Tag: Biblical Worldview History

Because of the three-fifths clause, some claim that it makes the Constitution a pro-slavery document. But this compromise was meant to lessen the pro-slavery vote; it did not refer to the personhood of the slaves. 

Let’s see what Frederick Douglass who advised President Abraham Lincoln, and several other presidents, said of the Constitution and the three-fifths clause:

“—It is a downright disability laid upon the slaveholding States; one which deprives those States of two-fifths of their natural basis of representation. A black man in a free State is worth just two-fifths more than a black man in a slave State, as a basis of political power under the Constitution. Therefore, instead of encouraging slavery, the Constitution encourages freedom by giving an increase of “two-fifths” of political power to free over slave States. So much for the three-fifths clause; taking it at is worst, it still leans to freedom, not slavery; for, be it remembered that the Constitution nowhere forbids a coloured man to vote…

“Let us look at the objects for which the Constitution was framed and adopted, and see if slavery is one of them. . . . The objects here set forth [in the Preamble] are six in number: union, defence, welfare, tranquility, justice, and liberty. These are all good objects, and slavery, so far from being among them, is a foe of them all. But it has been said that Negroes are not included within the benefits sought under this declaration. This is said by the slaveholders in America, . . . but it is not said by the Constitution itself. Its language is “we the people;” not we the white people, not even we the citizens, not we the privileged class, not we the high, not we the low, but we the people…”¹

Amen! Father, we ask You to teach us our True His Story once again. Restore the beautiful covenant that You made with our forefathers, with signs and wonders. Let us honor each other! Let us Honor You, bless You and Glorify You and Your Ways once again?!

In Jesus’ Mighty, Beautiful, Holy Name we pray! AMEN!!!!

1. Frederick Douglass, “The Constitution of the United States: Is it Pro-Slavery or Anti-Slavery?” (Halifax: NS: T. and W. Birtwhistle, 1860). ↩︎

Listen every Saturday to WCNO at 8:30 am EST at 89.9 FM.

I have learned many of these quotes from The Making of America by Cleon Skousen. You may purchase it here.

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“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV 

© 2024 Mrs. Brenda MacMenamin, All Rights Reserved. Permission given to share pages and posts in entirety. 

Sign up for the FREE weekly blog. I will be sharing bits each week about Biblical Worldview Education and methodology.

Please partner with us here. Click here to sign up for the weekly email to learn our Biblical Heritage of Liberty, the original intent of our Constitution and to connect with our community for ONLY $10 per month. 

Cleon Skousen asserts that “this present provision gave each state the RIGHT not to have its citizens taxed any higher than the other states in proportion to its population.”(1)

James Madison, in his notes from the Constitutional Convention, quoted Elbridge Gerry as having stressed that “All moneys to be raised for supplying the public treasury by direct taxation shall be assessed on the inhabitants of the several states according to the number of their representatives respectively in the first branch,… according to the general principle that taxation and representation ought to go to together.”(2)

Edmund Randolph agreed: “Representatives and taxes go hand in hand: according to the one will the other be regulated…”(3)

James Madison explained in Federalist 54 that “Were their share of representation alone to be governed by this rule, they would have an interest in  exaggerating their inhabitants. Were the rule to decide their share of taxation alone, a contrary temptation would prevail. By extending the rule to both objects, the States will have opposite interests which will control and balance each other and produce the requisite impartiality.”(4)

These views were the framers’ original intent for our Constitution which were changed by the 16th Amendment which states, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.” This means that Congress now has the power to assess and collect taxes on income from all sources. 

The framers considered being taxed on labor to be slavery. They were somewhat on their way to ending slavery for all for Americans, for at this time 5 of the states had freed their slaves and had given them freedom to vote with full representation in those states.

Father teach us Your ways that Your people would invest more money to make disciples and to build Your kingdom than we are being taxed!

Listen every Saturday to WCNO at 8:30 am EST at 89.9 FM.

I have learned many of these quotes from The Making of America by Cleon Skousen. You may purchase it here.

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“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV 

© 2024 Mrs. Brenda MacMenamin, All Rights Reserved. Permission given to share pages and posts in entirety. 

Sign up for the FREE weekly blog. I will be sharing bits each week about Biblical Worldview Education and methodology.

Please partner with us here. Click here to sign up for the weekly email to learn our Biblical Heritage of Liberty, the original intent of our Constitution and to connect with our community for ONLY $10 per month. 

Let’s consider this next section of our Constitution from Article I, Section 2, Clause 3:

The colonies had practiced “One state One vote” with the Articles of Confederation, which the smaller states wanted, but the larger states wanted to vote by representation. This disagreement was so sharp that the convention was brought to a standstill which God rescued through Benjamin Franklin’s call to prayer that we enjoyed last week.

A compromise was then reached through Roger Sherman’s input from Connecticut, the representation of the citizens of the states would be realized in the House and the states would be represented equally in the Senate.

