In God We Trust

"In God We Trust" on the twenty dollar bill

"In God We Trust" is a national motto of the United States of America. It was so designated by an act of Congress in 1956, but did not supersede "E Pluribus Unum," which is still in frequent use.

The final stanza of "The Star-Spangled Banner," written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key (and later adopted as the U.S. National Anthem), contains one of the earliest references to a variation of the phrase: "...And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

The most common place where the motto is observed in daily life is on the money of the United States. The first United States coin to bear this national motto was the 1864 two-cent piece. It did not appear on paper money until the 1950s.

History on currency

The motto In God We Trust was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize God on United States coins. From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861. It was written to Secretary Chase by Rev. M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, and read:

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.

You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were not shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words PERPETUAL UNION; within the ring the allseeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words GOD, LIBERTY, LAW.

This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed. From my hearth I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.

To you first I address a subject that must be agitated. [1]

As a result, Secretary Chase instructed James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, in a letter dated November 20, 1861:

Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins. You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.

It was found that the Act of Congress dated January 18, 1837, prescribed the mottoes and devices that should be placed upon the coins of the United States. This meant that the mint could make no changes without the enactment of additional legislation by Congress. In December 1863, the Director of the Mint submitted designs for a new one-cent coin, two-cent coin, and three-cent coin to Secretary Chase for approval. He proposed that upon the designs either OUR COUNTRY, OUR GOD or GOD, OUR TRUST should appear as the motto on the coins. In a letter to the Mint Director on December 9, 1863, Secretary Chase stated:

I approve your mottoes, only suggesting that on that with the Washington obverse the motto should begin with the word OUR, so as to read OUR GOD AND OUR COUNTRY. And on that with the shield, it should be changed so as to read: IN GOD WE TRUST.

Congress passed the Coinage Act (1864) on April 22, 1864. This legislation changed the composition of the one-cent coin and authorized the minting of the two-cent coin. The Mint Director was directed to develop the designs for these coins for final approval of the Secretary. In God We Trust first appeared on the 1864 two-cent coin.

Another Act of Congress passed on March 3, 1865 which allowed the Mint Director, with the Secretary's approval, to place the motto on all gold and silver coins that "shall admit the inscription thereon." Under the Act, the motto was placed on the gold Double Eagle coin, the gold Eagle coin, and the gold half eagle coin. It was also placed on the silver dollar coin, the half dollar coin and the quarter dollar coin, and on the nickel five-cent coin beginning in 1866. Later, Congress passed the Fourth Coinage Act of February 12, 1873. It also said that the Secretary "may cause the motto IN GOD WE TRUST to be inscribed on such coins as shall admit of such motto."

The use of In God We Trust has not been uninterrupted. The motto disappeared from the five-cent coin in 1883, and did not reappear until production of the Jefferson nickel began in 1938. Since 1938, all United States coins bear the inscription. Later, the motto was found missing from the new design of the gold Double Eagle coin and the gold Eagle coin shortly after they appeared in 1907. In response to a general demand, Congress ordered it restored, and the Act of May 18, 1908, made it mandatory on all coins upon which it had previously appeared. Therefore, the motto was not mandatory on the one-cent and five-cent coins, but it could be placed on them by the Secretary of the Treasury or the Mint Director with the Secretary's approval.

The motto has been in continuous use on the one-cent coin since 1909 and on the ten-cent Dime since 1916. It also has appeared on all gold coins and silver dollar coins, half-dollar coins, and quarter-dollar coins struck since July 1, 1908.

A 1934-A five-dollar silver certificate (top image is the obverse of the certificate, bottom image is the reverse of the certificate).

A law passed by the 84th United States Congress (P.L. 84-140) and approved by the President on July 30, 1956. The President approved a joint resolution declaring In God We Trust the national motto of the United States. In God We Trust was first used on paper money in 1957 when it appeared on the one-dollar Silver Certificate. The first paper currency bearing the motto entered circulation on October 1, 1957. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) was converting to the dry intaglio printing process. During this conversion, it gradually included In God We Trust in the back design of all classes and denominations of currency.

As a part of a comprehensive modernization program, the BEP successfully developed and installed new high-speed rotary intaglio printing presses in 1957. These allowed BEP to print currency by the dry intaglio process, 32 notes to the sheet. One-dollar silver certificates were the first denomination printed on the new high-speed presses. They included In God We Trust as part of the reverse design as BEP adopted new dies according to the law. The motto also appeared on one-dollar silver certificates of the 1957-A and 1957-B series.

BEP prints United States paper currency by an intaglio process from engraved plates. It was necessary, therefore, to engrave the motto into the printing plates as a part of the basic engraved design to give it the prominence it deserved.

One-dollar silver certificates series 1935, 1935-A, 1935-B, 1935-C, 1935-D, 1935-E, 1935-F, 1935-G, and 1935-H were all printed on the older flat-bed presses by the wet intaglio process. P.L. 84-140 recognized that an enormous expense would be associated with immediately replacing the costly printing plates. The law allowed BEP to gradually convert to the inclusion of In God We Trust on the currency. Accordingly, the motto is not found on series 1935-E and 1935-F one-dollar notes. By September 1961, In God We Trust had been added to the back design of the Series 1935-G notes. Some early printings of this series do not bear the motto. In God We Trust appears on all series 1935-H one-dollar silver certificates.

Controversy

Today, the motto is a source of some heated contention. One side argues that a need for a "separation of church and state" requires that the motto be removed from all public use, including on coins and paper money. They argue that religious freedom includes the right to believe in the non-existence of God and that the gratuitous use of the motto infringes upon the religious rights of the unreligious. They argue that any endorsement of God by the government is unconstitutional. Many also argue that the motto, along with the addition of "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance, was made official simply because of US opposition to the atheistic Soviet Union, the main adversary of the United States at the time.

The other side of the argument states that the separation of church and state means that Congress shall not impose a state religion on the populace, and that the separation of church and state is a legislative invention not intended by the founding fathers (though there is reference to a "wall of separation between church and state" in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson). They argue that religious language is used in the founding documents, such as "Nature and Nature's God" in the Declaration of Independence; although opponents point out that the Declaration is simply a historical, rather than official, document of the US Government—moreover the emphasis on "Nature" indicates a naturalistic Deist, rather than Christian, philosophy. The Constitution lacks such references.

Likewise, the Treaty of Tripoli, ratified by the Senate and signed by John Adams, has become the subject of controversy because of this section:

"As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion - as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquillity of Musselmen - and as the said states never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

Interestingly, Theodore Roosevelt argued against the requirement of the motto on coinage, not because of a lack of faith in God, but because he thought it sacrilegious to put the name of the Deity on something so common as money. This argument is rarely used by either side today.

Whichever side of the argument is ultimately victorious will be determined at some point in the future, either by judicial fiat, legislation or constitutional amendment; but at this point use of the motto on circulating coinage is required by law. Some activists have been known to cross out the motto on paper money as a form of protest. While several laws come into play, the act of May 18, 1908 is most often cited as requiring the motto (even though the cent and nickel were excluded from that law, and the nickel did not have the motto added until 1938). Since 1938, all coins have borne the motto. The use of the motto was permitted, but not required, by an 1873 law. The motto was added to paper money over a period from 1964 to 1966.

Sources

• Public domain US Treasury Dept text