POST 33 THE BIRTH OF A FREE PEOPLE

6 min.

Providential Orchestration and the American Founding

The Declaration of Independence

Thomas Jefferson captured the gravity of nation‑building when he wrote that forming a government is “a work of the most interesting nature and such as every individual would wish to have his voice in.” The American Revolution was not merely a political rupture—it was a civilizational turning point. It challenged centuries of inherited hierarchy, the divine right of kings, and the belief that ordinary people were unfit to govern themselves.

Jefferson’s critique of monarchy was unsparing: “In a few generations they become all body and no mind… such is the regimen in raising kings.” The Revolution demanded a new political order—one grounded in liberty, reason, and the moral agency of every human soul.

The Struggle Against Aristocracy

The Virginia Convention of 1776 provided strong evidence that bringing about change would be no easy task as George Mason’s preamble that “all men are by nature equally free and independent” aroused immediate objections. As independence on the national scene approached, many wealthy Virginians preferred a return to pre‑1763 conditions rather than a full break with Britain. The Founders understood the danger: any new government could be captured by entrenched elites unless carefully designed.

Mason, one of America’s most profound political thinkers, further warned of “a concerted British plan to make all colonists into slaves.” His Declaration of Rights became the first authoritative statement of inalienable rights.

The same preamble that aroused the opposition of the aristocrats, however, sunk deeply into the consciousness of Thomas Jefferson, who, wanting meaningful change, was determined to carry his ideas about human rights to their logical conclusion.

Patrick Henry feared that “among most of our opulent families there existed a strong bias to aristocracy.” John Adams agreed, insisting that “a more equal liberty… must be established in America.” In other words, the Founders recognized that their most important and most complex task would be to construct a government that would not be taken over by the wealthy and powerful class in each state.

Jefferson’s Seventeen Days

Between June 11 and June 28, 1776, Jefferson worked alone in his upstairs parlor, shaping what he called “an expression of the American mind.” He drew from Mason’s ideas, his own earlier writings, and the shared philosophical inheritance of the Enlightenment.

“When in the Course of human events…” Jefferson’s preamble remains one of the most powerful political statements ever written.

Even after edits removed nearly a quarter of Jefferson’s draft—including a strong denunciation of the slave trade—the Declaration emerged as a timeless creed of human liberty.

In one example of an edit, Jefferson wrote: “We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable.” Franklin, a member of The Committee of Five that had been assigned to draft a declaration of independence, crossed out “sacred and undeniable” and wrote “self-evident.” The conversation between Franklin and Jefferson about the famous edit was brief but pivotal.

Favoring the philosophical language of John Locke, Jefferson used the words “sacred and undeniable” which placed liberty’s foundation squarely in the realm of religion and natural law. These words had theological weight and lofty moral power.

But to Franklin, the appeal to divine authority invited theological disputation. He wanted to shift the foundation of American liberty away from religious dogma and onto shared human reason and science. By using “self-evident,” he established that you didn’t need a specific religious text to prove all men are created equal; you only needed clear thinking.

Jefferson expressed quiet indignation that his “precisely chosen” words were being altered. Franklin gently but firmly reminded him that the document had to represent the rational consensus of many hands, not just one.

Franklin’s edit helped ensure the American experiment was grounded in reason rather than religious revelation, cementing a universalism that remains a cornerstone of the nation’s political identity. He understood that to rally a continent and pass muster with the prickly delegates of the Continental Congress, the Declaration’s truths needed to be stated plainly, not preached. In other words, you did not need a Bible to know that all men are created equal. You just had to open your eyes and think clearly.

On Monday, July 1, John Adams arose early, composed a long letter to a former delegate, and then, knowing what was in store, walked to the State House. In the letter he had written, “This morning is assigned the greatest debate of all. A declaration, that these colonies are free and independent States, has been reported by a committee some weeks ago for that purpose, and this day or tomorrow is to determine its fate. May heaven prosper the newborn republic.”

John Adams: The Colossus of Independence

On that same July 1 morning, Adams delivered what witnesses called the greatest speech of his life. He argued that the fate of “millions, born and unborn” depended on decisive action. Jefferson remembered him as “the colossus of independence.” Benjamin Rush wrote that Adams had “not his superior, scarcely his equal for abilities and virtue.” Adams’ relentless advocacy ensured that independence was declared when it was—and that the Declaration became the moral foundation of the new republic.

The Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776. The result was an official break with Britain that strengthened unity and helped attract foreign support, but it also meant the conflict became an all-out war for independence.

Writing of Adams in September, Benjamin Rush would tell a friend, “This illustrious patriot has not his superior, scarcely his equal for abilities and virtue on the whole of the continent of America.” He would later add, “Every member of Congress in 1776 acknowledged him to be the first man in the House.” Above all, with his sense of urgency and unrelenting drive, John Adams made the Declaration of Independence happen when it did.

Our Sacred Honor

The signing on August 2, 1776, was an act of profound courage. As William Ellery observed, each man signed with “undaunted resolution.”

They were lawyers, merchants, farmers, physicians, judges, and one clergyman. Many were wealthy; many would lose everything. Some died in poverty, some in prison, some in battle. Some “signed with regret, and several others with many doubts and much lukewarmness,” wrote Adams. Yet not one of the fifty‑six signers ever betrayed the cause.

With the exception of Dr. John Witherspoon, president of Princeton, who came from Scotland in 1768, all the rest of the signers had been born in America. Their average age was forty-five. Franklin was, at seventy, the oldest, and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina was the youngest at twenty-six.

For reasons of security the Declaration with the signatures was not published until January 1777, for it was fully understood that if the Revolution failed, the signers would be rounded up, their property confiscated, and their lives forfeited.

“We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honour.” This pledge was not rhetorical. It was lived.

Providence and Moral Agency

The Revolution can also be understood through a theological lens: that God sought to create a political environment where moral agency could flourish—“that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgement.”

The Constitution, which would also be born of sacrifice and struggle, would become a safeguard for religious liberty and the rights of all flesh. And though it took generations, its principles ultimately helped secure freedom for the descendants of the 500,000 enslaved people living in America in 1776.

The Republic’s Moral Foundations

George Washington warned that “religion and morality are indispensable supports” of political prosperity. The Founders understood that liberty requires virtue, and that self‑government demands self‑discipline. As James Russell Lowell later paraphrased, the republic will endure only as long as the founding ideas endure—ideas rooted in courage, sacrifice, and the belief that human beings are capable of governing themselves.

Conclusion: The Empire of Liberty

The American Founding was not an accident of history; it was foreordained. It was an inevitable chain of events leading to a sure conclusion; a deliberate, providential orchestration of ideas, character, and conviction. Seeking the ancient principles he wanted to incorporate in a new system of government, Jefferson was setting America’s sights on a new marker. Following its passage, his dominating concern would be to translate the Declaration into legal institutions and to make it a living reality. His compelling desire was to see the creation of an empire of liberty.

While George Mason anchored the principles of rights, John Adams fought to make independence real. For their part, each of the signers risked everything.

Their legacy is a nation built not on bloodlines or divine right, but on truths held to be self‑evident. And the preservation of that legacy—of children’s right “to play, to dance, and to sing”—depends on our willingness to remember, defend, and live the principles they pledged their sacred honor to secure.

POST 27 A CITY ON A HILL

Providential Orchestration and the American Founding

England in Turmoil: The Seeds of Departure

In the early seventeenth century, England was a nation strained by religious corruption and political absolutism. The Church of England, still entangled in practices reminiscent of Rome — indulgences, compulsory infant baptism, and rigid ecclesiastical control — left many devout believers convinced that true Christian faith could not flourish under such a system. Among them were the Separatists, a humble congregation of farmers, artisans, and laborers who believed the church was beyond reform. Their conviction was simple yet radical: Christ’s church must be voluntary, covenantal, and free from the coercive power of the state.

Persecuted for their dissent, they fled to Holland in 1608. For a decade they lived in Leiden, grateful for Dutch toleration yet troubled by new dangers. Their children were becoming Dutch, their English identity fading, and economic hardship pressed heavily upon them. They longed for a place where they could preserve their faith, their culture, and their future. That longing pointed them across the Atlantic.

The Voyage of 1620: A Covenant Born at Sea

In July 1620, two ships prepared to sail for the New World: the Speedwell, carrying sixty‑four passengers, and the Mayflower, carrying the rest. When the Speedwell proved unseaworthy, all were forced aboard the Mayflower, now crowded with both Separatists (“Saints”) and non‑Separatists (“Strangers”). This mixture created an immediate political crisis. Under whose authority would they live? What laws would bind them?

On their 66‑day voyage, somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic, far from king or bishop, they answered these questions with one of the most extraordinary political acts in human history. Drawing on the teachings of their pastor John Robinson, they drafted the Mayflower Compact, declaring: “We… covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politick.”

Here, in 1620, ordinary men — most with little formal education — asserted the right to form their own government by mutual consent. It was a social contract, a declaration of self‑government, and a seed of popular sovereignty. The American experiment began not in marble halls but in the cramped hold of a storm‑tossed ship.

The Puritan Migration of 1630: A Vision for a New Commonwealth

A decade later, a far larger wave of settlers crossed the Atlantic. These were the Puritans, guided by ministers like John White and led politically by John Winthrop. Unlike the Separatists, they had not abandoned hope for England; they sought instead to build a model Christian society that might one day inspire reform back home.

Before landing, Winthrop delivered his famous vision, A Model of Christian Charity, declaring that the community must be bound by covenant: “We covenant to love the Lord our God, and to love one another… that the Lord our God may bless us in the land whither we go to possess it.”

This was not merely a religious statement. It was a blueprint for a society built on mutual responsibility, moral discipline, and collective purpose. The Puritans believed they were a new Israel, entering a promised land under divine favor. Their covenantal thinking would shape New England’s laws, institutions, and culture for generations.

Upheaval in England: The Old Order Falls

While the Pilgrims and Puritans were carving out new communities, England descended into civil war. The very leaders who had persecuted dissenters met violent ends. Archbishop William Laud, the architect of religious repression, was executed in 1640. King Charles I, who had insisted on absolute authority over church and state, was beheaded in 1649 at Whitehall.

The collapse of the old order vindicated the convictions of those who had crossed the ocean. Yet by then, New England had already become a laboratory for new ideas of liberty, governance, and community.

The Builders of Principle

As the Pilgrims and Puritans incorporated their first settlements into the New England wilderness, a new kind of builder emerged — not one who shaped timber or stone, but one who shaped principles. These were men who believed that a society could be founded on liberty, conscience, and human dignity.

From the beginning, the New World was imagined as a stage upon which Providence might reveal a grander design. The Puritan hope for a “city on a hill” was not merely a political or economic aspiration but a spiritual expectation — a belief that God was preparing a people and a place for purposes yet unseen.

Across the seventeenth century, two figures rose like twin pillars from the early American landscape: Roger Williams, the uncompromising prophet of liberty, and William Penn, the statesman who built the world’s first great experiment in brotherly love. Their stories, though distinct, converge in a shared aspiration — to build a community worthy of divine purpose, a city whose light might shine across the world.

Roger Williams: The Prophet of Liberty and the Coming Restoration

Roger Williams arrived in New England with a brilliant mind and a conscience that refused to bend. Even among the Puritans — themselves dissenters — Williams pushed further. He believed that civil government had no authority over the soul, that true faith required absolute liberty of conscience, and that Native peoples possessed rightful ownership of their lands.

Banished in the dead of winter, Williams survived only because the Narragansett sheltered him. From this crucible he founded Providence in 1636 — the first society built on complete religious freedom, full separation of church and state, and the sovereignty of the people.

But Williams’ vision reached beyond politics. He believed the Christian world had fallen into apostasy and that heaven had not finished speaking. In one of the most remarkable declarations in early American religious thought, he wrote:

“There is no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles and prophets are sent by the great Head of the Church.”

This was not resignation. It was anticipation — a prophetic nod toward a future Restoration. Williams saw himself as a forerunner, clearing the ground so that God’s ordained servants could labor freely when the heavens opened again.

William Penn: The Architect of Ordered Liberty

A generation after Williams carved out the first refuge for liberty of conscience, William Penn would take the same principle and build it into a functioning political order. If Williams was the fiery prophet, Penn was the master builder — the architect who translated spiritual conviction into civic design.

