Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
6 Quotes: Calvin Coolidge on religion and the Declaration of Independence
6 Quotes: Calvin Coolidge on religion and the Declaration of Independence
Apr 29, 2026 8:17 AM

Tomorrow, for the 243rd anniversary celebration of Independence Day, President Trump will give a speech on the National Mall. As with all such addresses in the modern age, Trump’s remarks will pared to the presidential gold standard for Fourth of July speeches—Calvin Coolidge’s speech on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Coolidge was so famous for his taciturnity that he earned the nickname “Silent Cal.” But when he did speak he could be moving and profound. Such was the case in his speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 5, 1926. Here are six quotes you should know from the speech about God, religion, and the Declaration.

1. “The American Revolution represented the informed and mature convictions of a great mass of independent, liberty-loving, God-fearing people who knew their rights, and possessed the courage to dare to maintain them.”

2. “While the written word was the foundation, it is apparent that the spoken word was the vehicle for convincing the people. This came with great force and wide range from the successors of Hooker and Wise. It was carried on with a missionary spirit which did not fail to reach the Scotch-Irish of North Carolina, showing its influence by significantly making that Colony the first to give instructions to its delegates looking to independence. This preaching reached the neighborhood of Thomas Jefferson, who acknowledged that his “best ideas of democracy” had been secured at church meetings.”

3. “When we take all these circumstances into consideration, it is but natural that the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence should open with a reference to Nature’s God and should close in the final paragraphs with an appeal to the Supreme Judge of the world and an assertion of a firm reliance on Divine Providence. Coming from these sources, having as it did this background, it is no wonder that Samuel Adams could say, ‘The people seem to recognize this resolution as though it were a decree promulgated from heaven.’”

4. “No one can examine this record and escape the conclusion that in the great outline of its principles the Declaration was the result of the religious teachings of the preceding period. The profound philosophy which Jonathan Edwards applied to theology, the popular preaching of George Whitefield, had aroused the thought and stirred the people of the Colonies in preparation for this great event. No doubt the speculations which had been going on in England, and especially on the Continent, lent their influence to the general sentiment of the times. Of course, the world is always influenced by all the experience and all the thought of the past. But when e to a contemplation of the immediate conception of the principles of human relationship which went into the Declaration of Independence we are not required to extend our search beyond our own shores. They are found in the texts, the sermons, and the writings of the early colonial clergy who were earnestly undertaking to instruct their congregations in the great mystery of how to live. They preached equality because they believed in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. They justified freedom by the text that we are all created in the divine image, all partakers of the divine spirit.”

5. “Equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, the rights of man — these are not elements which we can see and touch. They are ideals. They have their source and their roots in the religious convictions. They belong to the unseen world. Unless the faith of the American people in these religious convictions is to endure, the principles of our Declaration will perish. We can not continue to enjoy the result if we neglect and abandon the cause.”

6. “Our forefathers came to certain conclusions and decided upon certain courses of action which have been a great blessing to the world. Before we can understand their conclusions we must go back and review the course which they followed. We must think the thoughts which they thought. Their intellectual life centered around the meeting-house. They were intent upon religious worship. While there were always among them men of deep learning, and later those who paratively large possessions, the mind of the people was not so much engrossed in how much they knew, or how much they had, as in how they were going to live. While scantily provided with other literature, there was a wide acquaintance with the Scriptures. Over a period as great as that which measures the existence of our independence they were subject to this discipline not only in their religious life and educational training, but also in their political thought. They were a people who came under the influence of a great spiritual development and acquired a great moral power. No other theory is adequate to explain prehend the Declaration of Independence. It is the product of the spiritual insight of the people.”

