Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship with All Nations – Entangling Alliances with None

Proverbs 15:1, 18 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.”

Proverbs 17:14 “Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.”

Principle #25 are the words that Thomas Jefferson gave in his first inaugural address. In the 18th century the United States was becoming more of a power to be reckoned with and the American leaders had a fixed position not to have entangling alliances with any foreign powers unless they were attacked. This was the Founding Fathers’ doctrine of separation.

This was not isolationism – which is to be completely detached from other nations. The desire of our Founding Fathers was to develop a healthy relationship with all nations, but to be separated from any sectional quarrels and international disputes. They wanted to keep American markets open to all countries unless certain countries would engage in hostilities towards the United States. To a great degree they followed the example of Switzerland which remained free from any entangling alliances during two world wars and other numerous European quarrels. Switzerland had no hostility towards any other nation unless threatened. However, they were open to all who wanted to come to Switzerland to buy, sell, or bank. This doctrine of separatism was practiced by the early American leaders.

George Washington’s description of foreign relations was to “observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.” Washington was aware of the natural tendency to classify nations as friends or enemies. In other words, what he was saying was that in the absence of any political, military or commercial hostility towards the United States every effort should be made to cultivate friendship with all.

Washington also warned about becoming too attached to any particular nation because by giving special privilege to any nation could open the United States up to foreign influences that would be detrimental to the security of the United States. In one sentence Washington’s foreign policy would be: to extend commercial relationships with them and with as little political connection as possible. Perhaps one of the dangers that our Founding Fathers saw was to weave the destiny of the United States with any other part of the world.

What Washington sensed about entangling the United States with any foreign alliances was the same thing regarding commercial ties and having what is known as ‘favored nations.’

One place where the United States did different from Switzerland was that the founders accepted the doctrine of “Manifest Destiny.” What does Manifest Destiny mean? It meant that there was responsibility for the moral and political “emancipation of all mankind.” In other words, freedom, education, and progress was in the thinking of the early American leaders. They saw the United States as a design by Providence for the emancipation of mankind over all the earth. Even today we see how millions are wanting to immigrate to America.

The first 125 years America carried on the policy of the separatism and pursuing a manifest destiny to encourage freedom in the rest of the human race. However, here in the United States, especially in financial circles, there have been powerful forces seeking to push America into the thick of things happening worldwide. A very good book to read would be The Creature from Jekyll Island that gives the history of how the Federal Reserve came into existence and with the political and financial powers in back of it, and how the United States was pushed into some of the conflicts of the 20th century. Often what happens in situations like this is that through a crisis, created or real, and through propaganda we are pushed into something that has no real bearing upon the security of the United States.

Perhaps a question that we could ask ourselves is: Would the world be better off if the United States had been following a policy of ‘separatism’ as the world’s great peacemaker instead of ‘internationalism’ as the world’s great policeman?

One thing that comes to me today is that we live in a world that has changed dramatically. We live in a world where information is exchanged at the speed of light, intercontinental travel can be done in hours and we have the ability to see what is raging not only around us, but on the other side of the world. With all of this in mind and thinking through the principle that our Founding Fathers laid down, what should be our line of action – peacemaker or policeman?

We need to keep in mind that although no one wants war, it is a fool who believes that Liberty requires no defense.

A Free People Will Not Survive Unless They Stay Strong

Proverbs 2:20-22 “Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.”

Proverbs 24:5-6 “A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength; for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers.”

In ancient times the way that nations became prosperous was by conquering other nations and taking their wealth. What has made America different was the principles laid down by the Founding Fathers: they learned to create wealth which was something new. They discovered that a free people in a civilized society always tend toward prosperity. It is only when government interferes with the free market economy that prosperity is inhibited.

Founding Fathers knew that the wealth being created would always attract predatory nations and so they wanted to remain strong. For the Founding Fathers ‘peace’ was always the goal, but ‘strength’ was the means to maintain that peace. Benjamin Franklin knew the importance of the nation to remain strong and said: “One sword often keeps another in the scabbard.” In other words, to secure peace a nation needs to be prepared for war.

According to Scripture one of the main jobs of government is security of its citizens from any foreign entity. However, we see today the government is involved in just about every aspect of our life both public as well as private and security seems to have taken a backseat.

Franklin knew that our security would lie in our growing strength in numbers as well as wealth. His thought was, “Create an increasing ability of assisting this nation in its wars, which will make us more respectable, our friendship more respectable, and our enmity feared.” Franklin, as well as the other Founding Fathers had a low opinion of people who would wave the flag but were unwilling to defend or provide the means to defend it.

George Washington was known as “first in peace, first in war, first in the hearts of his countrymen.” He basically did risk “his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor,” for the cause of freedom. He fought the Revolutionary war with no navy of any consequence, no real trained professional army and to a great degree no outpouring of genuine support of the very states he was trying to save. He said: “To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.”

