After a very long and enduring war, it was clear that England could not break the will, minds, spirits, or intentions of the American army. Through the command of General George Washington, the colonists had won the final victory. Outnumbered by troops, under equipped, and under trained, the colonists found their strength in God, and within their Godly leaders. In their eyes and before the eyes of God, their mission and their goal was a Godly one. They could in no way lose. And because of following God's guidance, they accomplished all that they originally set out to do.

With the war over, the Continental Congress had many things to do. In 1783, they ratified a peace treaty with Great Britain at the close of the Revolutionary War. The treaty began:

In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity. It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the most serene and most potent Prince George the Third, by the Grace of God King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith,... And of the United States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings and differences....

The Continental Congress in 1787 passed an act in which special lands were designated:

... For the sole use of Christian Indians and the Moravian Brethren missionaries, for civilizing the Indians and promoting Christianity. [This act was extended three times during Thomas Jefferson's presidency].

Continental Congress May 14, 1787, began the Constitutional Convention at the State House (Independence Hall) for the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation and formulating the Constitution. George Washington, who had been unanimously elected as President of the Convention, rose during the Convention and admonished the delegates:

If to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterward defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair; the event is in the Hand of God!

In the beginning of our great nation, politicians showed some characteristics that are still seen today. On Thursday, June 28, 1787, the Constitutional Convention was embroiled in a bitter debate over how each state was to be represented in the new government. The hostile feelings created by the smaller states being pitted against the larger states, was so bitter that some delegates actually left the Convention.

Benjamin Franklin, being the President (Governor) of Pennsylvania, hosted the rest of the 55 delegates attending the Convention. Being the senior member of the convention, at 81 years of age, he commanded the respect of all present, and, as recorded in James Madison's detailed records, he arose to address the Congress in this moment of crisis:

Mr. President, the small progress we have made after 4 or five weeks close attendance & continual reasonings with each other our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many noes as ayes, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding.

We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of those Republics, which, having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution, now no longer exist. And we have viewed Modern States all round Europe, but find none of their Constitutions suitable to our circumstances.

In this situation of this Assembly, 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 to illuminate our understanding?

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

To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?

I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?

We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that "except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages.

And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.

Jonathan Dayton, delegate from New Jersey, reported the reaction of Congress to Dr. Franklin's rebuke:

The Doctor sat down; and never did I behold a countenance at once so dignified and delighted as was that of Washington at the close of the address; nor were the members of the convention generally less affected. The words of the venerable Franklin fell upon our ears with a weight and authority, even greater than we may suppose an oracle to have had in a Roman senate!

Following the historical address, James Madison made a motion, which was seconded by Roger Sherman of Connecticut, that Dr. Franklin's appeal for prayer be enacted. Edmund Jennings Randolph of Virginia followed with a further motion:

"That a sermon be preached at the request of the convention on the 4th of July, the anniversary of Independence; and thenceforward prayers be used in ye Convention every morning."

The clergy of the city responded to this request and effected a profound change in the convention, as noted in Jonathan Dayton's records, when they reconvened on July 2, 1787:

We assembled again; and... Every unfriendly feeling had been expelled, and a spirit of conciliation had been cultivated.

On July 4th, the entire Convention assembled in the Reformed Calvinistic Church, according to the proposal by Edmund Jennings Randolph of Virginia, and heard a sermon by Rev. William Rogers. His prayer was a reflection of the hearts of all the delegates following the convicting admonition of Dr. Franklin:

We fervently recommend to the fatherly notice... Our federal convention... Favor them, from day to day, with thy inspiring presence; be their wisdom and strength; enable them to devise such measures as may prove happy instruments in healing all divisions and prove the good of the great whole;... That the United States of America may form one example of a free and virtuous government...

May we... Continue, under the influence of republican virtue, to partake of all the blessings of cultivated and Christian society.

Continental Congress passed "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio," later shortened to the Northwest Ordinance. (This ordinance was later passed by the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Washington, August 4, 1789, during the same time the First Amendment was being formulated):

Article III Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged.

On September 17, 1787, the Continental Congress called for a vote on the new Constitution. Thirty-nine of the 55 delegates at the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution. By June 21, 1788, nine of the states had ratified it, establishing the Constitution. All of the states had completed ratification by January 10, 1791.

Virtually every one of the 55 writers and signers of the United States Constitution of 1787, were members of Christian denominations: 29 were Anglicans, 16 to 18 were Calvinists, two were Methodists, two were Lutherans, two were Roman Catholic, one was a lapsed Quaker and sometimes Anglican, and one was an open Deist.  Dr. Franklin who attended every kind of Christian worship, called for public prayer and contributed to all denominations.

On August 4, 1789, Congress of the United States of America re-passed the Northwest Ordinance, having been previously passed under the Articles of Confederation. The United States Annotated Code, in establishing requirements for those territories seeking statehood, lists the Northwest Ordinance as one of the most significant governmental instruments, along with the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Deeply held religious convictions springing from the Holy Scriptures led to the early settlement of our Nation.... biblical teaching inspired concepts of civil government that are contained in our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

In the forming of this nation wars were fought and many died for that which they believed. Prayer went forth proceeding each battle that God would keep and protect them. God was at the forefront of everything that was done in those days of continuous struggle.  Finally, after God gave Washington the victory at Yorktown, there seemed to be at last a nation ready to be birthed out of this wilderness land. A nation that would bow down unto the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God-fearing men such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison to name a few. These men formed the Constitution of this young country with this preamble:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

There were seven articles to this Constitution. The political theory of the Constitution is that no man or set of men should rule the people. However, Thomas Jefferson still thought that the government was not restricted enough and had too much power over the people. The Constitution was amended and the first eight of these Amendments are known as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights does restrict what the government can do in terms of oppressing the people. Thomas Jefferson said,

... restrict your government, chain it, limit its abilities. Those who wish to be both ignorant and free, want something that has never been and will never be. If people do not know their Constitution they will lose it."

I wonder how many people today even know, in general, the main thrust of the Constitution and its amendments? As a nation, there are probably few who know and understand our constitutional rights as citizens.

Bill of Rights

AMENDMENT 1

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

There is no place in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights that says anything about separation of the church from the state. We hear over and over again this quoted by those who are enemies of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The passage that they are using is  taken out of one of the private letters of Thomas Jefferson. Neither Thomas Jefferson nor the rest of our founding fathers ever intended for the Bible and prayer to be banned in our schools. In fact, to the contrary, the Bible was the standard textbook of every school in this country. We need to keep in mind that the very reason for this and the other Amendments was to restrict, limit, and chain our government so that it would not be able to rule the people. Our Congress has done exactly the opposite. We are now prohibited from having prayer in our schools, quoting the Bible, or having the Ten Commandments posted on a school building. In the first statement of this Amendment we are assured that the government would not enforce any type of state governed religion upon the people. It is going to be very interesting to watch how our government will implement the changing of this Amendment in the times that are coming.

Freedom of speech was political speech and religious speech; being able to express your views on these subjects without being imprisoned for those views. A few years ago people began to burn the American flag, calling it an act of free speech. In Thomas Jefferson's day this would have been considered an act of treason against the sovereignty of our government. We still have the right to peaceable assembly. In many countries, people have to register with the law agencies before they can assemble.

In the last part of this amendment we find it saying, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. This means that if there is something you do not like that the government has done, you can get people to sign a petition stating your displeasure. However, that does not mean that the government will change their stand on the matter, but it will let them know that people are not happy with their decision. Some people think that the politicians pay little if any attention to these petitions. It would do good for us to remember that these politicians are elected officials and if enough people are unhappy with them they may not get reelected. For this reason alone, our petitions are looked at and taken into consideration, especially when thousands of signatures are on them.

AMENDMENT 2

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

This amendment was not in place for us to be able to hunt, target practice, or defend ourselves against criminals. Now, you can do all of these if you should desire, but the meaning is actually to protect us in case our government becomes a tyrant; so we would be armed, consequently capable of stopping our government of such aggression.

There was once a time in our country that required each citizen to have at least one firearm in their home, and they were trained to handle it. Today militias are literally springing up all over America. People are starting to realize that the government is becoming exactly what our forefathers did not want it to become; a tyrannical power over the people.

AMENDMENT 3

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

This amendment is saying that the U. S. Army does not have the right to take your home and use it to quarter soldiers, unless by prescribed law. This means during earthquakes, hurricanes, storms, civil unrest, or war. This can be prescribed in a way that the owner is given just compensation.

AMENDMENT 4

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

This amendment has been completely abused right before our own eyes. The situation that took place in Waco, Texas, shows very plainly that their personal effects were seized, and their lives were taken from them. These people were not secure in their persons, their effects, or their papers, and this was done by judges and attorneys who had no regard or respect for our Constitution that they had sworn to protect.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms conducted this atrocious act for political reasons. The government wanted to see how far they could go before the people said, enough. This is setting us up eventually for a police state. I believe that was exactly what Hitler did. We went to war to stop that atrocity and now we are trying to implement Hitler's plan right here in America.