Sherman shared that “he would agree to have two branches, and a proportional representation in one of them; provided each state had an equal voice in the other. This was necessary to secure the rights of the lesser states; otherwise three or four of the larger states would rule the others as they please. Each state like each individual had its peculiar habits, usages, and manners, which constituted its happiness. It would not therefore give to others a power over this happiness, any more than an individual would do, when he could avoid it.”(1)

Major William Pierce shared that he, “was for an election by the people as to the first branch; and by the states to the second branch; by which means the citizens of the states would be represented both individually and collectively.”(2)

This compromise is the result of Reverend Thomas Hooker’s teaching in 1638, when he taught from Exodus 18:21: 

“But select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes. Appoint then as leaders over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten.”

These men in Connecticut then wrote the first state Constitution based on these principles, which influenced our national Constitution almost 150 years later! 

Thank You Jesus, for Your Providence!

(1) James Madison, The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 Which Framed the Constitution of the United States of America, ed. Gaillard Hunt and James Brown Scott (New York: Oxford University Press 1920), p. 137-138.

(2) James Madison, The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 Which Framed the Constitution of the United States of America, ed. Gaillard Hunt and James Brown Scott (New York: Oxford University Press 1920), p. 66.

Listen every Saturday to WCNO at 8:30 am EST at 89.9 FM.

I have learned many of these quotes from The Making of America by Cleon Skousen. You may purchase it here.

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“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV 

© 2024 Mrs. Brenda MacMenamin, All Rights Reserved. Permission given to share pages and posts in entirety. 

Sign up for the FREE weekly blog. I will be sharing bits each week about Biblical Worldview Education and methodology.

Please partner with us here. Click here to sign up for the weekly email to learn our Biblical Heritage of Liberty, the original intent of our Constitution and to connect with our community for ONLY $10 per month. 

At a stalemate, Benjamin Franklin requested this at the Constitutional Convention:

 “Mr. President:

“… how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.- Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor.

“To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that “except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

“I therefore beg leave to move-that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business…”

Father, how we have fallen from our first love, where we would seek Your blessings on our undertakings, especially in policy setting. Grant us repentance from this sin of omission. Please restore America to You for Your glory.

Listen every Saturday to WCNO at 8:30 am EST at 89.9 FM.

I have learned many of these quotes from The Making of America by Cleon Skousen. You may purchase it here.

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“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV 

© 2024 Mrs. Brenda MacMenamin, All Rights Reserved. Permission given to share pages and posts in entirety. 

Sign up for the FREE weekly blog. I will be sharing bits each week about Biblical Worldview Education and methodology.

Please partner with us here. Click here to sign up for the weekly email to learn our Biblical Heritage of Liberty, the original intent of our Constitution and to connect with our community for ONLY $10 per month. 

Twenty-five may seem young to serve in Congress, but as George Washington was surveying Virginia at age 15, Phillis Wheatley, one of America’s earliest female poets began to commentate on political events at age 14, John Quincy Adams served Russian Secretary Francis Dana at age 14, and Thomas Jefferson’s first political goal in serving the Virginia House at age 25 was to end slavery… America has a rich heritage of training our children well and launching them into civil and political service.

Concerning the requirement that voters be citizens for seven years before voting, Cleon Skousen observes that at the Constitutional Convention it was agreed that, “an immigrant should be exposed to American institutions and American values a little longer before being allowed to make decisions for the people in Congress.” (1)

George Mason warned that “It might happen that a rich foreign nation… might send over her tools, who might bribe their way into the legislature for insidious purposes.”(2)

He argued strongly for Congress to know and sympathize with every part of the community; and ought therefore to be taken not only from different parts of the whole republic, but also from different districts of the larger members of it… He urged that “the representatives should sympathize with their constituents; should think as they think, and feel as they feel; and that for these purposes should even live among them.”(3)

Father, we pray for You to anoint us to steward our citizenship responsibly once again. Will You give us representatives that do sympathize with us, we the People, that think as we think and feel as we feel and most importantly Lord, who read Your Word to fear and obey You, in Jesus’ Mighty, Holy Name we pray, Amen.

Listen every Saturday to WCNO at 8:30 am EST at 89.9 FM.

I have learned many of these quotes from The Making of America by Cleon Skousen. You may purchase it here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV 

© 2024 Mrs. Brenda MacMenamin, All Rights Reserved. Permission given to share pages and posts in entirety. 

Sign up for the FREE weekly blog. I will be sharing bits each week about Biblical Worldview Education and methodology.

Please partner with us here. Click here to sign up for the weekly email to learn our Biblical Heritage of Liberty, the original intent of our Constitution and to connect with our community for ONLY $10 per month. 

Fisher Ames explained, “The term of election must be so long, that the representative may understand the interest of the people, and yet so limited, that his fidelity may be secured by a dependency upon their approbation.”(1)

James Madison said, “… the greater the power is, the shorter ought to be its duration…”(2)

Concerning the rights to voting, James Madison asserted, “Who are to be the electors of the federal representatives? Not the rich more than the poor; not the learned, more than the ignorant; not the haughty heirs of distinguished names, more than the humble sons of obscurity and unpropitious fortune. The electors are to be the great body of the people of the United States. They are to be the same who exercise the right in every State of electing the corresponding branch of the legislature of the State.”(3)

George Mason challenged, “A freeholder is the qualification in England,  and hence it is imagined to be the only proper one. The true idea, in his opinion, was that every man having evidence of attachment to, and permanent common interest with, the society, ought to share in all its rights and privileges. Was this qualification restrained to freeholders? Does no other kind of property but land evidence a common interest in the proprietor? Does nothing besides property mark a permanent attachment? Ought the merchant, the monied man, the parent of a number of children whose fortunes are to be pursued in his own country, to be viewed as suspicious characters, and unworthy to be trusted with the common rights of their fellow citizens?”(4)

Father, will You restore We the People’s understanding of the privilege and responsibility to vote and serve in public policy setting? May You and Your Ways be glorified in our laws once again, In Jesus’ Mighty, Holy Name, Amen.

Listen every Saturday to WCNO at 8:30 am EST at 89.9 FM.

Article I Overview

Why is Article I over half the Constitution? The power to make rules, or legislate is an enormous power to delegate. This is why the framers enumerated this authority to those Congressmen (who lived in the same district that they represented and only for two years) and to senators in the states.

Section 1 states: All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

In so stating, the legislative power was divided into representing the people and the states. (Unfortunately this balance was lost by the 17th Amendment.) In requiring each law to represent the people and the states, We the People were more protected by factions colluding to force their agenda on the rest of the people as you have in a pure democracy. Here is what James Madison shared in Federalist 10: 

“… To secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and the form of popular government, is then the great object to which our inquiries are directed… From this view of the subject it may be concluded that a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert result from the form of government itself; and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths…”

Father, will you forgive us for our self-seeking factions and anoint us to submit to Your Law and Way once again? In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

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Listen every Saturday to WCNO at 8:30 am EST at 89.9 FM.

I have learned many of these quotes from The Making of America by Cleon Skousen. You may purchase it here.

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Hope you can join us for The Gospel Purpose of Science, 4/2 – 5/7, 6-7:30 pm EST Tuesdays: Natural History Curriculum Guide

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV 

© 2024 Mrs. Brenda MacMenamin, All Rights Reserved. Permission given to share pages and posts in entirety. 

Sign up for the FREE weekly blog. I will be sharing bits each week about Biblical Worldview Education and methodology.

Please partner with us here. Click here to sign up for the weekly email to learn our Biblical Heritage of Liberty, the original intent of our Constitution and to connect with our community for ONLY $10 per month. 

87% of people that I have polled either answer 27 or one of the branches of government. It is not by accident that most Americans weren’t taught this in school, it is by design. So let’s talk about this.

There are actually 7 articles in our Constitution. The first three outline the enumerated powers of the three branches of government. The Biblical principle that outlines limiting and dividing governmental powers is found in Isaiah 33:22:

For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is He who will save us. (NIV)

Of course the Framers were fine with God having this unlimited power, but when it came to delegating their responsibilities to those who would represent us, they limited and put checks on each.

Of most importance is the authority to legislate, so this is Article I. The second is the Executive which is Article II. The Judicial is Article III. After the framers outlined the “few and enumerated” powers for the Branches of government, they clarified to the states that “Full Faith and Credits” would be given to each state, along with how new states would be admitted to the union, and that “the United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion…”

Article V outlines how the Constitution is to be amended, not by usurpation, as George Washington warned in his Farewell Address but by an amendment.

Article VI then declares that the debts incurred under the Articles of Confederation would be honored under this Constitution. It also declares that “This Constitution… shall be the supreme Law of the Land.”

Article VII then closes by explaining that “nine states shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same” thereby challenging the states that drug their feet in joining the union!

Father, would You give America our version of Deuteronomy? Your law, a second time.

Listen every Saturday to WCNO at 8:30 am EST at 89.9 FM.

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Hope you can join us for The Gospel Purpose of Science, 4/2 – 5/7, 6-7:30 pm EST Tuesdays: Natural History Curriculum Guide

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV 

© 2024 Mrs. Brenda MacMenamin, All Rights Reserved. Permission given to share pages and posts in entirety. 

Sign up for the FREE weekly blog. I will be sharing bits each week about Biblical Worldview Education and methodology.

Please partner with us here. Click here to sign up for the weekly email to learn our Biblical Heritage of Liberty, the original intent of our Constitution and to connect with our community for ONLY $10 per month.