The Foundation of the U.S. Constitution

American Minute from William J. Federer

"Done...the SEVENTEENTH DAY of SEPTEMBER, in the year of our LORD one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven." This is the last line of the U.S. Constitution.

A study by Professors Donald S. Lutz and Charles S. Hyneman, titled "The Relative Influence of European Writers on Late 18th-Century American Political Thought" published in American Political Science Review, 1984, revealed that after examining nearly 15,000 writings of the 55 writers of the Constitution, including newspaper articles, pamphlets, books and monographs, that the Bible, especially the book of Deuteronomy, contributed 34 percent of all direct quotes made by the Founders.

When indirect Bible citations were included, the percentage rose even higher.

Presiding over the Constitutional Convention was George Washington, who wrote ten days after his Presidential Inauguration to the United Baptist Churches of Virginia, May 10, 1789: "If I could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed by the Convention, where I had the honor to preside, might possibly endanger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical Society, certainly I would never have placed my signature to it."

William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.