Born into privilege, Penn embraced the persecuted Quakers, a people who believed in peace, equality, and the inner light. In 1670, he stood trial in London for preaching without license. The Crown, determined to crush the Quaker movement, sought to bend the jury system into an instrument of repression. Penn refused to yield. His defiance restored the independence of juries and established the principle that conscience could not be chained by the state.

When Penn later received a vast land grant in America, he saw an opportunity to turn ideals into reality. Pennsylvania became a “holy experiment” — a commonwealth built on consent, tolerance, and justice. At its heart rose Philadelphia, the “city of brotherly love,” designed as a model of civic harmony. Philadelphia soon became the nation’s first center of medical care, the home of the American Philosophical Society, the foremost publishing hub of the colonies, and the stage for the words of Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine, which helped ignite and sustain the cause of independence. It was here that the Declaration of Independence was debated, here that the Constitution was framed, and here that the Bill of Rights found its earliest champions. No other colonial city so fully embodied the fusion of moral principle and political innovation. In Penn’s vision — and in the city that bore his imprint — America gained its first great architect of ordered liberty.

Twin Builders of the American Ideal

Roger Williams and William Penn never met, yet their visions converge like two rivers feeding the same sea. Williams gave America its moral foundation — the conviction that conscience is inviolable. Penn gave America its political architecture — a model of humane governance and civic participation. Together, they helped shape the idea that America could be more than a scattering of colonies. It could be a city on a hill, where liberty shines; and a city of brotherly love, where justice and compassion walk together.

Their courage — tested by plague, persecution, and the wrath of kings — became the seedbed of the freedoms later secured in the First Amendment. And their legacy endures as a reminder that the “city on a hill” was never meant to be merely a political metaphor. It was a spiritual calling — a place prepared for a people who believed that God still speaks, that truth still unfolds, and that the Restoration of divine authority would one day come.

Toward the Great Awakening

With the foundations laid by the Pilgrims, Puritans, Williams, and Penn, the colonies were ready for the next great movement — a spiritual fire that would sweep across the land, stirring hearts, leveling social distinctions, and preparing the people for revolution. It would come through two unlikely partners: George Whitefield, the thunderous evangelist, and Benjamin Franklin, the curious printer who became his friend. Their story — the story of the Great Awakening — is the next chapter in America’s rise toward destiny.

website: americasgranddesign.com

blog: http://www.americasgrand.design

The Promised Land

Post No. 2 Read Time: 6 minutes.

Moses leads the Israelites, Lehi leaves Jerusalem, Pioneers arrive in the top of the mountains.

America’s Grand Design

There are places I’ll remember all my life, though some have changed.
All these places had their moments, I’ll often stop and think about them. I know I’ll never lose affection, for people and things that went before. In my life I’ve loved them all. –Lennon and McCartney

Places gain meaning from our experiences—homes, parks, hillsides, and neighborhoods become special over time. As Shakespeare said, “a place is honored by the actions that occur there.”

Sacred locations are those valued for their spiritual or lasting significance, such as hospitals, homes, chapels, temples, cemeteries, or lands important to freedom and religion. Social media often highlights moving moments, like an artist returning home or to the setting of a choir, where a love of music began. These special places inspire feelings about faith and identity, reflecting humanity’s rich spiritual and cultural heritage.

Lorraine American Cemetery

The Garden of Eden was the original home of Adam and Eve. After their expulsion from the Garden, they settled at Adam-ondi-Ahman in present-day Daviess County, Missouri. This area has been designated as the future site of Zion or the New Jerusalem.

In this sacred place, Adam was told that many nations would come from him, and he would be a leader over them. Despite his age, he gathered his descendants and spoke about their future generations. Never before had one spot of earth been favored with such a meeting.

Adam-ondi-Ahman, Daviess County, Missouri

However, Cain killed Abel, and according to the narrative, unrighteousness increased throughout the world. Generations later, the Lord sent a flood to cleanse the earth.

Scripture records that “after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all others.” Such a place needed to be protected. In response to God’s decree, the great continents separated and the ocean rushed in to surround them; the promised place was set apart.

Shortly after the events of the Tower of Babel, a nation known as the Jaredites traveled to the promised land on the condition that only those who served God would be allowed to remain. Over time, their society experienced wickedness and conflict to such a degree that it was eventually destroyed.

The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ

Also recorded in the Book of Mormon, after the Jaredite civilization ended, two families, led by a prophet named Lehi, left Jerusalem around 600 BC and sailed to the New World. Their story, along with the account of their descendants, lasted over one thousand years. It recounts cycles of conflict and righteousness, wars and peace, while also including vivid details of Christ’s visit to America. Following nearly three hundred years of peace, they rebelled against the gospel, fractured into tribes, and became the principal ancestors of the American Indians. Through it all, as prophesied, they faced war, disease, and near destruction.

A thousand years later, an Italian explorer sailing for Spain said divine inspiration drove his journey despite ridicule from others. Similarly, again from the Book of Mormon account, a prophet named Nephi saw the future discovery, colonization, and emergence of a mighty nation.

The cultural and religious freedoms that sprang from the Renaissance and Reformation helped inspire the focus on personal liberty during the Age of Enlightenment, creating a foundation for America as a “first new nation.” Before becoming president, George Washington noted that America’s origins were shaped by intellectual progress and a growing awareness of human rights, making it an opportune time to establish a government.

Also recognizing this unique moment in history, Thomas Paine noted that America represented a fresh start for government, where people could observe its creation firsthand rather than relying on ancient history or guesswork. He wrote, “We are brought at once to the point of seeing government begin, as if we had lived in the beginning of time.”

Washington and Paine could not have anticipated the enduring influence of their contributions. Building upon the legacy of predecessors such as pilgrims, Puritans, patriots, and statesmen, they and their contemporaries played a pivotal role in shaping a foundation for the future. Washington referred to the “singular interpositions of Providence,” which, over millennia, helped establish a political framework ultimately facilitating the “restitution of all things.” Shortly after the Constitutional Convention of 1787 secured fundamental freedoms through the Bill of Rights, Joseph Smith, later known for founding the Restoration movement, was born in Vermont.

Following centuries of meticulous preparation, God was ready to restore his priesthood, his church, its central leadership, and the fullness of the everlasting gospel. The purpose of America was to provide the platform of freedom, the setting wherein all of this was possible. All else takes its power from that one great, central purpose. Noted by Lafayette, and as those who gain knowledge and a testimony of this work will attest, “The welfare of America is closely bound up with the welfare of all mankind.”

In summary, the formation of Western Civilization, the founding of America, and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ can be attributed to two primary factors. Originally, Jesus’ words emerged purely from the Jewish tradition. However, through the machinations of men, many parts of the initial gospel, which included key teachings and covenants, were removed or altered. Secondly, because of what has been lost, many are misled by deception and false traditions. The Book of Mormon plays a central role in the Restoration by reintroducing previously lost teachings intended to benefit people universally.

The Book of Mormon describes America as a land which is choice above all other lands. It is a land reserved for a people who will have Jesus Christ (Jehovah) to be their God. Emphasizing the importance of laws for political and moral order, the book also recounts how two civilizations were destroyed after failing to uphold these standards, highlighting the serious responsibilities that rest upon those living in this promised land.

SUMMARY

Big Idea

The narrative explores the deep significance of sacred places in shaping spiritual, cultural, and national identity, emphasizing how divine guidance and human actions across history set the stage for freedom, faith, and the eventual restoration of the gospel in America.

Key Points

The welfare and destiny of America are intimately linked to the broader spiritual welfare of humanity, supported by the testimonies of influential historical figures.

Places acquire meaning through the experiences and actions that unfold there, becoming sacred due to their spiritual, historical, or personal significance.

Scriptural and historical locations—such as the Garden of Eden, Adam-ondi-Ahman, and sites from the Book of Mormon—are portrayed as pivotal in humanity’s spiritual journey.

Western Civilization and America’s founding were influenced by the ages of Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment, under the direction of Divine Providence.

America’s foundation was uniquely prepared as a place where personal liberty, intellectual progress, pluralism, and religious restoration could flourish, thus facilitating the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the spread of liberty across the globe, and the individual and collective efforts of good people everywhere on behalf of mankind’s general welfare.

The decrees of God warn that whatsoever nation shall possess the promised land shall serve Jesus Christ, or they shall be swept off when the fullness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fullness of his wrath comes upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.

Please see: Book of Mormon, 1 Ne. Chapter 13 (pages 23-27).