Whose Motto Is “In God We Trust”?

[marmar]

from Dissent magazine:



Whose Motto Is “In God We Trust”?
Thomas A. Foster - November 10, 2011 12:45 pm


Cross-posted from History News Network


Last week Congress voted to reaffirm that the national motto of the United States is “In God We Trust.” Representative Randy Forbes (R-VA) introduced the measure and argued that we would be following “our predecessors” by declaring a national trust in God. Last year he and the Congressional Prayer Caucus had criticized President Obama when he “falsely proclaimed” in a speech in Jakarta that “E Pluribus Unum” is the national motto.

The conservatives who criticized Obama and who claim the mantle of the founding fathers are mistaken on both counts. Although “In God We Trust” is the official motto, “E Pluribus Unum” has long been acknowledged as a de facto national motto. After all, it is on the Great Seal of the United States, which was adopted in 1782. Moreover, in the 1770s and ’80s Congress opposed a theistic motto for the nation, and many of the founders worked hard to prevent one from being established.

In July 1776, almost immediately after signing the Declaration of Independence, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson were tasked with designing a seal and motto for the new nation. In August John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, that he had proposed the “Choice of Hercules” as the image for the seal. Adams believed that individuals should choose to lead moral personal lives and to devote themselves to civic duty, and he preferred a secular allegory for that lesson.

The other two committee members proposed images that drew on Old Testament teachings, but neither shared the beliefs of those today who assert the role of God in our national government. Benjamin Franklin, a deist who did not believe in the divinity of Christ, proposed “Moses lifting up his Wand, and dividing the Red Sea, and Pharaoh, in his Chariot overwhelmed with the Waters.” This motto, he believed, captured the principle that “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.” .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.dissentmagazine.org/atw.php?id=604

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[classof56]

2. I remember when "In God We Trust" was adopted as our nation's motto

and included on coins in 1956--that was the year I graduated high school. As a "Baptist from Birth" I was fine with it, although I did kinda like the sign in a restaurant that said "In God We Trust. All Others Pay Cash". Also recall the "Under God" addition to the current iteration of the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, coming on the heels of the "McCarthyism Madness". Seems to me a lot of very troubled times had preceded that, so when people blab on about how awful our nation would be if we did away with "Under God" I have to conclude they really don't know much about our history.

Thanks for this interesting and revealing insight into what the Founding Fathers and Mothers actually thought about mottos, images, etc. Not what right wingers want to hear, of course, but nice to have it out there. As a lapsed Baptist, I constantly shake my head at how unchristian so many of my now-former fellow christians are.

Oh--thanks for introducing me to Dissent magazine.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. "they really don't know much about our history" ... yep, you got it. nt

[Art_from_Ark]

9. "In God We Trust" was first used on coins (the 2-cent piece) in 1864

Its use was extended to all denominations above 10 cents for silver coins, and above $2.50 for gold coins, in 1866. In 1907-08, a controversy was created when Teddy Roosevelt ordered it off the newly designed Indian $10 and St. Gaudens $20 gold coins (it was reintroduced in 1908). In 1913, it was appearing on all newly minted coins except the newly-introduced Buffalo/Indian Head nickel (interesting that leaving the motto off high-value gold coins, which almost nobody used, created a controversy, while leaving it off the lowly nickel, which everyone used, didn't seem to cause much of a furor).

It was officially adopted as the national motto in 1956 and used on paper money starting the following year.

It's also interesting that a phrase similar to "In God We Trust" appears in the Star Spangled Banner, written in 1814 (though hardly anyone makes it that far into the song to realize it): "And this be our motto: In God is our Trust".

[valerief]

3. I remember learning the Pledge of Allegiance one way and when I went to school,

they recited it another way. I knew I wasn't crazy (even at that young age). I knew it was different but didn't know why. Now, of course, I do.

[ashling]

4. One error in the article

"It would take years and several more committees before Congress would approve the final design, still in use today, of an American bald eagle clutching thirteen arrows in one talon and an olive branch in the other."

if I am not mistaken, the seal was altered slightly under Truman(?) by having the eagle face the olive branch rather than the arrows

I could be wrong :shrug:

[meow2u3]

5. The Republican's motto

In God we trust; people can go to hell.

[IggleDoer]

7. Not quite ........

The fourth verse of the Star Spangled Banner says:

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

[Uncle Joe]

8. E Pluribus Unum; has longer history, it came first in 1782 and was the De Facto Motto unitl 1956

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_PLURIBUS_UNUM

E pluribus unum (pronounced /ˈiː ˈplʊərɨbəs ˈuːnəm/; Latin <ˈeː ˈpluːrɪbʊs ˈuːnũː>), Latin for "Out of many, one", is a phrase on the Seal of the United States, along with Annuit cœptis and Novus ordo seclorum, and adopted by an Act of Congress in 1782.<1> The phrase is similar to a Latin translation of a variation of Heraclitus's 10th fragment, "Out of all things one, one out of all things." A variant of the phrase was used in Moretum, a poem attributed to Virgil but with the actual author unknown. In the poem text, color est e pluribus unus describes the blending of colors into one. St Augustine used a variant of the phrase, ex pluribus unum, in his Confessions. At the time of the American Revolution, the exact phrase appeared prominently on the title page of a popular periodical, The Gentleman's Magazine,<2><3><4> which collected articles from many sources into one "magazine". The motto was suggested in 1776 to the committee responsible for the developing the seal by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere.

Never codified by law, E pluribus unum was considered a de facto motto of the United States until 1956 when the United States Congress passed an act (H.J. Resolution 396), adopting "In God We Trust" as the official motto.<5> The first coins with E pluribus unum were dated 1786 and struck under the authorization of the State of New Jersey by Thomas Goadsby and Albion Cox in Rahway, New Jersey.<6> The motto had no New Jersey linkage but was likely an available die that had been created by Walter Mould the previous year for a failed federal coinage proposal.<7> Walter Mould was also authorized by New Jersey to strike state coppers with this motto and did so beginning in early 1787 in Morristown, New Jersey. Lt. Col. Seth Reed of Uxbridge, Massachusetts was said to have been instrumental in having E Pluribus Unum placed on US coins<8> Seth Read and his brother Joseph Read had been authorized by the Massachusetts General Court to mint coppers in 1786. In March 1786, Seth Reed petitioned the Massachusetts General Court, both the House and the Senate, for a franchise to mint coins, both copper and silver, and "it was concurred".<9><10>

The Star Spangeled Banner wasn't written until 1814 and it wasn't even the National Anthem until 1931, 24 years before a line from it was officially adopted as the national motto.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner

Sheet music version"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry",<1> a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.

(snip)

"The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889 and the President in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. § 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover.

Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of American officialdom. "Hail, Columbia" served this purpose at official functions for most of the 19th century. "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", whose melody is identical to the British national anthem,<3> also served as a de facto anthem before the adoption of "The Star-Spangled Banner."<4> Following the War of 1812 and subsequent American wars, other songs would emerge to compete for popularity at public events, among them "The Star-Spangled Banner."