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Catholicism in a world of secular moralism
Acton Institute Director of Research, Samuel Gregg, wrote a piece for The Catholic World Report yesterday talking about Catholics in an age of secular moralism. Often times, Catholics fall into a trap of reducing their faith to various political, economic, and social agendas, losing sight of what is at the core of true Catholicism. This is what Gregg calls secular moralism. Gregg explains this “new morality:” Moralism, however, isn’t limited to the Christian realm. It has many secular counterparts. Prominent...
Is there something inherently evil about Capitalism?
What is the role that Christians play in business and the marketplace? A recent episode of Equipped with Chris Brooks, titled “Is Capitalism bad business?” wrestles with that question and more. During his introduction, Brooks explains why he was pondering the question and there are a couple of reasons. The majority of “Equipped” listeners are not clergy, but men and women who work in the marketplace. Because of that, Brooks wants to talk about the “good that business does” and...
Sarah Stanley: Profile of North Korean artist Sun Mu
Today at The Federalist, Acton associate editor Sarah Stanley penned an article profiling an artist from North Korea who goes by the name of Sun Mu.This profile is inspired by a recent documentary that highlights the lifeof the artist. Sun Mu defected from the oppressive state in the late 1990s and since then has been creating art that depicts the story of his life in North Korea. In order to protect his family, Sun Mu can’t use his real name....
How to understand the supply curve
Note: This is the thirdpost in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. The supply curve seems like an easy enough concept to understand: it’s a graphic representation of the relationship between the quantity of product that a seller is willing and able to supply at a particular price. The implications for how this affects the supply of goods and services, though, is more profound than we often realize. For example, as this video from Marginal Revolution University shows, the...
A husband’s unemployment increases the risk of divorce
As I note every month when reporting on the latest unemployment data, jobs are one of the most important aspects of a morally functioning economy. They help us serve the needs of our neighbors and lead to human flourishing both for the individual and munities. Conversely, not having a job can adversely affect spiritual and psychological well-being of individuals and families. In fact, a new study finds that for marriages formed after 1975, a husbands’ lack of full-time employment is...
Should religious exemptions be given even if they harm third parties?
“Religious liberty exemptions should be given as long as _____________.” How would you fill in the rest of that sentence? Most Americans (who are somewhat sympathetic to religious freedom) would say as long as “they don’t harm third-parties.” But is that the right standard? Thomas C. Berg has an analysis of the question in the Federalist Society Reviewin which he argues that harmful effects should not automatically be a reason to deny exemptions: The chief assertion of this article is...
Acton Institute’s Assisi conference explores roots of poverty, engines of wealth
On September 12-14 the Acton Institute’s Rome office hosted its third annual “Economics, Development and Human Flourishing” conference in Assisi for seminarians and formation staff of the Vatican’s Pontifical Urban College. Intense discussion and open debate was stimulated by challenging lectures on economics, political philosophy, anthropology, and Catholic social doctrine. The lectures were reinforced by showings of the Institute’s video curriculum “PovertyCure”, a six-episode DVD rich in graphic content, intellectual analysis and dramatic stories about poverty in Africa, Asia and...
What Christians should know about fractional reserve banking
Note: This is the latest entry in the Acton blog series, “What Christians Should Know About Economics.” For other entries inthe series seethis post. The Term:Fractional Reserve Banking What it Means:Understanding fractional reserve banking is easier if we separate what it is (which is rather simple to explain) and the effects the system produces(which is slightly plicated). Let’s start by taking the term fractional reserve banking and working backwards. First, there is the banking part. For our purposes we mainly...
What WALL-E and Wilhelm Röpke teach us about work and economics
Humans have a tendency to daydream about a day or a place where work is no more, whether it be a retirement home on a golf course or a utopian society filled with leisure and merriment. But is a world without work all that desirable? In a recent lecture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, the question is explored by Dr. Hunter Baker, winner of the Acton Institute’s 2011 Novak Award and author, most recently, of The System Has a Soul:...
How Texas churches are fighting predatory lending on behalf of the poor
How should Christians address predatory lending that takes advantage of the poor when they are in dire straits? As I’ve argued before, I believe a helpful first step is to get churches and other faith-based organizations involved in providing short-term loans and financial counseling. But sometimes education and sacrificial generosity is not enough to solve the problem, munities have to pursue other measures. A prime example is found in Texas where several groups—including an alliance of Baptists and Catholics—worked to...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved