The Liberty Bell (1752)

"Lev[iticus] 25:10: Proclaim Liberty throughout the land and unto all the inhabitants thereof."

Declaration of Independence (1776)

"When...it becomes neccessary for one people...to assume...the...station to which...the laws of Nature and Nature's God entitle them...they should declare the causes...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world...with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutally pledge...our sacred honor." (emphasis added)

Northwest Ordinance (1787)

"Art. 3d. Religon, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and means of education shall forever be encouraged."

The Constitution (1787)

"Article I, Section 7.2...if any bill shall not be returned by the president within ten days (Sundays excepted)...

"Article VI, Section 3...no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

"Article VII...present[ed] theSeventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven..."

The Bill of Rights (1791)

"Article I. Congress shall make no law respecting an estalishment of eligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

The Great Seal of the United States

The Eye of God, with the motto Annuit Coeptis--He (God) has given the nod to our undertaking.

George Washington's Farewell Address (1796)

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to a political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.

"The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity.

"Let it be simply asked where is the security for prosperity, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in the courts of justice?

""And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religon. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religous principle.

"tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government."

The Star-Spangled Banner, 4th Verse (1812)

"...and this be our motto, 'In God is our trust'."

Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (1863)

"...our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal...we here highly resolve that...this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom."