WASHINGTON AS A DELEGATE TO THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

Washington was a member of the first two Continental Congresses. Thus, he and a handful of other Virginians journeyed to Philadelphia to meet together with other delegates representing the other colonies. Out of these congresses, the United States of America was born.

As surprising as it sounds in a secular America, the first act of the first Congress was to pray, despite a myriad of Christian denominations represented. John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, explaining what happened on September 6, 1774, and September 7—the first two meetings of the newly formed Congress.³ This prayer not only began America, but it began the continuing congressional tradition of prayer and the work of chaplains among our government officials. A famous painting from the mid-nineteenth century depicts the classic scene of Reverend Duché praying. George Washington was one of those at prayer as well. In this portrait, he is kneeling.

John Adams

As the work of the Congress proceeded, they decided to appeal to England and to reason with the mother country to show the errors of its misguided efforts to force the colonies to pay taxes that were inconsistent with the British constitution and legacy of liberty. The Congress began with a recitation of history:

WHEREAS the power but not the justice, the vengeance but not the wisdom of Great-Britain, which of old persecuted, scourged, and excited our fugitive parents from their native shores, now pursues us their guiltless children with unrelenting severity...⁴

These words raise a critical point: many wish to separate the settling of America (by the Puritans, the Pilgrims, the Quakers, etc.), which was Christian from the founding of America (by the founding fathers, who allegedly were mostly Deists). Thus, in this view, the settlers were Christian, but the founders were secular-minded.

But the early Congresses did not adhere to Deism—including the very first Congress, which recognized that “our fugitive parents” came to these shores to flee persecution. Congress went on to resolve that it would be wrong not to stand up to their current persecution at the hands of Great Britain, in light of the sacrifice of the settlers of America:

THAT it is an indispensable duty which we owe to God, our country, ourselves and posterity, by all lawful ways and means in our power to maintain, defend and preserve these civil and religious rights and liberties for which many of our fathers fought, bled and died, and to hand them down entire to future generations. (emphasis ours)⁵

How, they ask, could they let down their fathers (the settlers of America) or their posterity if they allowed England to run roughshod over their religious liberties? Washington and his congressional patriots believed they owed it to their God and their country to stand boldly for their heritage of liberty.

THE QUEBEC ACT

One act of Parliament in particular worsened the situation. It was the Quebec Act, which especially concerned the Continental Congress, because it seemed to open the door for the Roman Catholic persecution of Protestants. This was an era when severe persecution of Protestants by some leaders in the Roman Catholic Church still occurred.

Some of the men in Congress had ancestors who had been persecuted by Catholics, and had fled such persecution. For example, some of the founders, such as Paul Revere, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and Elias Boudinot, had ancestors of Huguenot extraction. The Huguenots were French Calvinists persecuted severely for their belief by the French King and the Catholic Church. France under King Louis XIV killed or banished most Calvinists from his kingdom.

As we’ll see below, Protestant England had had its own run-in with anti-Protestant terrorists and consequently persecuted Catholics in England. (This was partially the reason for Lord Baltimore founding Maryland as a colony for Catholic refugees from persecution by the Church of England.) But true to the military and political adage, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, England punished Americans for their resistance to the British King by passing the Quebec Act. This law established French-speaking Canada as an official Roman Catholic nation.

In the days before the gift of religious liberty was bequeathed to the world by American Christianity, those in the state were required to follow the official religion of the state. So Roman Catholic Quebec was viewed as a threat to New England. The colonies had been formed, for the most part, by Protestants seeking religious freedom. Their sense of religious freedom was threatened when England allowed Roman Catholic Quebec to exist just north of New England. In this light, one can understand the Congress’ strong fears aroused by the Quebec Act:

THAT the late act of Parliament for establishing the Roman Catholic religion and the French laws in that extensive country now called Quebec, is dangerous in an extreme degree to the Protestant religion and to the civil rights and liberties of all America; and therefore as men and protestant Christians, we are indispensably obliged to take all proper measures for our security. (emphasis ours)⁶

A note in the Writings of George Washington edited by John Fitzpatrick says:

By the Quebec Act of 1774 Great Britain, with a view of holding the Colonies in check, established the Roman Catholic religion in Canada, and enlarged its bounds so as to comprise all the territory northwest of the Ohio to the head of Lake Superior and the Mississippi. This attempt to extend the jurisdiction of Canada to the Ohio was especially offensive to Virginia. Richard Henry Lee, in Congress, denounced it as the worst of all the acts complained of.⁷

The first act of the first Congress was to pray. George Washington is the third person from the left who is kneeling

The American colonists viewed the Quebec Act essentially as an act of war. Thus, Washington voted openly as a Protestant to protect the religious liberty that he and his fellow colonists had enjoyed as “Protestant Christians.”

