One thing that people of the 1700s often used when arguing about politics was ancient Roman history. Another one was the Bible. People on all sides of the debate about America used them to support their arguments. Of course, some people didn’t know Roman history well, although well-educated people generally did; and not everybody knew the Bible. But generally speaking, I think that the people in England and America at that time knew more about both than the average person does today. Some speeches, newspaper articles and pamphlets were full of quotes from the Bible, or references to Roman history. For example, a New Yorker wrote in 1774:
Let us, with the brave Romans, consider our ancestors and our offspring. Let us follow the example of the former, and set an example to the latter. … Had I a voice which could be heard from Canada to Florida, I would address the Americans in the language of the Roman patriot: “If you have a mind to keep those things, be they what they will, you are so fond of,” (whether your money, your freedom, civil and religious, or whether your very superfluities,) “rouse at length, and stand up for the liberties of your country.”
I hope that you don’t think (because you may not know Roman history very well) that all of the ancient Romans were noble, brave, and free; but Rome was a republic at times and was often held up as a model of good government.
The same writer also quoted or referred to the Bible several times, and encouraged clergymen to support the cause of liberty:
And let not the Ministers of the Gospel neglect their duty; let them remember the example of the Apostles, who embraced every opportunity of testifying their zeal for the civil and religious liberties of mankind; and while they teach men to consider their oppressors as “the rod of God’s anger, and the staff of his indignation,” let them not fail to excite and encourage them to a hope of his interposition in their behalf, while they humble themselves by fasting and prayer, and are in use of all proper means for deliverance.
If an article like this showed up in a newspaper today, I don’t think it would be very well received; most people probably wouldn’t understand the things it said about Rome and the Bible, and some would say that it’s inappropriate to base political arguments on the Bible at all.
If you want to test your Biblical knowledge, read the whole article and see how many Biblical references you can find.
Source:
American Archives, Series 4, volume 1, pp. 294-5.