Situating the Founding

The American Founding is a complex event for Catholics, but the politics the founders preached were unwittingly tied to classical Catholic political thought.

The 1492 Project is a multi-part series to analyze America’s Catholic Founding.

The Founding Fathers created a great nation, but as with every nation, it was imperfect.

Previously, our unwritten constitution, America’s Catholic Founding, was discussed at length, showing the original tradition in America was Catholic. The discovery of America, spearheaded by Christopher Columbus, was a Catholic event, and the subsequent French and Spanish voyages were also Catholic. Though not united as one Catholic nation, the initial colonies baptized the American continent into Catholicism. The rising English settlements comprised different Protestant sects and would overtake Catholic America. By 1763, Protestant America emerged as the dominant force on the continent.

However, the Revolutionary War gave rise to one of the most critical moments in the 18th century. The American Revolution would permanently alter the continent, and Protestant America would soon become the United States of America. But the religious sentiment underpinning the Revolution and the founders' beliefs on religion is seldom discussed.

The Founding of America had both conservative and liberal elements. As much as our Founding was influenced by Christianity, republicanism, and British law, it was also influenced by Enlightenment ideas of Freemasonry and Deism. The influence of these ideas on our Founding poses a complex question for Catholics. Recognizing these Enlightenment ideals is difficult, but it is important to be transparent about the entire intellectual tradition of the American Founding. However, respecting where the Founders laid the foundation for something better is equally important.

Where the Founders Fell Short 

It is important to first locate anti-Catholic beliefs at the Founding. 

Freemasonry, which many in the American colonies adhered to, comes from the secret fraternal society called Freemasons, which arose during the Enlightenment and promotes the “Masonic Grand Architect” as the sole mover of the universe instead of the Christian God. The group formed in Scotland and became popular in America, with many famous Americans joining the ranks. The masons rose in opposition to the Catholic Church and have been condemned numerous times by the Church, starting with Pope Clement XII and continuing to the present day.

Deism was also another pervasive ideology in early America. Deism, condemned by Pope Leo XII, believes in an inactive, watchmaker-god that does not meddle in the world. Christ is reduced to a simple philosopher, not the incarnation of the Word. Freemasonry and Deism are beliefs contrary to the fundamental pillars of Christianity. Both “de-Christianize” religion and reduce the revelation of Jesus Christ to the Enlightenment terms of “Providence” and “Nature’s God.” These beliefs, unfortunately, infected the religious philosophy of many of the American Founders and imbued themselves in the early writings of the United States.

The father of our nation, George Washington, had complex religious beliefs. Washington, an Anglican, would attend services from all denominations, including Catholic Mass. Washington had a good relationship with Catholic bishops and priests, even donating to the construction of St. Mary’s Basilica in Alexandria, Virginia. Washington stressed religious toleration within his continental army, even banning burning Pope effigies during the infamous “Pope Day” celebrations.

However, Washington was also a high-ranking freemason. Washington admired Masonic ideals such as rationalism, skepticism, toleration, and fraternalism and incorporated them into his philosophy. When Washington spoke of God, he did so in vague, Deist terms, such as “Providence,” as in his Farewell Address: “Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue?”

Washington was much closer to masonry than Christianity, supported by his Philadelphia Pastor, who experienced his Deism and evident in his rhetoric. His appeal to tolerance and rationale were Masonic ideals rather than Christian ideals. Unless the Washington deathbed conversion story to Catholicism is false, the father of our nation was a Freemason, plain and simple.

Thomas Jefferson went even further than most Founding Fathers in his Deist views. Jefferson was a promoter of Deism, believing the miracles of Jesus to be superstitious. He thought it better suited man to reject any supernatural phenomenon and promote things that could be known by reason alone. The culmination of his beliefs was The Jefferson Bible, Jefferson’s translation of the Bible that removed all miracles associated with Christ, such as the resurrection. In a letter from 1816, Jefferson also wrote against Catholicism:

My opinion is that there would have never been an infidel if there had never been a priest. The artificial structures they have built on the purest of moral systems, for the purpose of deriving from it pence and power, revolts those who think for themselves, and who read in the system only what is really there.

Other influential Americans shared Jefferson’s Deist views. American figures such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine shared Jefferson’s Deism, promoting a radical view of Christianity.

Where were Catholics at this time? Catholics had faced persecution and discrimination in Protestant America. Catholics fought on both sides during the Revolutionary War for different reasons, but most supported the monarchy due to the Quebec Act, which granted tolerance to Catholics. The Catholics who sided with the patriots would contribute to creating the United States.

Charles Carroll is famous for being the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. Carroll’s brother, Fr. Carroll, supported the birth of the United States in hopes of tolerance, but at the cost of not attempting to convert the United States. Catholics would play a minor role in American history, yet would still be an essential part of the American tradition. Territories that were once Catholic would become incorporated into the United States, allowing Catholicism to remain in the unwritten history of America.

The pervasive ideas of the Enlightenment were present at the Founding. Though many were the personally held beliefs of the founders, they would become the basis of the young nation. Many of the men who shaped our nation had the beliefs of Puritanism, Free-Masonry, and Deism.

The Founders Built Better Than They Knew

As complex as it is, the American Founding had plenty of virtue. The founders built better than they knew. 

The Founding Fathers harkened back to classical ideas of the government as much as they embraced liberal ideas. Ideas such as republicanism, the common good, and written constitutions were found in the West before the creation of the United States. Reflecting on the past governments, the “experiment” of the United States is not all unique. Mixed regimes were not new inventions of the United States but were supported by Aristotle, Polybius, and St. Thomas Aquinas. Tocqueville also observed the democratic and aristocratic ethos of the American government during his travels in the new nation. The Founders understood the importance of good governance.

The Founders also understood the importance of legislating morality. The liberalism present at the Founding did not affect how the Founders understood good governance. The country's early leaders understood the importance of civic duty and morality. During his inaugural address, George Washington advocated for civic virtue not only in their public life but in their private life as well: “So, on another, that the foundations of our National policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality.”

Despite Washington’s religious faults, he knew that man’s personal beliefs would inevitably impact the nation’s politics, an evident connection between the soul and the country, showing the importance of virtue held by our first president. John Adams, our second president, also understood the importance of having morality in government. His most famous quote highlights how he understood the American Republic could only succeed with faith: “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

There could never be a secular government or “separation of church and state.” Morality was tied to good governance, which could sustain the new constitution. This belief shows that the classical understanding of politics was present at the Founding. Despite the anti-Catholic beliefs, the founders unwittingly laid the foundation for a better America.

The Catholic America that started in 1492 would become non-existent. The westward expansion would kick out the remaining Catholic countries from the continent. After a significant civil war, the Protestant United States would control the American territory. Catholics were now put into a challenging situation. Many retreated into their communities and built institutions such as universities, while other Catholics worked in American society, despite the intense anti-Catholicism.

The American Founding is a complex event for Catholics. The Founding had anti-Catholic elements, such as the ideas of Freemasonry, Deism, and Puritanism. These beliefs do not change that America's unwritten constitution is still Catholic. We owe filial piety to the country and its common good.

The politics the founders preached were unwittingly tied to classical Catholic political thought. The foundation is present for a new America. America has the opportunity to move towards a Catholic future.