Faith & America
One nation, and a long story of faith woven through its history and culture. Here is that story told honestly, with the facts kept straight and the spirit kept warm.
“In God We Trust”: The Real History
Four words appear on every coin and bill in your pocket, and their journey onto American money took nearly a century. The story begins in the hardest years the country ever faced and ends with a motto embraced by law.
First on a coin
During the Civil War, a surge of public religious feeling led the Treasury to add the words to the new two-cent piece. The phrase debuted in circulation in 1864 under Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase.
The national motto
Congress passed a law establishing In God We Trust as the official national motto of the United States. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it on July 30, 1956.
On paper money
The motto first appeared on paper currency, beginning with the one-dollar silver certificate, and has been printed on U.S. paper money ever since.
The National Day of Prayer
In 1952 Congress established an annual National Day of Prayer, and President Harry S. Truman signed it into law, inviting Americans of every background to set aside a day for reflection and prayer.
In 1988 an amendment signed by President Ronald Reagan fixed the observance on the first Thursday of May, where it remains today. Each spring, communities across the country gather in churches, statehouses, and town squares to mark it.
Faith in Early American Life and the Founding Era
Faith was present at the beginning. Many of the earliest colonists, the Pilgrims and Puritans among them, crossed the Atlantic seeking the freedom to worship as they believed. Their communities were organized around church and Scripture, and religious revivals such as the Great Awakening in the 1730s and 1740s stirred the colonies well before independence.
“The Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” — the Declaration’s appeal to a Creator reflects a broad shared conviction, not any single denomination.
The founders themselves held a range of beliefs. Some were devout traditional Christians, while others, including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, held more unconventional or Enlightenment-shaped views. The picture is honest and worth stating plainly: the Constitution does not mention God, it forbids any religious test for public office, and the First Amendment both bars an established national church and protects the free exercise of religion.
Christian Influence on American Culture
Beyond law and politics, the deepest mark of faith on America shows up in daily life, in the music we sing, the holidays we keep, the charities we build, and the movements that called the country toward its highest ideals. Follow any thread below to go deeper.
Holidays We Share
Christmas and Easter shape the American calendar far beyond the church door, in music, family gatherings, generosity, and a season of goodwill that reaches believers and neighbors alike.
Explore the holidays Arts & CultureThe Sound of American Music
Hymns, spirituals, and gospel are woven into the roots of American music. The traditions born in churches and revival meetings helped give rise to blues, jazz, country, and rock and roll.
Faith and culture ServiceA Tradition of Charity
Much of American giving grew out of the faith community, hospitals, schools, food pantries, disaster relief, and organizations like the Salvation Army and the YMCA that turned belief into service.
How Christians lead in service EducationLearning and the Early Colleges
Several of the nation's oldest colleges, including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, were founded with religious purposes at their heart, training ministers and educating a young country.
Start a reading plan JusticeThe Church and Civil Rights
The Civil Rights Movement drew deeply on the Black church. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference carried the language and moral force of faith into the struggle for equality.
Americans who shaped the nation HistoryConscience and Reform
From the abolition movement to countless reform efforts, Americans of faith, Quakers and many others, pressed their convictions into public life and helped move the nation toward its stated ideals.
The history of Christianity in AmericaKeep Exploring
Go deeper into Scripture, history, and Christian culture with our curated resources and daily readings.