David Barton Details Christian Heritage of America's Founders on Huckabee Show

Here is video in two parts of David Barton's appearance on Mike Huckabee's Show last night, where he reveals the Christian background to many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the founders of our nation.

Barton takes the famous painting of the signing of the Declaration and points to the lesser known characters in the painting as he describes who they were and their involvement in Christian history. He also shows several original documents from the period of our founding that reveal the rich Christian heritage of the founding of America. David Barton is the Founder and President of Wallbuilders, an organization that presents America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our moral, religious and constitutional heritage.

This is a segment those who want to try and expunge all vestiges of America's religious history will not enjoy! . . . . . (Watch Video)

I was waiting for him to mention the devout Catholics who were founders, but I did not hear him do so. Charles Carroll was the oldest surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, and his cousin Daniel Carroll signed the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. Daniel’s brother was the first Catholic bishop in the US, and founded Georgetown University.

As one of the wealthiest men in America, Charles Carroll III of Carrollton risked his fortune as well as his life when he joined the Revolutionaries. Possessing one of the msot cultivated minds of any of the signers, he achieved remarkable success as planter, businessman, and politician. He was the only Roman Catholic signer, the last to surivive, and the longest lived.
Of Irish descent, Carroll was born in 1737 at his father’s townhouse, Carroll Mansion of Annapolis. Jesuits educated him until he reached about 11 years of age. He then voyaged to Europe and studied the liberal arts and civil law at various schools and universities in Paris, elsewhere in France, and in London.

Carroll sailed home in 1765 at the age of 28, and built a home at Carrollton Manor, a 10,000-acre estate in Frederick County newly deeded to him by his father. At that time, he added “Carrollton” to his name to distinguish himself from relatives of the same name...

In 1773 Carroll became a champion of the patriots through his newspaper attacks on the Proprietary Governor. The latter was opposing reforms in officers’ fees and stipends for Anglican clergy that the lower house of the legislature had proposed... In the years 1774-76 he supported nonimportation measures, attended the first Maryland Revolutionary convention, and the council of safety. In 1776 he and his cousin John, a priest—chosen because of their religion and knowledge of French—traveled to Canada with Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Chase ona congressionally appointed committee that sought but failed to obtain a union of Canada with the colonies...

In his final years, revered by the Nation as the last surviving signer of the Declaration, Carroll spent most of his time at Doughoregan Manor. But he passed the winters in the home of his youngest daughter and her husband in Baltimore. There, in 1832, he died at the age of 95. His body was interred in the family chapel at Doughoregan Manor.

Daniel Carroll was a prominent member of one of America’s great colonial families, a family that produced a signer of the Declaration of Independence in Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a cousin, and the first Catholic bishop in the United States, Daniel’s brother John. Daniel Carroll was a patrician planter who fused family honor with the cause of American independence, willingly risking his social and economic position in the community for the Patriot cause. Later, as a friend and staunch ally of George Washington, he worked for a strong central government which could secure the achievements and fulfill the hopes of the Revolution. Ironically, for one whose name was synonymous with the colonial aristocracy, Carroll fought in the Convention for a government responsible directly to the people.

CAREER BEFORE THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. Typical of wealthy colonial Catholics, Carroll went abroad for his education. Between 1742 and 1748 he studied under the Jesuits at St. Omer’s in Flanders. After his return, he only gradually joined the Patriot cause. A large landholder, he was concerned lest the Revolution fail economically and bring about not only his family’s financial ruin, but mob rule as well. Furthermore, he was initially prevented from becoming involved in Maryland politics by laws that excluded Catholics from holding public office. Once these laws were nullified by the Maryland constitution of 1776, the way was cleared for his election to the upper house of the Maryland legislature (1777-81). At the end of his term, he became a member of the Continental Congress (1781-84), where, in 1781, he signed the Articles of Confederation. His involvement in the Revolution, like that of other Patriots in this patrician’s extended family, was inspired by the family’s ancient motto: “Strong in Faith and War.”

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. Carroll was an active member of the Constitutional Convention, despite the fact that illness prevented him from attending the early sessions. Like his good friend James Madison, Carroll was convinced that a strong central government was needed to regulate commerce among the states and with other nations. He also spoke out repeatedly in opposition to the payment of members of Congress by the states, reasoning that such compensation would sabotage the strength of the new government because “the dependence of both Houses on the state Legislatures would be compleat . . . .The new government in this form is nothing more than a second edition of [the Continental] Congress in two volumes, instead of one, and perhaps with very few amendments.” He wanted governmental power vested in the people, and he joined James Wilson in campaigning for popular sovereignty. When it was suggested that the President should be elected by the Congress, it was Carroll, seconded by James Wilson, who moved that the words “by the legislature” be replaced with “by the people.” His signature on the Constitution made him one of two Catholics to sign the document, a further symbol of the advance of religious freedom in America during the Revolutionary period.

CAREER AFTER THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. Following the Convention, Carroll immersed himself in state and national affairs. He was a key participant in the Maryland ratification struggle. He also defended the Constitution in the pages of the Maryland Journal, most notably in his response to the arguments advanced by the well-known Antifederalist Samuel Chase. After ratification was achieved in Maryland, Carroll became a representative in the First Congress, where, reflecting his concern for economic and fiscal stability, he voted for the assumption of state debts by the federal government.

He later served in the Maryland senate and as one of three commissioners appointed to survey the District of Columbia. He then became a commissioner (co-mayor) of the new capital city, but advanced age and failing health forced him to retire in 1795. Even then, interest in the good of his region kept him active. In the last year of his life he became one of George Washington’s partners in the Patowmack Company, a business enterprise intended to link the middle states with the expanding west by means of a Potomac River canal.

PERSONAL DATA
BIRTH: 22 July 1730, at Upper Marlboro, Maryland
DEATH: 5 July 1796, at “Rock Creek” (Forest Glen), Montgomery County, Maryland
INTERMENT: St. John’s Catholic Cemetery, Forest Glen, Maryland

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