ng. They began to have an aspiration to form a new
nation, to be citizens of a new republic instead of subjects of an
old monarchy. They had the idea--the Puritans, the Catholics, the
Episcopalians, the Baptists, the Quakers, and a few Free Thinkers, all
had the idea--that they would like to form a new nation.

Now, do not understand that all of our fathers were in favor of
independence. Do not understand that they were all like Jefferson; that
they were all like Adams or Lee; that they were all like Thomas Paine
or John Hancock. There were thousands and thousands of them who were
opposed to American independence. There were thousands and thousands who
said: "When you say men are created equal, it is a lie; when you say the
political power resides in the great body of the people, it is false."
Thousands and thousands of them said: "We prefer Great Britain." But
the men who were in favor of independence, the men who knew that a new
nation must be born, went on full of hope and courage, and nothing could
daunt or stop or stay the heroic, fearless few.

They met in Philadelphia; and the resolution was moved by Lee of
Virginia, that the colonies ought to be independent states, and ought to
dissolve their political connection with Great Britain.

They made up their minds that a new nation must be formed. All nations
had been, so to speak, the wards of some church. The religious idea as
to the source of power had been at the foundation of all governments,
and had been the bane and curse of man.

Happily for us, there was no church strong enough to dictate to the
rest. Fortunately for us, the colonists not only, but the colonies
differed widely in their religious views. There were the Puritans who
hated the Episcopalians, and Episcopalians who hated the Catholics,
and the Catholics who hated both, while the Quakers held them all in
contempt. There they were, of every sort, and color, and kind, and
how was it that they came together? They had a common aspiration. They
wanted to form a new nation. More than that, most of them cordially
hated Great Britain; and they pledged each other to forget these
religious prejudices, for a time at least, and agreed that there should
be only one religion until they got through, and that was the religion
of patriotism. They solemnly agreed that the new nation should not
belong to any particular church, but that it should secure the rights of
all.

Our fathers founded the first secular gov