IN GOD WE TRUST on the two-cent piece

Dentuck

A popular bit of conventional numismatic wisdom is that IN GOD WE TRUST appeared for the first time on the new (in 1864) two-cent coin due to increasing religious sentiment during the Civil War.

I’ve done some reading on religion and the Civil War --- just enough, probably, to be completely confused, but I figured I’d open up this question.

The disruption of the Civil War had an effect on church membership: it lowered it by about 2% in the North and by 4% to 9% (depending on region) in the South. According to U.S. Census data, overall church membership was flat between 1860 and 1870 in the New England states; dropped in the Middle Atlantic states; dropped in the East North Central states; was flat in the West North Central states; and dropped across the board throughout the South.

(Measured as percentages of total U.S. population, Baptist, Congregational, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian membership dropped, and Roman Catholic membership increased slightly.)

I’m familiar with the standard numismatic references connected to the IN GOD WE TRUST motto. Reading Watkinson’s letter to Chase, and Chase’s instructions to Pollack, my sense is the inclusion of the new motto was more socio-political and patriotic than religious --- similar to GOTT MIT UNS in Germany, FIDEI DEFENSOR in Britain, etc.

Is there any hard evidence to support the common assertion that the appearance of the motto was due largely to increased religious sentiment --- rather than to politics, patriotism, the actions of individual key decision-makers in the federal government, or other considerations?

UncleJoe

At the FUN show there was IMO a great exhibit of coins with the original suggested motto of: God Our Trust. I drooled over those coins.

There was some information included with the exhibit and I have read about this in the past and it seems to me that the adding of the motto to US coins was done at the behest of a few key individuals and not based on any wide-spread sentiment, religious or otherwise IMO.

Joe.

RedTiger

Church membership as a percentage of population is an interesting way to measure religiousity. In the South, the economy was in such a shambles, many didn't have the two nickels required to pay the membership dues. In both regions, the number of seriously injured was astronomical, making even a weekly trip to church incredibly difficult and membership unlikely. There was no "para-transit" or handicap access, or decent roads. In the South, there was a severe shortage of horses for many years after the war. So a decline in church membership would likely be expected due to these factors.

PTVETTER

IMHO... In war many put thier trust in God.

When ones life is in danger so many turn to God, hense the saying

In God we Trust appears on coins

True today, not true is In government we trust

messydesk

A couple thoughts not based on reading about religion and the Civil War:

The Civil War accounted for the deaths of over 600,000 Americans, or about 2% of the 1860 population. This is significant enough when compared to the population increase between 1860 and 1870 to have a somewhat negative effect on church membership, especially if children aren't formally counted as church members in some cases.

The evidence as to the origin of the appearance of IGWT on coins is probably as clear a refutation as needed to dispel the myth that a public swell of religious sentiment had anything to do with it. Rev. Wilkinson may have had a handful of local supporters for his idea, but it was clearly his connections that got the motto added.

The meaning of "In God We Trust" must also be understood to presume why Rev. Wilkinson wanted it included on our coinage. I would assume that if you randomly asked people what it meant, they would say that it simply means that we as a nation believe in God, not that we resign our fate to that of God's choosing. It could very well be that a lack of an increase of religious sentiment at a time when this fate was beginning to play out and the country was beginning to fall apart is what inspired Rev. Wilkinson to feel the need to bring up the inclusion of the motto as a reminder that it is only by the will of God that this or any other nation exist peacefully. This is consistent with Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, the end of his first inaugural address, and the sentiment of Francis Scott Key when he wrote the Start Spangled Banner text. An more terse and less ambiguous version of the motto could be, "God, Trustee." In this context, it seems to convey a different sentiment than the "God Zij Met Ons" seen on Dutch coins, which seems an assertion that God is on their side as an equal partner (although I may admittedly just as mistaken about the origin of this as many are about our motto), or the British "Fidei Defensor," (defender of the faith) which conveys the opposite.

Weiss

600,000 dead and as many wounded. "Our trust" was misplaced.

crypto79

Religion and those who use it as a foundation for law have traditionally had a loose correlation to true facts. Just because it passed into law and on to our coins doesn't mean it wasn't just a small well connected pocket of "godly" law makers and their opposition didn't want to pick a fight they would lose on what I am sure was a button issue in its day. The justification of the law since it won was simply recorded as fact and never challenged.

RWB

Dennis,
Chapter 6, "In God We Trust for the Other Fifty Cents" in Renaissance of American Coinage 1905-1908 presents all the factual material I could find on the subject. I don't think the motto was added due to an increase in the number of religious participants. Rather, it was the stress of war that increased the public fervor for divine protection. Invoking the deity for your cause is a very ancient practice...

Dentuck

Interesting insights. Thank you all!

291fifth

<< <i>Church membership as a percentage of population is an interesting way to measure religiousity. In the South, the economy was in such a shambles, many didn't have the two nickels required to pay the membership dues. In both regions, the number of seriously injured was astronomical, making even a weekly trip to church incredibly difficult and membership unlikely. There was no "para-transit" or handicap access, or decent roads. In the South, there was a severe shortage of horses for many years after the war. So a decline in church membership would likely be expected due to these factors. >>



I seem to recall reading that about 30% of the State of Mississippi's 1870 budget went to pay for artificial limbs, etc. for wounded veterans. It has always amazed me that the buildings of the period appeared to completely ignore the needs of the handicapped.

Many years later, when the US actually had a president, FDR, who had to use a wheelchair, public buildings, such as the many Post Offices built during his administration, remained very much "off limits" to the handicapped. While FDR hid his handicap from the public, I'm surprised that there was no widespread movement regarding handicap access that arose during this period.