golden glow of the Statue of Liberty’s rekindled torch calls forth…throughout our land, let every American take it as a summons to rededication, recalling those words we sang as children:

‘Our father’s God, to Thee,
Author of Liberty,
To Thee we sing,
Long may our land be bright
With Freedom’s Holy Light.
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, Our King.’”

If you are interested in quotes on
“My Country” see below:
“If it be the pleasure of Heaven that my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready, at the appointed hour of sacrifice…But while I do live, let me have a country, and that a free country!” – John Adams

“While my country calls for the exertion of that little share of abilities, which it has pleased God to bestow on me, I hold it my indispensable duty to give myself to her.” – Gouverneur Morris

“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” – Nathan Hale

“I shall anticipate…the place to be assigned me in the history of my country, and die contented with the belief that I have contributed… to…prolong the duration of American liberty.” – Andrew Jackson

“I implore the Spirit from whom every good and perfect gift descends to enable me to render essential service to my country.” – John Quincy Adams

“The ends I aim at shall be my country’s, my God’s, and Truth’s. I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American.” – Daniel Webster

“I will never forget that I am an American fighting man, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.” – President Eisenhower, Code of Conduct for Military

“No, this is a service for my country, and it doesn’t matter whether I do it as an officer or as a plainsman. The big thing is to do it.” – Kit Carson

“No personal consideration shall induce me to abandon the righteous cause of my country. Tell Governor Gage it is the advise of Samuel Adams to him no longer to insult the feelings of an exasperated people.” – Samuel Adams

“Our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality…I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire.” – George Washington

“I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.” – Thomas Jefferson

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The Moral Liberal contributing editor, William J. Federer, is the bestselling author of “Backfired: A Nation Born for Religious Tolerance no Longer Tolerates Religion,” and numerous other books. A frequent radio and television guest, his daily American Minute is broadcast nationally via radio, television, and Internet. Check out all of Bill’s books here.

Nobody knew the war was over

Another great american the attributes victory to God.

Nobody knew the war was over

American Minute with Bill Federer

500 men, women and children were massacred at Fort Mims, Alabama, on August 30, 1813, by the Red Stick Creek Indians, who were supplied with weapons by the British.

It was the largest Indian massacre in American history.

A rumor had been circulated that British were paying cash for American scalps.

Colonel Andrew Jackson defeated the Red Stick Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, March 27, 1814.

The Creeks ceded half of Alabama to the U.S. Government.

Promoted to General, Andrew Jackson was sent 150 miles west to defend New Orleans from the British.

Though the War of 1812 was effectively over two weeks earlier with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, December 24, 1814, news had not yet reached New Orleans.

On January 8, 1815, in the last battle of the War of 1812, nearly 10,000 battle-hardened British soldiers advanced under cover of darkness and heavy fog.

They were intending to surprise General Andrew Jackson’s Tennessee and Kentucky sharpshooters, aided by French pirate Jean Lafitte and his men.

As the British neared, the fog suddenly lifted and the Americans opened fire.

In just a half an hour 2,042 British were killed or wounded, while only 13 Americans were killed.

Considered the greatest American land victory of the war, General Andrew Jackson wrote to Robert Hays, January 26, 1815, regarding the Battle of New Orleans:

“It appears that the unerring hand of Providence shielded my men from the shower of balls, bombs, and rockets, when every ball and bomb from our guns carried with them a mission of death.”

General Jackson told his aide-de-camp Major Davezac of his confidence before the Battle:

“I was sure of success, for I knew that God would not give me previsions of disaster, but signs of victory. He said this ditch can never be passed. It cannot be done.”

Andrew Jackson wrote to Secretary of War James Monroe, February 17, 1815:

“Heaven, to be sure, has interposed most wonderfully in our behalf, and I am filled with gratitude, when I look back to what we have escaped.”

The Treaty of Ghent was ratified by the U.S. Senate, February 16, 1815.

The British had considered capturing Mobile, Alabama, but on February 26, 1815, Napoleon escaped from the Island of Elba and all British troops had to be immediately returned to Europe.

For the next one hundred days, events in Europe cascaded toward the massive Battle of Waterloo.

President Madison proclaimed for the United States a National Day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God, March 4, 1815:

“No people ought to feel greater obligations to celebrate the goodness of the Great Disposer of Events…distinguished by multiplied tokens of His benign interposition.”

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The Moral Liberal contributing editor, William J. Federer, is the bestselling author of “Backfired: A Nation Born for Religious Tolerance no Longer Tolerates Religion,” and numerous other books. A frequent radio and television guest, his daily American Minute is broadcast nationally via radio, television, and Internet. Check out all of Bill’s books here.

