THIS FOUNDING FATHER HELPED LAUNCH ONE OF AMERICA'S GREAT BLACK CHURCHES

One of America’s Founding Fathers, Dr. Benjamin Rush, helped launch one of the most successful black denominations in America today. Rush (1745-1813) was a Philadelphia physician, member of the Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and served as Surgeon General during the Revolutionary War at George Washington’s request.

Rush was a passionate abolitionist who helped form the first Abolition society in America in his hometown of Philadelphia. He called slavery a “hydra sin” and called on the pastors and minsters of America to take a public stand against it. He wrote,

But chiefly—ye ministers of the gospel, whose dominion over the principles and actions of men is so universally acknowledged and felt, - Ye who estimate the worth of your fellow creatures by their immortality, and therefore must look upon all mankind as equal; - let your zeal keep pace with your opportunities to put a stop to slavery. While you enforce the duties of “tithe and cumin,” neglect not the weightier laws of justice and humanity. Slavery is a Hydra sin and includes in it every violation of the precepts of the Law and the Gospels (Hyatt, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, 37-38).

Rush was very influential in turning many against slavery including other Founding Fathers. As Dr. Thomas Sowell wrote,

Among those who turned against slavery in the 18th century were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and other American leaders. You could research all of 18th century Africa or Asia or the Middle East without finding any comparable rejection of slavery there (Hyatt, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, 9).

Rush became friends with the former slave and Methodist evangelist Richard Allen (1760-1831) who settled in Philadelphia after a time of successful evangelistic ministry to both black and white audiences. In fact, his ministry was so successful in bridging racial and cultural divides that that Paul Strand, former Washington D.C. correspondent for CBN, called Allen “America’s Black Founding Father.”

Being a Methodist preacher, Allen became a member of the Methodist Church in Philadelphia. However, as the Great Awakening, which had ignited the interracial currents in Colonial America, waned, the elders of the Methodist Church in Philadelphia decided to segregate their seating based on race. At this point, Allen and other blacks walked out.

Rush, a Presbyterian, came to their aid with both moral and financial support. He assisted them in obtaining property and erecting their own building in which to worship. They established Bethel Methodist Church out which came the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) denomination. Allen later wrote,

We had waited on Dr. Rush and Mr. Robert Ralston, and told them of our distressing situation. We considered it a blessing that the Lord had put it into our hearts to wait upon those gentlemen. They pitied our situation, and subscribed largely towards the church, and were very friendly towards us and advised us how to go on . . . Dr. Rush did much for us in public by his influence. I hope the name of Dr. Benjamin Rush and Mr. Robert Ralston will never be forgotten among us. They were the two first gentlemen who espoused the cause of the oppressed and aided us in building the house of the Lord for the poor Africans to worship in. Here was the beginning and rise of the first African church in America (Hyatt, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, 27).

Think about it! One of America’s Founding Fathers helped launch of one of the largest and most respected black denominations in America today. The current "reframing" of America's founders as evil, racist slaveholders is a brazen distortion of history driven by a polticial/socialist agenda.

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s latest book, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, available from Amazon and is website at www.eddiehyatt.com.

AMERICA'S ANTI-SLAVERY FOUNDING DOCUMENTS

America’s founding generation understood America’s founding documents to be, not only a declaration of independence from Great Britain, but also an attack on the institution of slavery. Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also understood this.

When, for example, Dr. King was accused of being an extremist, he replied, "Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist?” He then quoted Jefferson’s words from the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” (Hyatt, Abolitionist FoundingFathers, 45).

Indeed, in 1776, when slavery was accepted and practiced in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and throughout much of the world, these were the words of an extremist.

That these words were directed at the institution of slavery is plainly indicated by an early draft of the Declaration in which Jefferson attacked the King of England and accused him of introducing slavery into the Colonies. He wrote,

He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating them and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere (Hyatt, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, 44).

Although the above statement did not make it into the final draft, there is no question that the one that did make the final draft was a direct attack on the institution of slavery. Jefferson wrote,

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.

It is clear that America’s founding generation understood these words as an attack on slavery. For example, a 1784 gathering of Methodist leaders in Baltimore issued a statement in which they denounced slavery as “contrary to the golden rule of God . . . as well as every principle of the Revolution” (Hyatt, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, 29).

The Awakening preacher, Samuel Hopkins (1721–1803), referred to these words of the Declaration in a pamphlet he wrote against slavery. Confronting those who argued that slavery was God’s way of bringing Africans from their pagan land to expose them to the Gospel, he exclaimed,

What sort of “gospel” message is being conveyed when people are enslaved because of the color of their skin? The Declaration of Independence says all men are created equal with certain unalienable rights. Oh, the shocking, the intolerable inconsistencies (Hyatt, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, 30)!

