Many of the USA’s Founding Fathers were deists, not traditional Christians. Deists believed in a Creator but rejected organized religion and divine intervention.
Key Founders like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison were skeptical of institutional religion.
The U.S. Constitution (1787) does not mention God or Christianity at all. The First Amendment (1791) explicitly separates church and state with the Establishment Clause:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
While prayer has been important to many Americans, the government itself was deliberately secular in its founding.
The Treaty of Tripoli (1797), signed by President John Adams, explicitly states:
“The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”
The phrase “In God We Trust” was not part of the nation’s founding.
It was first used on U.S. coins in 1864 during the Civil War but was not the official national motto.
The official motto at the time of the Founding Fathers was “E Pluribus Unum” (Latin for “Out of many, one”), reflecting unity despite differences.
“In God We Trust” became the official motto in 1956 during the Cold War, similar to how “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, as a way to contrast the U.S. with “godless” communism.
While faith has played a cultural role in American history, the government was explicitly founded as a secular entity with religious freedom for all. The phrase “In God We Trust” and religious rhetoric were added much later for political reasons, rather than being part of the nation’s original foundation.
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