Jefferson knew that any government had the potential to abuse its authority. That is why he said to "chain your government, limit your government" so this would not happen to this country. The right of the people is not the right of the government and that is what our government is trying to get us to believe.

AMENDMENT 5

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment five states that when someone is found innocent by jury, they are not to be tried again on the same charges. We are seeing this amendment broken also.

In the Rodney King incident, the police officers who were found innocent were tried again for the same crime. The Justice Department officials and the district attorneys betrayed their oath of office when they charged them again with the same crime. They used the terminology "separate domain," but it was the same crime.

I wonder why the media is not screaming about this violation of the Constitution? Why were these district attorneys not indicted for violating the civil rights of these officers? This was outlawed by our government over 200 years ago.

This amendment also guarantees that you will not be thrown into jail and left there for years without knowing what the charges are. In law terminology you have a writ of habeus corpus that prevents that from happening. People are being held in jail for literally years while their cases go through the courts.

We also find within this amendment that it contains the right of an individual not to be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. This is often referred to as "taking the Fifth Amendment."

The last point in this amendment tells us that we will not be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. The Rico Act was passed in 1970 for the specific reason of fighting against gangsters. Under the Rico Act, and under the drug enforcement statues, the government can steal your house, your personal property, and you have the burden of proof that you are innocent. The government does not have to prove that you are guilty; you have to prove that you are innocent. Somehow, that does not sound like something our forefathers would have done. This is happening to numbers of people that are being singled out by our government for one reason or another. These people are not gangsters or drug dealers; even the Catholic Church has been indicted on a Rico statute.

AMENDMENT 6

In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trail, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

This Amendment really is an extenuation of the sixth Amendment. It is saying that a person is to have the right to a speedy and public trail. As I said before, this has been in violation for a long time now.

AMENDMENT 7

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trail by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common law.

It should be pointed out that the twenty dollars they are talking about would have the purchasing power of about two hundred dollars today. Notice that there is also a reference here to common law. Common law is judicial precedent, meaning whatever court cases have been decided in the past. This is one way of viewing the Constitution. People who believe in common law; people who support the idea of what they call a Living Constitution, say that the Constitution does not mean what it says. It means what the courts have interpreted it to mean over the years. That of course, is very dangerous. This type of application of our Constitution becomes more and more corrupt the further from the original that they get.

This amendment guarantees the right of trail by jury, and that no fact tried by jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the law other than according to the rule of common law. This has been abused so often that it has become a precedent that has been set for this nation.

This nation is over two hundred years old. The history of every bureaucracy known to man is that bureaucracy will try to expand and retain its power. Our bureaucrats today are simply taking away more and more of our individual respective rights, because they want to have total control.

AMENDMENT 8

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

The problem with bail is that any judge in this country can set bail at whatever he feels appropriate. You can be found totally innocent, but in order to put up that bail to get out of jail, it will cost you, usually ten percent of the total bail. In effect, the judge can fine you money, even if you are innocent.

What about cruel and unusual punishment? People who are placed on death row for years are a good example of this. These people are forced to go through many appeal processes that can literally take years. Is this not cruel and unusual punishment? I believe that it is, but let me also say that I am in favor of the death penalty. The lawyers are getting rich through all of the legal procedures that are needed through the appeals process.

AMENDMENT 9

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

When Judge Robert Bork was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, he said that because this amendment did not specifically enumerate a right, it did not mean anything. Just because the Constitution does not say you have a particular right, does not mean you do not have that right. In this amendment we see that the Constitution has already given us a guarantee that when other inalienable rights come to light, the Constitution is there to protect us from the government's encroachment upon those rights.

AMENDMENT 10

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

This amendment means that unless a power is specifically given to the federal government, that power is reserved for the states, or the people; powers such as taxation, militia control, civil rights, and schools. We now have our federal government and federal judges telling the states how their prisons ought to be, what their schools will be, what their roads shall be, how many people they are going to employ, and the list goes on and on.

This started during the War Between the States and accelerated during the civil rights movement that began in the 1950s. There were a lot of the states that were not going to give civil rights to the populations, because of their sex or color of their skin. As a result, the federal government moved in and took  over the matter.

This was no doubt a good idea, but it set a very bad precedent. Once the states lost the power to rule themselves, they were no longer states; they became provinces under the control of the government. This is the very thing that our forefathers were trying desperately to keep from happening to further generations, but we fell into the trap anyway.