CONGRESS ORDERS THE INVASION OF CANADA

As a response to the Quebec Act, Congress attempted to neutralize the threat of the treaty of Quebec for the colonies. On February 15, 1775, Congress appointed three commissioners—Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase, and Charles Carroll (a Roman Catholic)—to meet with the leaders of Canada.⁸ They were accompanied by the Reverend John Carroll, a Catholic clergyman, who later became the archbishop of Baltimore. Congress hoped that Carroll’s influence with the people of Quebec, on account of his religious principles and character would be useful.

The commissioners arrived at Montreal on April 29, 1775, without Franklin, who returned en route, because his health was unable to sustain the demands of the long and arduous journey. The negotiations were unsuccessful. The American Congress put military might behind their concerns and sent an army under the command of Generals Philip John Schuyler and Richard Montgomery and Col. Benedict Arnold to the city of Montreal. At that time, General Washington wrote a letter to the northern nation, on September 14, 1775:

TO THE INHABITANTS OF CANADA

Friends and Brethren: The unnatural Contest between the English Colonies, and Great Britain has now risen to such a Height, that Arms alone must decide it.

The Colonies, confiding in the Justice of their Cause and the purity of their intentions, have reluctantly appealed to that Being, in whose hands are all Human Events: He has hitherto smiled upon their virtuous Efforts: The Hand of Tyranny has been arrested in its Ravages, and the British Arms, which have shone with so much Splendor in every part of the Globe, are now tarnished with disgrace and disappointment. Generals of approved experience, who boasted of subduing this great Continent, find themselves circumscribed within the limits of a single City and its Suburbs, suffering all the shame and distress of a Siege. While the Freeborn Sons of America, animated by the genuine principles of Liberty and Love of their Country, with increasing Union, Firmness and discipline, repel every attack and despise every Danger.

Above all we rejoice that our Enemies have been deceived with Regard to you: They have persuaded themselves, they have even dared to say, that the Canadians were not capable of distinguishing between the Blessings of Liberty and the Wretchedness of Slavery; that gratifying the Vanity of a little Circle of Nobility would blind the Eyes of the people of Canada. By such Artifices they hoped to bend you to their Views; but they have been deceived: Instead of finding in you that poverty of Soul, and baseness of Spirit, they see with a Chagrin equal to our Joy, that you are enlightened, generous, and Virtuous; that you will not renounce your own Rights, or serve as Instruments to deprive your Fellow subjects of theirs. Come then, my Brethren, Unite with us in an indissoluble Union. Let us run together to the same Goal. We have taken up Arms in Defence of our Liberty, our Property; our Wives and our Children: We are determined to preserve them or die. We look forward with pleasure to that day not far remote (we hope) when the Inhabitants of America shall have one Sentiment and the full Enjoyment of the blessings of a Free Government.

Incited by these Motives and encouraged by the advice of many Friends of Liberty among you, the Great American Congress have sent an Army into your Province, under the command of General Schuyler; not to plunder but to protect you; to animate and bring forth into Action those sentiments of Freedom you have declared, and which the Tools of dispositism would extinguish through the whole Creation. To co-operate with this design and to frustrate those cruel and perfidious Schemes, which would deluge our Frontier with the Blood of Women and Children, I have detached Colonel Arnold into your Country, with a part of the Army under my Command. I have enjoined upon him, and I am certain that he will consider himself, and act as in the Country of his Patrons and best Friends. Necessaries and Accommodations of every kind which you may furnish, he will thankfully receive, and render the full Value. I invite you therefore as Friends and Brethren, to provide him with such supplies as your Country affords; and I pledge myself not only for your safety and security, but for ample Compensation. Let no Man desert his habitation. Let no Man flee as before an Enemy.⁸

Washington appealed to liberty and justice, but the Canadians saw it as an invasion. Eventually, the Americans were defeated at the Battle of Montreal. General Montgomery was killed. Nonetheless, for his great bravery, he was viewed as a hero. Later, the capital city of Alabama was named in his honor. Col Benedict Arnold was wounded. The army retreated. Canada remained loyal to England, and Quebec continued its Roman Catholic religion.

But Washington’s orders to Arnold when he began his march to Canada were the true victory of the campaign. They clearly established the principle of religious liberty in his command. America’s concern was not to assault Roman Catholicism, but to prevent a state with the establishment of the Roman Catholic religion that could persecute Protestants or attack the colonies due to religious motivations.

WASHINGTON’S PROMOTION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

Before General Washington dispatched Benedict Arnold for this invasion, he wrote a letter to Arnold (before his treachery) essentially saying that while the Canadians may be in error theologically, it is not the army’s place to disparage or belittle in any way their Roman Catholic beliefs. That was both wrong and counter-productive:

As the Contempt of the Religion of a Country by ridiculing any of its Ceremonies or affronting its Ministers or Votaries has ever been deeply resented, you are to be particularly careful to restrain every Officer and Soldier from such Imprudence and Folly and to punish every Instance of it. On the other Hand, as far as lays in your power, you are to protect and support the free Exercise of the Religion of the Country and the undisturbed Enjoyment of the rights of Conscience in religious Matters, with your utmost Influence and Authority. Given under my Hand, at Head Quarters, Cambridge, this 14th Day of September one Thousand seven Hundred and seventy-five.

I also give it in Charge to you to avoid all Disrespect to or Contempt of the Religion of the Country and its Ceremonies. Prudence, Policy, and a true Christian Spirit, will lead us to look with Compassion upon their Errors without insulting them. While we are contending for our own Liberty, we should be very cautious of violating the Rights of Conscience in others, ever considering that God alone is the Judge of the Hearts of Men, and to him only in this Case, they are answerable. Upon the whole, Sir, I beg you to inculcate upon the Officers and Soldiers, the Necessity of preserving the strictest Order during their March through Canada; to represent to them the Shame, Disgrace and Ruin to themselves and Country, if they should by their Conduct, turn the Hearts of our Brethren in Canada against us. And on the other Hand, the Honours and Rewards which await them, if by their Prudence and good Behaviour, they conciliate the Affections of the Canadians and Indians, to the great Interests of America, and convert those favorable Dispositions they have shewn into a lasting Union and Affection.⁹ (emphasis ours)

General Washington understood the importance of religious liberty and religious toleration for the success of his army. Mutual respect in the midst of religious diversity was evident in his General Orders from Head Quarters in Cambridge on November 5, 1775. As we will see in a moment, the date November 5th was quite significant:

As the Commander in Chief has been apprized of a design form’d for the observance of that ridiculous and childish custom of burning the Effigy of the pope—He cannot help expressing his surprise that there should be Officers and Soldiers in this army so void of common sense, as not to see the impropriety of such a step at this Juncture; at a Time when we are solliciting, and have really obtain’d, the friendship and alliance of the people of Canada, whom we ought to consider as Brethren embarked in the same Cause. The defence of the general Liberty of America: At such a juncture, and in such Circumstances, to be insulting their Religion, is so monstrous, as not to be suffered or excused; indeed instead of offering the most remote insult, it is our duty to address public thanks to these our Brethren, as to them we are so much indebted for every late happy Success over the common Enemy in Canada.¹⁰

Washington was aghast at the thought his troops would make fun of Catholic customs. Why was the date of this communique—November 5th—so significant? Because it was Guy Fawkes Day.

GUY FAWKES DAY

To understand the bigger picture, including Washington’s reference to the burning of effigies of the pope, we will back up for a few moments and explain the significance of Guy Fawkes Day to the American colonists, who were for the most part Protestant Britishers transplanted to a new continent.

America’s celebration of her birth on July Fourth has no equivalent celebration in Great Britain. The closest British parallel historically, perhaps, is Guy Fawkes Day. This commemorates the November 5th, 1605 foiling of an attempt to assassinate not only King James the First, but the entire House of Lords along with him. Guy Fawkes was arrested and hung for his plot to ignite several barrels of gunpowder that had been stored under the Parliament Building.

The perpetual dubious honor afforded to Guido Fawkes, the pro-Catholic and anti-Royal leader of the plan, was to be annually burned in effigy. The custom began exactly one year later on November 5, 1606, when his effigy was burned all over the country, since November Fifth already happened to have been a traditional English night for building bonfires. Guy Fawkes had chosen that same day to have a royal bonfire. Guy Fawkes has been part of the British psyche from childhood poems, to a Beatles’ song, to a form of worship in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

A traditional English poem preserves the story of the failed plot and God’s providential intervention.

Remember, remember, the fifth of November,

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot;

I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes

‘Twas his intent