‘In God We Trust’ Celebrates 50 Years     6/26/2006
Our national motto’s history spans some 150 years.
By Sarah Kuziomko

July 30 marks the 50th anniversary of “In God we trust,” which became our national motto in 1956 when President Dwight Eisenhower signed a joint resolution of the 84th Congress. This is truly a day to remember and honor God’s presence in our country.

Our country’s motto had early beginnings with Francis Scott Key, an amateur poet, in 1814. The sight of the American flag waving triumphantly after the bombing of Fort McHenry struck him so much so that he immediately scratched out a poem on the back of a letter from his pocket. This poem became our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. In the song’s fourth stanza, the words ring out: “And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’”

Key was not the only one to acknowledge God’s supremacy. Due to increased religious sentiment during the Civil War, Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, received many requests to recognize God on our coins. One of the first appeals came in 1861 from a Pennsylvania minister, Rev. M.R. Watkinson:

Dear Sir: You are about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the affairs of the national finances.

One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins. …This would place us under the Divine Protection we have personally claimed.

In response, Secretary Chase instructed James Pollock, director of the Mint of Philadelphia, to prepare a motto without delay.

Among the first-proposed mottos were “Our country; Our God” and “God, Our Trust.” Finally, in 1864, Congress passed the Coinage Act to bear the revised motto “In God we trust” on the 2 cent coins. A year later, gold and silver coins followed suit. President Eisenhower’s decision finally made this our national motto in 1956. A year later it appeared on all currency.

Also in the 1950s, the phrase “Under God” became part of the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge had become our official national oath on December 28, 1941. However, the Knights of Columbus, one of the largest Catholic organizations, felt it was incomplete without a reference to God, and campaigned for a change in the official pledge.

But it was the Rev. George MacPherson Docherty whose sermon really inspired President Eisenhower into action. With the President in attendance, Docherty preached from his pulpit how adding “Under God” to the pledge should not be offensive to anyone. Everyone had a God, whether Christian, Buddhist or Muslim. Our nation was founded on a relationship with God, and without those words, the Pledge showed no allegiance to the United States in particular.

Eisenhower enthusiastically supported the measure and signed the bill into law on Flag Day, June 14, 1954, stating, “From this day forward, the million of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty.

So on July 30, remember to think of the meaning and history behind our nation’s beloved motto, “In God we trust.”

Sarah Kuziomko, a student at Grove City College, is an intern with CWA’s Ronald Reagan Memorial Internship Program.

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