Frederick Douglas (1818–1895), the former slave and famous abolitionist, understood the antislavery character of America’s founding documents and declared,

Anyone of these provisions in the hands of abolition statesmen, and backed by a right moral sentiment, would put an end to slavery in America (Hyatt, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, 54-55).

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) understood this and in his stirring, I Have a Dream speech, he exhorted America, not to dispense with her founding documents, but instead, to live up to them. Speaking from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he declared,

When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Then quoting from those same words of the Declaration of Independence, he proclaimed,

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

Abraham Lincoln also understood the anti-slavery character of the nation’s founding documents. In 1858, Lincoln, who had become the new Republican party’s first candidate for president, declared that the anti-slavery platform of the new party was the same as that of the nation’s Founders. He said,

In the way our Fathers originally left the slavery question, the institution was in the course of ultimate extinction, and the public mind rested in the belief that it was in the course of ultimate extinction. All I have asked or desired is that it should be placed back again upon the bases that the Fathers of our government originally placed it upon (Hyatt, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, 59-60).

As documented in my books, Abolitionist Founding Fathers and 1726, a great, spiritual awakening in Colonial America turned multitudes, including America’s Founding Fathers, against slavery at a time it was practiced throughout the world. This then led to America’s colorblind founding documents with no classifications based on race and no mention of slaves or slavery.

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s latest book, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com.

A "POPULIST UPRISING" IS COMING TO AMERICA

A few weeks ago, the phrase “Populist Uprising” was impressed on my mind. Since it is not a phrase that I use, I looked up “populist” and found that it refers to the people—to common, everyday people. I then knew that “uprising” referred to the common, everyday people rising up and letting their voices be heard. From that moment I knew that a “Populist Uprising” was coming to America.

A Government of "We the People"

The U.S. Constitution begins with the words, “We the people.” At the Constitutional Convention, the Founders saw themselves as working on behalf of the people they represented. They envisioned a nation governed, not by monarchs, oligarchs, or professional politicians, but by the people through their elected representatives and by making their voices heard in all sorts of public venues.

Because they wanted a government of the people, the Founders instituted the Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, to protect the rights of the people. The First Amendment guarantees, not only freedom of religion, but also freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to peaceably assemble, and the freedom to petition the government for a redress of grievances. 

The Founders instituted the freedoms necessary for "we the people" to make our voices heard.

We Must Break the Silence

Thomas Jefferson said, “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” Where the light does not shine, darkness prevails. When “we the people” are silent, evil gains the upper hand. 

It is time for people of good faith to arise and let their voices be heard. I am not talking here about a political uprising, but an uprising of godliness, morality, and truth. It is what Jesus called "letting our light shine." 

We can begin by praying for another Great Awakening across our land. A strong moral and Christian presence is necessary for maintaining our Constitutional freedoms, for as John Adams said,

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inaequate for the government of any other. (Hyatt, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, 64).

We Must Return to the Old Paths

Each new generation likes to think that wisdom and virtue has begun with it. In so many cases, the opposite is true, as is the case in America today and was the case in Israel during the time of Jeremiah the prophet.

During a time of moral decline, social unrest, and enemies at their gates, God gave Israel the answer through Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 6:16, the prophet declared to King Josiah and all the people,

Thus says the LORD: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.

Just as Israel, in the time of Jeremiah, had strayed from the good way that had produced peace and prosperity, America has strayed from the way that made her, perhaps, the freest and most prosperous nation in history.

The new “woke” philosophies of transgenderism, the “1619 Project,” and Critical Race Theory are dividing and destroying this country. We must return to the “old paths”—to those founding principles that made America great. 

"We the people" must rise up and take a stand for commonsense, righteousness, and truth.

It’s Time to Stand for Truth

In my latest book, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, I show how both Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. based their fights for abolition and racial justice on the “old paths” laid out by America’s founders. America’s founders were impacted by a "Great Awakening" and turned against slavery at a time when it was accepted throughout the world. They formed a new nation built on godly principles of self-government and the Biblical truth that,

All men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights such as Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

This is the key for this generation. "We the people" must rise up and stand for those founding principles on which this nation was founded. They are principles that will work wherever and whenever they are implemented, for they are ubiquitous, eternal, and godly in nature.

Let the “Populist Uprising” begin!

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s bombshell new book, Abolitionist Founding Fathers with the subtitle, Sin, Slavery and Redemption at America’s Founding. The book is available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com.