A Warning Against Standing Armies and Tyranny

American Minute with Bill Federer

The British invaded Washington, D.C. and burned the Capitol on August 25, 1814.

President James and Dolly Madison had to flee the White House.

A week later, on SEPTEMBER 1, 1814, President Madison wrote:

“The enemy by a sudden incursion has succeeded in invading the capitol of the nation…During their possession…though for a single day only, they wantonly destroyed the public edifices…

An occasion which appeals so forcibly to the…patriotic devotion of the American people, none will forget.”

James Madison continued:

“Independence…is now to be maintained…with the strength and resources which…Heaven has blessed.”

A few weeks later, on September 13, 1814, the British bombarded Fort McHenry, as Francis Scott Key wrote of “bombs bursting in air.”

Two months later, November 16, 1814, President Madison wrote:

“The two Houses of the National Legislature having by a joint resolution expressed their desire that in the present time of public calamity and war

a day may be recommended to be observed by the people of the United States as a Day of Public Humiliation and Fasting and of Prayer

to Almighty God for the safety and welfare of these States, His blessing on their arms, and a speedy restoration of peace…

“I have deemed it proper…to recommend…a day of…humble adoration to the Great Sovereign of the Universe.”

James Madison stated at the Constitutional Convention, June 29, 1787 (Max Farrand’s Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, vol. I (1911, p. 465):

“In time of actual war, great discretionary powers are constantly given to the Executive Magistrate. Constant apprehension of War, has the same tendency to render the head too large for the body.

A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty.

The means of defence against foreign danger have been always the instruments of tyranny at home.

Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. Throughout all Europe, the armies kept up under the pretext of defending, have enslaved the people.”

Madison wrote in Federalist No. 47 (January 30, 1788):

“The accumulation of all powers, Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”

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The Moral Liberal contributing editor, William J. Federer, is the bestselling author of “Backfired: A Nation Born for Religious Tolerance no Longer Tolerates Religion,” and numerous other books. A frequent radio and television guest, his daily American Minute is broadcast nationally via radio, television, and Internet. Check out all of Bill’s books here.

Benjamin Franklin – an American Icon

American Minute with Bill Federer

On JULY 26, 1775, Benjamin Franklin became the first Postmaster General of the United States, a position he held under the British Crown before the Revolution.

Franklin’s public career began when he organized Pennsylvania’s first volunteer militia during threaten attacks from Spanish and French ships.

He then proposed a General Fast, which was approved by the Colony’s Council and printed in his Pennsylvania Gazette, December 12, 1747:

“As the calamities of a bloody War…seem every year more nearly to approach us…there is just reason to fear that unless we humble ourselves before the Lord & amend our Ways, we may be chastized with yet heavier Judgments,

We have, therefore, thought fit…to appoint…a Day of Fasting & Prayer, exhorting all, both Ministers & People, to observe the same with becoming seriousness & attention, & to join with one accord in the most humble & fervent Supplications;

That Almighty God would mercifully interpose and still the Rage of War among the Nations & put a stop to the effusion of Christian Blood.”

Franklin published evangelist George Whitefield’s sermons, thereby spreading The Great Awakening Revival.

He established a volunteer fire department, a circulating public library, an insurance company, a city police force, a night watch and a hospital.

He set up the lighting of city streets and was the first to suggest Daylight Savings Time. He invented bifocal glasses, the Franklin Stove, swim fins, the lightning rod, and coined the electrical terms “positive” and “negative.”

In 1754, Franklin wrote a pamphlet, “Information to Those Who Would Remove to America,” for Europeans interested in sending their youth to this land:

“Hence bad examples to youth are more rare in America, which must be a comfortable consideration to parents. To this may be truly added, that serious religion, under its various denominations, is not only tolerated, but respected and practised.

Atheism is unknown there; Infidelity rare and secret; so that persons may live to a great age in that country without having their piety shocked by meeting with either an Atheist or an Infidel.

And the Divine Being seems to have manifested his approbation of the mutual forbearance and kindness with which the different sects treat each other; by the remarkable prosperity with which he has been pleased to favor the whole country.”

On September 28, 1776, as President of Pennsylvania’s Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin signed the State’s first Constitution, “the most radically democratic Frame of Government the world had ever seen.

It stated:

“Government ought to be instituted…to enable the individuals…to enjoy their natural rights…which the Author of Existence has bestowed upon man; and whenever these great ends…are not obtained, the people have a right…to change it, and take such measures as to them may appear necessary to promote their safety and happiness…”

Pennsylvania’s Constitution continued:

“All men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences…

Nor can any man, who acknowledges the being of a God, be justly deprived or abridged of any civil right…

No authority…shall in any case interfere with…the right of conscience in the free exercise of religious worship.”

Pennsylvania’s Constitution added:

“And each member…shall make…the following declaration, viz: I do believe in one God, the Creator and Governor of the Universe, the Rewarder of the good and the Punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine Inspiration. And no further or other religious test shall ever hereafter be required.”

Pennsylvania’s Constitution had in Section 45:

“Laws for the encouragement of virtue, and prevention of vice and immorality, shall be…constantly kept in force…Religious societies…incorporated for the advancement of religion…shall be encouraged.”

At the end of the Revolutionary War, Franklin signed the Treaty of Paris, September 3, 1783, which began: “In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity…”

As Pennsylvania’s President (Governor), Ben Franklin hosted the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, where on June 28, 1787, he moved:

“That henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning.”

Franklin composed his epitaph:

“THE BODY of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN – Printer.
Like the cover of an old book,
Its contents torn out,
And stripped of its lettering and gilding,
Lies here, food for worms;
Yet the work itself shall not be lost,
For it will (as he believed) appear once more,
In a new, and more beautiful edition,
Corrected and amended By The AUTHOR.”

Franklin wrote April 17, 1787:

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.

As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”

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The Moral Liberal contributing editor, William J. Federer, is the bestselling author of “Backfired: A Nation Born for Religious Tolerance no Longer Tolerates Religion,” and numerous other books. A frequent radio and television guest, his daily American Minute is broadcast nationally via radio, television, and Internet. Check out all of Bill’s books here.

The Constitutional Convention was divinely inspired

 

Ben Franklin

American Minute with Bill Federer

 

The Constitutional Convention was in a deadlock over how large and small states could be represented equally.

 

Some delegates left.

 

Then, on JUNE 28, 1787, 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin spoke and shortly after, the U.S. Constitution became a reality.

 

Franklin stated:

 

“Groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights…

 

In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection.

 

Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were graciously answered.

 

All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending Providence in our favor…

 

And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?”

 

Franklin concluded:

 

“We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.’…

 

I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed…no better than the Builders of Babel.”

 

Ben Franklin gave another address at the Constitutional Convention, 1787, titled Dangers of a Salaried Bureaucracy:

 

“Sir, there are two passions which have a powerful influence in the affairs of men…ambition and avarice-the love of power and the love of money…

 

When united…they have…the most violent effects.

 

Place before the eyes of such men a post of honor, that shall, at the same time, be a place of profit, and they will move heaven and earth to obtain it…

 

What kind are the men that will strive for this profitable preeminence, through all the bustle of cabal, the heat of contention, the infinite mutual abuse of parties, tearing to pieces the best of characters?

 

It will not be the wise and moderate, the lovers of peace and good order, the men fittest for the trust.

 

It will be the bold and the violent, the men of strong passions and indefatigable activity in their selfish pursuits.

 

These will thrust themselves into your government and be your rulers…”

 

Franklin explained further:

 

“There will always be a party for giving more to the rulers, that the rulers may be able, in return, to give more to them.

 

All history informs us, there has been…a kind of warfare between the governing and the governed; the one striving to obtain more for its support, and the other to pay less…

 

Generally, indeed, the ruling power carries…and we see the revenues of princes constantly increasing, and we see that they are never satisfied, but always in want of more.

 

The more the people are discontented with the oppression of taxes, the greater need the prince has of money to distribute among his partisans, and pay the troops that are to suppress all resistance, and enable him to plunder at pleasure.

 

There is scarce a king in a hundred who would not, if he could, follow the example of Pharaoh-get first all the people’s money, then all their lands, and then make them and their children servants for ever.

 

It will be said that we do not propose to establish kings…But there is a natural inclination in mankind to kingly government…

 

They would rather have one tyrant than five hundred. It gives more of the appearance of equality among citizens; and that they like.

 

I am apprehensive, therefore-perhaps too apprehensive-that the government of the States may, in future times, end in a monarchy…and a king will the sooner be set over us.”

 

Bill FedererThe Moral Liberal contributing editor, William J. Federer, is the bestselling author of “Backfired: A Nation Born for Religious Tolerance no Longer Tolerates Religion,” and numerous other books. A frequent radio and television guest, his daily American Minute is broadcast nationally via radio, television, and Internet. Check out all of Bill’s books here.