Washington also saw the need of a free people to not only be armed and disciplined, but also to have a plan for any known attack that might occur. He also saw the fallacy of being dependent upon other nations especially in times of war. He was against complacency and knew that vigilance was the price of freedom. One needs to keep in mind that during this time the monarchs of Europe were planning to slice up the United States and to divide it among themselves. At that time the British had troops along the northern border of the US, and Spain had aspirations for the Mississippi heartland.

Our Founding Fathers emphasized the moral responsibility to preserve the heritage of freedom and the unalienable rights which the Creator had given them. Samuel Adams felt it was wicked to allow these great truths to languish by neglect or apathy. We see that what the Founding Fathers passed onto posterity was the policy of peace through strength.

The questions we must ask ourselves today is: Are we losing our freedom because of neglect, complacency and apathy? Are we losing our prosperity because of government intervention? Are we losing our country because of moral decline? Our Founding Fathers knew that a Republic like ours can only be maintained by moral people.

We need to heed the prophet’s words: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

What a responsibility lies in the hands of God’s people!

A Free Society Cannot Survive As A Republic Without a Broad Program of General Education

Proverbs 4:10-13 “Listen, my son, accept what I say and the years of your life will be many. I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.”

Perhaps one of the most outstanding things that the colonists did in America that no other nation had tried to undertake was to educate the whole people. When you read the writings and gather the thoughts of the early colonists, you realize that they had a sense “of manifest destiny.” In other words, they believed that America played an important role in the unfolding of modern world history. Because of that, education was an important ingredient in this preparation.

Education started early in 1647 in Massachusetts when they passed a law requiring a community of 50 families or householders to set up a free grammar school to teach the Bible and the basics: reading, writing, arithmetic, ciphering, history, geography.

Also the law stated that every Township that contained 100 families was to set up a secondary school to prepare young people for attendance at Harvard.  John Adams said that the purpose of this program was to have “knowledge diffuse generally through the whole body of the people.” John Adams went on to say that this was so important that any Township that did not have a grammar school, or even a schoolmaster for a few months, would be subject to a heavy penalty. We see that they took education of the ‘whole people’ seriously. It is amazing to see today how in our educational system there has been a “dumbing down syndrome.” From our public schools we are graduating kids who can hardly read or write let alone have any understanding of history or even geography.

In the early days of our country it was rare to find a person who could not read or write. John Adams and the other Founding Fathers knew that without education liberty cannot be preserved.

The early colonists knew that local school boards were of utmost importance. Historian John Fisk made the comment that “the school committees were bodies of ‘great importance.’”

We must remember that all this was at the time when illiteracy was the common lot for most people in Europe. John Adams who lived in France said that out of the 24 million inhabitants of Europe only 500,000 could read and write.

In the early days of our Republic the intention was to have all children being able to read, write and do arithmetic not only so that they can be informed citizens, but able to continue on in their own diligent self-study. The Founding Fathers realized that by having the basics or the fundamentals one was able to continue their own study in many different areas of their choice, but without these fundamentals they would be handicapped.

When visiting America in 1831 Tocqueville “found that the American people will appear to be the most enlightened the world.” It is interesting that Tocqueville noted that the children were taught the doctrines and evidence of religion (this would be the Christian religion), the history of his country as well as the leading features of its Constitution. He went on to say that it would be almost impossible to find a person who would be ignorant of these things. If we look at the 300 million in the United States today – how many today can really read, write and even do simple mathematics; how many know our Constitution and the true history of our country? In the early days of the Republic it was unusual to find a person not familiar with these things, but today it would be rare to find someone who is acquainted with these things.

Tocqueville did say that as the settlers pushed West education did diminish, but he went on to say, “he wears the dress and speaks the language of cities; he is acquainted with the past, curious about the future, and ready for argument about the present; he is, in short, highly civilized being, who consents for a time to inhabit the backwoods, and who penetrates into the wilds of the New World with the Bible, and axe, and some newspapers.”

Arthur J. Stansberry published in 1828 what was known as “Catechism on the Constitution” that contains questions and answers regarding the Constitution and its principles taught to the children.

Daniel Webster said: “Whatever may be said to the contrary, a correct use of the English language is, at this day (1843) more general throughout the United States than it is throughout England herself.” In other words, what he was saying was that in the frontier as well as on the East Coast people spoke well. Many of these people attributed the eloquence to an extensive reading of the Bible. This was the case of Abraham Lincoln as seen in the Gettysburg address.

We cannot underestimate the cultural influence of the Bible in the early days of our founding. It provided strength to their moral standards as well as behavior, and wherever the Americans went the Bible came with them. The American Express ad that we so often see is, “Never leave home without it.” In the early days of our founding the settlers never left home without the Bible.

What do we have in our public schools today? Our schools have become so secularized that it is now forbidden to read the Bible. Our Founding Fathers would have looked upon this as a very serious mistake.