[This essay is a companion piece to an earlier essay entitled “Is the United States a Christian Nation?” This essay adds further reasoning to make my case for answering in the negative.]
Our Founders fervently argued during the ratification process of our Constitution that our constitutional republic, once established, could only be maintained by an active citizenry possessing virtue. Many evangelical Christians, among whom I belong, first think of virtues as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control- qualities of spiritual growth listed in the Christian New Testament (Galatians 5:22-23) or the Ten Commandments recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures of the biblical canon, In contrast, many secularists, if they believe in virtue at all, are perhaps attracted to a list of personal qualities akin to the Boy Scout Law- trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, reverent. Both groups would be wrong.
Why were virtues so important to
the Founders that a virtuous citizenry was held up as essential to the survival
of our constitutional republic? This basic question can be answered in two ways- both a negative response and a
positive response. First the negative. About a century and a half after we
gained our independence, the Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi postulated that
seven temptations could destroy civilization-
v Wealth
without work
v Pleasure
without conscience
v Knowledge
without character
v Commerce
without morality
v Science
without humanity
v Worship
without sacrifice
v Politics
without principle
My hunch is that the Founders also
wrestled with these vices and viewed virtue among the people could keep these
seven in check. Now the positive. In the 1830s after about 60 years of independence,
the United States was visited by a French nobleman named Alexis de Tocqueville.
He visited the cities and towns of our nation and collected his observations in
his book entitled Democracy in America, Tocqueville, in his book,
comments on the practical application of citizen virtue to volunteerism,
“Americans use associations to give fetes (celebrations), to found seminaries,
to build inns, to raise churches, to distribute books, to send missionaries…create
hospitals, prisons, schools. Finally, if it is a question of bringing light to
a truth or developing a sentiment with
the support of a great example, they associate.”
Our Founders looked to the ancient
world, especially the Roman Republic, for virtues they felt would sustain a new
continental republic in North America. The Roman Republic is not to be confused
with the Roman Empire. The Republic existed about a thousand years before the
Empire. Historians generally agree the Republic ended when Julius Caesar and
his XIII Legion crossed the Rubicon River, a stream which separated Italy
proper from Gaul.
While Republican Rome was not
perfect by any means and at times it resembled Imperial Rome, the Republic
nevertheless was a fertile ground for the development of qualities of citizenship
or virtues which our Founders found appealing. Sometimes these virtues are
referred to as Republican Virtues (obviously not to be confused with the US
Republican Party) but for the sake of this essay I will call them the core
virtues. Lists of virtues will probably vary so to be as comprehensive as
[possible I will identify and briefly describe the virtues
found in the “Visual Model of the
Roman Concept of Integraitas/Virtus.”
This model has two major virtue
groupings- personal and social. There
are four virtues within the personal grouping-
·
Resolute- endurance, perseverance, courage
·
Duty- respectful, industrious, dedicated
·
Purity- sense of mortality, health, dignity, truthful
·
Self-Control- restraint, modest, merciful, gravity,
economical
And there are four virtues within
the social grouping-
·
Honorable- moral actions, pride, reputation,
humanity
·
Good Faith- reliability, gratefulness, loyalty
·
Selfless- generous, simplicity, incorruptible,
charitable
·
Justice- order, fairness, responsible, empathy
Now I will illustrate how these core
virtues impacted our first four presidents, Founders all. George Washington foundered
two major startups in our history- the American army and the American
presidency. The least educated president of the first four in the formal sense,[i] he needed to remake
himself to improve his social standing in colonial Virginia. His model was the
Roman statesman Cato, described by Plutarch as possessing an inflexible temper,
not swayed by passion, and resolute in his purposes.
In earlier American history Washington
was referred to as the “American Cincinnatus.” Cincinnatus was a Roman soldier
who retired to his farm. When invaders threatened the republic, the Senate called
upon Cincinnatus to lead the army with full political authority as dictator. In
less than two weeks the invaders were repulsed, and Cincinnatus gave up all power
and returned to his farm. Washington surrendered power twice; first, he
resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the army (for this action
alone, King George lll called Washington the greatest man in the world) and
second, when he served only two terms as president setting a precedent that
until 1940.
