{"id":42327,"date":"2026-04-25T07:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T14:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=42327"},"modified":"2026-04-25T08:23:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T15:23:04","slug":"what-the-declaration-of-independence-does-and-doesnt-say-about-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/what-the-declaration-of-independence-does-and-doesnt-say-about-god\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Declaration of Independence does \u2013 and doesn\u2019t \u2013 say about God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thomas Tweed<\/a>, University of Notre Dame<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Fourth of July 1776, the congressional delegates in Philadelphia adopted the Declaration of Independence, then ordered that it be widely \u201cproclaimed.\u201d Couriers carried the printed version<\/a> by stagecoach and horseback to every colony, where officials posted it and newspapers circulated it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the declaration was also meant to be read aloud<\/a>. Thomas Jefferson\u2019s rough draft<\/a> has marks signaling where the reader should pause briefly, or take a longer pause. And there were ceremonial public readings<\/a>: first in Philadelphia and then in town squares, courthouses, churches and taverns up and down the Eastern Seaboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not everyone listening would have agreed with the declaration, and religion was one dividing point. Loyalists who sided with England<\/a> and the official Church of England dissented on both spiritual and political grounds. Two-thirds of its ministers left for England after the Revolution began<\/a>. Members of the historic pacifist churches like the Quakers<\/a>, the Mennonites<\/a> and the Brethren<\/a> had tough choices to make after hearing the declaration\u2019s call to arms. Even some who clearly sided with the patriots might have wondered if all the truths the document proclaimed were as \u201cself-evident\u201d as the delegates presumed \u2013 for example, that all men are \u201cendowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans have continued to debate the declaration\u2019s claims<\/a>. In recent decades, its few references to God have been especially polarizing, as Americans defend starkly contrasting views of the United States. Some say the country is a secular republic founded on 18th-century conceptions of human reason and natural law. Others suggest that it is a Christian nation<\/a>, chosen by God and founded on biblical principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2026, Americans will celebrate the 250th anniversary<\/a> of the Declaration of Independence. As a historian<\/a> who has written about the Revolutionary Era<\/a>, I thought it might help to clarify what the declaration does and doesn\u2019t say about God \u2013 and what the readings of 1776 add to our understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four references to God<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Second Continental Congress appointed a committee of five delegates<\/a> to write the declaration. Jefferson, the main author, penned the first draft in his rented room in central Philadelphia<\/a>. John Adams and Benjamin Franklin offered suggestions before they sent the document to Congress for further revision and approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The Dunlap Broadside, printed by John Dunlap of Philadelphia, was the first printed version of the Declaration of Independence. U.S. National Archives via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The document that delegates adopted listed 27 complaints against King George III<\/a> and explained the reasons for revolt. It used four terms for God as it made its case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its opening paragraph, Jefferson proposed that \u201cthe Laws of Nature and of Nature\u2019s God\u201d grant humans equal status and entitle Americans to dissolve \u201cthe political bands\u201d with Britain. As historians have shown<\/a>, Franklin added a phrase to suggest that those rights had been \u201cendowed by their Creator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress then added two phrases<\/a> to the final paragraph that portray God as a moral judge and a guiding hand. The delegates mention \u201cthe Supreme Judge of the world,\u201d who punishes evil and rewards good \u2013 a description that almost all political and religious leaders would have agreed with<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They end by announcing that \u201cwith a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving room for disagreement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The reference to \u201cProvidence\u201d doesn\u2019t specify how divine influence works, however, leaving room for the founders\u2019 diverging religious interpretations<\/a>. The more conventionally Christian delegates, like John Witherspoon, believed that God intervenes directly in human history<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The first page of Thomas Jefferson\u2019s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence. U.S. Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Others were less conventionally Christian. Rationalists like Jefferson, for example, believed in a creator but rejected biblical miracles and Jesus\u2019 divinity<\/a>. They thought that God\u2019s influence can be seen indirectly, in nature\u2019s order and humans\u2019 capacity to discern God-given rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generic theism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As I show in my 2025 book, \u201cReligion in the Lands That Became America<\/a>,\u201d the declaration became one of the \u201csacred texts\u201d of U.S. civil religion: the loosely linked beliefs, symbols and rituals that many American leaders use to interpret political life in spiritual terms. But the revered text affirmed a generic theism \u2013 belief in a creator god \u2013 without mentioning Jesus or Christianity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor did the declaration cite the Bible as a source for government policy or say that America is a Christian nation. Its central purpose was to explain the reasons for separation from Britain, not to detail the new republic\u2019s governing principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governing principles came in 1789 with the U.S. Constitution<\/a>, which did not mention God. In 1791, states then ratified the First Amendment<\/a>, with its \u201cestablishment\u201d clause rejecting an official state church and its \u201cfree exercise\u201d clause protecting personal religious liberty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the public readings reveal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Eyewitness accounts<\/a> offer a few more details about religious language heard at ceremonial public readings of the declaration in 1776.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some sources show that the declaration was read in churches<\/a> and discussed by the clergy. Massachusetts, for example, ordered that ministers read it in every congregation. And a soldier\u2019s letter to his father<\/a> noted that his brigade\u2019s chaplain offered \u201can excellent prayer\u201d after the declaration was read in New York on July 9, though he gave no other details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
An 1876 illustration from Harper\u2019s Weekly depicts John Nixon reading the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776. U.S. Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the second public reading in Philadelphia on July 8 at the State House, now called Independence Hall, eyewitnesses said the crowd gave \u201cthree cheers<\/a>.\u201d And, as the editor of Philadelphia\u2019s German newspaper reported<\/a>, those cheers were followed by \u201cthe cry \u2018God bless the Free States of North America.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pattern apparently repeated at other public readings. Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John<\/a>, one of the drafters of the declaration, to report that the official reading at Boston\u2019s State House ended with the speaker proclaiming, \u201cGod Save our American States.\u201d After a reading for soldiers in Ticonderoga, New York, on July 28, an officer added, \u201cGod save the Free, Independent States of America<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A prominent newspaper circulated a firsthand account from Savannah<\/a>, Georgia, describing four public readings and a mock \u201cfuneral\u201d for the king on Aug. 10. The presiding official ended by suggesting that \u201cAmerica is free and independent, that she is, and will be, with the blessing of the Almighty, great among the nations of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, attendees at the public readings did hear mentions of God \u2013 but apparently didn\u2019t hear the potentially divisive theological language of sermons or creeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1776 and 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During the 2026 anniversary celebrations, too, the declaration will be read aloud \u2013 including in a simultaneous reading on July 8<\/a> in Philadelphia and in every U.S. state, commonwealth and territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Americans might be even more sharply divided about religion than the colonists of 1776. According to the General Social Survey<\/a>, 14% of Americans say they don\u2019t believe in God or aren\u2019t sure if there is a God, and 25% have \u201cno religion.\u201d About 11% now embrace a non-Christian faith<\/a>. When asked if the federal government should proclaim that the U.S. is a Christian nation, Americans are almost evenly divided<\/a>, a Pew study found, with most evangelicals agreeing and most atheists disagreeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing what the declaration actually says, and how its first listeners reacted, might not sway Americans at the extremes. But it provides evidence for less polarizing, more nuanced views about the founding generation\u2019s convictions and compromises as Americans commemorate their nation\u2019s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Tweed<\/a>, Professor Emeritus of American Studies and History, University of Notre Dame<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thomas Tweed, University of Notre Dame On the Fourth of July 1776, the congressional delegates in Philadelphia adopted the Declaration of Independence, then ordered that it be widely \u201cproclaimed.\u201d Couriers carried the printed version by stagecoach and horseback to every colony, where officials posted it and newspapers circulated it. But the declaration was also meant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":42328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292,46,10,296,36,4,2450,38],"tags":[17636,7603,3321,2618,16544,3852,885,891,886,860,8156,6610,3617,420],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42327"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42329,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42327\/revisions\/42329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}