Harvard educated John Adams was a
“loner” among his fellow first four presidents- the only one not from Virginia
(from Massachusetts), the only one who earned wages for a living (as a
schoolteacher), the only one who showed his emotions, the only one who never
owned a slave, and the first one to think deeply about independence from
Britain. In the same way, Adams was the only one enamored by the Roman statesman
and orator Cicero- in fact, he sought to be the American Cicero. Adams, like
Cicero, lacked wealth, noble birth, and military service, rose to the top of
government. Also, like Cicero, hos weakness was his own vanity.
Adams also used the Ancients for
practical reasons. When he was appointed chair of the Board of War and Ordnance
by the Continental Congress in 1776 he gave himself a crash course on military
strategy and tactics by reading books on the Rome- Cartage (Punic) wars as well
as the Peloponnesian (Greek) War. With over 25 years of retirement following
the end of his presidency in 1801, Adams read Cicero’s How to Grow Old numerous
times.[ii]Jefferson’
Thomas Jefferson was the most
complex person of our first four presidents. He studied classics through his
tutors and at the College of William and Mary, and liked Cicero’s essays and the
speeches of other Romans worthies- Livy, Tacitus, and Sallust. Jefferson then
studied law in the offices of George Wythe- a classicist who considered another
Cato. Yet Jefferson fell under the sway of Greek philosophy, and also.
according to one biographer, “…the Athenians, in all respects, his chosen
people.”
Among the Greek philosophers Epicurus
was primary for the remainder of Jefferson’s life with happiness the aim of his
life grounded in the virtues of prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice,
Jefferson’s decision making has baffled many historians leading one biographer
to label him the “American Sphinx.” Jefferson’s
life goal of happiness should offer a clue for the mystery of his behaviors.
Before I continue with my
discussion on our first presidents, I must call the reader’s attention to an
intellectual movement I just recently discovered- the Scottish Enlightenment. For
most Americans Scotland is a country of Braveheart, kilns, and castles in union
with England, Wales, and Northern Ireland currently held together by a few
percentage points of the Scottish electorate.
During the 18th century Scotland
went from a poor possession of England into one becoming dominant in education.
law, sciences, and international trade. The Scottish Enlightenment began in the
1500s when the Church of Scotland sustained a Calvinist revival. The reformed
church placed a great emphasis on literacy so that the people could read the
Bible. By 1750, Scotland possessed one of the highest literacy rates in Europe
with 75 percent as compared to 53 percent in England.
Unintended consequences flowed from
there. One was the fact Scottish universities in Glasgow and Edinburgh began to
outshine academically the English universities in Oxford and Cambridge. Then
Glasgow and Edinburgh began to attract students from all over Europe and as a
result, Scottish law became indebted to French law and which, in turn, had
Roman law as its foundation.
If the Enlightenment had remained
in Scotland, this discussion will be useless for our purposes in this essay. It
just so happened that Scottish ports were more accessible to the British
colonial trade in North America. Ships loaded with tobacco sailed to Scottish
ports and returned to the American colonies filled with Scottish scholars and
books.
James Madison grew up not too far
from Jefferson’s home in Piedmont Virginia near the Blue Ridge Mountains to the
west. His college choice of Princeton (then known as the College of New Jersey)
over the College of William and Mary in Virginia was not too difficult. William
and Mary was having too many scandals among its faculty members and its climate
was too hot and muggy during the summers whereas Princeton had the most student
diversity among the American colleges, had been engulfed by the Scottish Enlightenment
with Princeton being considered a provincial model of the University of
Edinburgh, and was brimming with political talk about the events of the day.
Madison was at least somewhat
lingually prepared for Princeton. When he arrived he spoke French had such a
distinct Scottish brogue that native French speakers found him almost
impossible to understand! Notwithstanding the language barrier among the French
speakers at Princeton, Madison studied moral philosophy under John Witherspoon,
the college president, who taught that moral philosophy on how to be a virtuous
person and how to promote virtue in one’s society. Witherspoon, it should be
noted, was the only college president and the only clergyman to sign the Declaration
of Independence.
We can also turn to another Founder
for guidance in virtue- Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton left King’s College (now
Columbia) to join the revolutionary cause. Soon after he was an officer in the “New
York State Company of Artillery[iii] assigned to the
Continental Army. When the army was in winter camp Hamilton read extensively
for personal and professional improvement and wrote copious notes on the blank
pages of his pay books. He read philosophy, history, and economics. He was
particularly drawn to the Plutarch biographies of ancient Greek and Roman
leaders; those historical sketches provided Hamilton with an interpretation of
politics. “…as an epic tale of lust and greed and people plotting for power”
noted one Hamilton biographer.
Although the Founders read from the
lessons of the Greeks, they were not attuned to them for guidance in establishing
a federal government for the United States. Nevertheless, the Founders did learn about how the Spartans
developed and utilized checks and balances. And second, the Founders considered
the democracy of Athens in its practices too unstable for a growing continental
republic.
Finally, although the Founders used
what many Christians consider to be “pagan” virtues we modern Christ followers must
remember that although the Founders, or at least many of them, were religious they
were not religious in the traditional sense we think of religion. Although they
nodded to God, they were primarily Deist in outlook. Deism is its basic form is
a faith that believes that God created the world and us humans and other
creatures, God does not intervene in Creation. So, no Savior and no miracles.
Yet, Christians must not despair.
All eight of the core virtues can be “baptized” and added into the lexicon of
the faithful. Followers of Jesus Christ can also draw inspiration from ancient
worthies like Cato or Cicero or even more modern models like Washington, Adams,
Lincoln, or King as long as our Risen Lord and Savior has the primary place in
our lives.
Considering out of a population of
2.5 million people in the thirteen North American colonies there was only nine
colleges with the number of graduates estimated to range from several hundred
to perhaps several thousand, most of the remaining vast majority of the
American colonists were farmers, artisans, fishermen, merchants, and unskilled
laborers. They did not discuss Cato, Cicero, and the virtues of the Roman
Republic, at least on a regular basis.
Yet, these persons were the
enlisted soldiers of the Revolution, those common fighters who served under the
classically educated officers and congressmen. Why did they neglect their
livelihoods to fight and put their lives on the line for independence? What
motivated them to endure defeats and retreats with the cold and heat without
adequate equipment and supplies? Perhaps history has a clue about how religious
faith did play a vital part in our American experience.
Several decades before 1776 a massive
Protestant revival known as the Great Awakening spread through the colonies.
Historians generally credit Pastor Jonathan Edwards’s preaching and ministry as
beginning the awakening and evangelist George Whitfield with spreading the
message. Thousands would attend open-air revival meetings featuring Whitfield
preaching a message that all persons have sinned and come short of God’s glory,
that all persons need salvation through Jesus Christ, and all saved
persons-Christians- need a community-church- to sustain them in this life.
The ”all” in the Gospel message of
the Great Awakening primarily denoted spiritual equality before God and then
for many of the saved “all” became also came to mean political equality- “No
King but King Jesus” was the revolutionary motto of many of the army enlisted
ranks. Thus, the Great Awakening, as well as the political debates, was the
reason John Adams stated that the real American Revolution was not in the
military battles beginning in 1775 but the real revolution was in the minds of
Americans before 1775.
In conclusion, one historian summed
up by stating. “From the early Roman republic they (the Founders) learned the
importance of individual and societal virtue to the success for the republic.”
And this historian also what else the Founders learned that should be a warning
to those of us who love and cherish our constitutional republic- “From the decline
and fall of the Roman republic they (the Founders) learned to be wary of
ambitious individuals, who might conspire to subvert the republic in order to
expand their own power.”
[i]
Washington, Jackson, and Lincoln were perhaps the least educated of all our
presidents, yet all three made their marks in American history.
[ii]
I have also read Cicero in retirement but with a difference. Adams read his
book in the original Latin while I read
my book in a contemporary English translation.
[iii]
This unit is the first in the Army’s lineage of artillery that sketches to the
modern-day 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery assigned to
the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley Kansas. I served with this
battalion in the 1970s.
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