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Primary in establishing a strong moral foundation was [[education]]. In elementary schooling in early America, the overtly Christian ''[[New England Primer]]'' was used in [[New England]], which is estimated to have sold upwards to 3,000,000 copies from 1700 to 1850. Introduced in 1690, this reader was used in what now would be the 1st grade, and taught multitudes of children how to read for 200 years, until 1900. The [[Alphabet]] was taught with Bible verses that began with each letter of the alphabet. Lessons had questions about the Bible and the Ten Commandments. An example of the Primer is, A = In Adam's fall, we sinned all. B = Heaven to find, the Bible mind."<ref>[http://www.shalomjerusalem.com/heritage/heritage19.htm The Honorable Judge Robert Ulrich Chief Justice, Missouri Court Of Appeals, Western District]</ref>  

Primary in establishing a strong moral foundation was [[education]]. In elementary schooling in early America, the overtly Christian ''[[New England Primer]]'' was used in [[New England]], which is estimated to have sold upwards to 3,000,000 copies from 1700 to 1850. Introduced in 1690, this reader was used in what now would be the 1st grade, and taught multitudes of children how to read for 200 years, until 1900. The [[Alphabet]] was taught with Bible verses that began with each letter of the alphabet. Lessons had questions about the Bible and the Ten Commandments. An example of the Primer is, A = In Adam's fall, we sinned all. B = Heaven to find, the Bible mind."<ref>[http://www.shalomjerusalem.com/heritage/heritage19.htm The Honorable Judge Robert Ulrich Chief Justice, Missouri Court Of Appeals, Western District]</ref>  

In addition, approximately half of all American children learned from the ''[[McGuffey Reader]],'' a series of textbooks of which 122 million copies were published (during a time when the population was much less than today, and books were passed on more). The first Reader was published in the 1830's, and was followed by five additional Readers, the last being published in 1885. This was an advanced teaching system for its time, written by William Holmes McGuffey, who later became a Presbyterian minister, and a work which earned him the title, “the Great Schoolmaster of the Nation.” McGuffey believed religion and education were to be interrelated and were essential to a healthy society. McGuffey exalted the Lord Jesus Christ, and used the Bible more than any other source, though the later revised editions (which used McGufey’s name though he neither contributed to them nor approved their revisions) became more pluralistic in their moral instruction. The Readers were filled with stories of strength, character, goodness and truth, working to instill standards of basic Christian-based morality for more than a century.<ref>http://www.mcguffeyreaders.com/history.htm</ref> McGuffey Readers became the standardized reading text for most schools across the United States, especially throughout the West and South, during the mid to late nineteenth century,<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/15577 Henry H. Vail, ''A History of the McGuffey Readers'']</ref> <ref>[http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1469 McGuffey's Reader]</ref> and were used widely in America until just after World War I. This resulted in the Readers becoming a unifying force in American culture, giving America a common value-laden body of literary reference and allusion,<ref>Cranney, A. Garr, 'Noah Webster and William Holmes McGuffey: The Men and Their Contributions to Reading''</ref> and “a sense of common experience and of common possession”.<ref>Historian Henry Steele Commager</ref>     

In addition, approximately half of all American children learned from the ''[[McGuffey Reader]],'' a series of textbooks of which 122 million copies were published (during a time when the population was much less than today, and books were passed on more). The first Reader was published in the 1830's, and was followed by five additional Readers, the last being published in 1885. This was an advanced teaching system for its time, written by William Holmes McGuffey, who later became a Presbyterian minister, and a work which earned him the title, “the Great Schoolmaster of the Nation.” McGuffey believed religion and education were to be interrelated and were essential to a healthy society. McGuffey exalted the Lord Jesus Christ, and used the Bible more than any other source, though the later revised editions (which used McGufey’s name though he neither contributed to them nor approved their revisions) became more pluralistic in their moral instruction. The Readers were filled with stories of strength, character, goodness and truth, working to instill standards of basic Christian-based morality for more than a century.<ref>http://www.mcguffeyreaders.com/history.htm</ref>  

 

McGuffey Readers became the standardized reading text for most schools across the United States, especially throughout the West and South, during the mid to late nineteenth century,<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/15577 Henry H. Vail, ''A History of the McGuffey Readers'']</ref> <ref>[http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1469 McGuffey's Reader]</ref> and were used widely in America until just after World War I. This resulted in the Readers becoming a unifying force in American culture, giving America a common value-laden body of literary reference and allusion,<ref>Cranney, A. Garr, 'Noah Webster and William Holmes McGuffey: The Men and Their Contributions to Reading''</ref> and “a sense of common experience and of common possession”.<ref>Historian Henry Steele Commager</ref>     

In higher education, the second requirement of [[Harvard]] Universities ''Lawes''  of 1642  (after requiring literacy in Latin, which language the Scriptures were then mostly written in), was that "Every one shall consider the main end of his life and studies to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life. (Joh. 17:3) Overall, the nature of early colleges and universities was religious, and which  continued at least until the Civil War. Even State colleges had significant religious (most always Christian) components, such as mandatory religion courses and attendance at chapel services, while large numbers of their faculties had formal religious training. <ref>Ringenberg, 1984; Marsden and Longfield, 1962; Ronald W. Fagan and Raymond G. DeVries, ''The practice of sociology at Christian liberal arts colleges and universities''; The American Sociologist, June, 1994</ref>   

In higher education, the second requirement of [[Harvard]] Universities ''Lawes''  of 1642  (after requiring literacy in Latin, which language the Scriptures were then mostly written in), was that "Every one shall consider the main end of his life and studies to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life. (Joh. 17:3) Overall, the nature of early colleges and universities was religious, and which  continued at least until the Civil War. Even State colleges had significant religious (most always Christian) components, such as mandatory religion courses and attendance at chapel services, while large numbers of their faculties had formal religious training. <ref>Ringenberg, 1984; Marsden and Longfield, 1962; Ronald W. Fagan and Raymond G. DeVries, ''The practice of sociology at Christian liberal arts colleges and universities''; The American Sociologist, June, 1994</ref>   

The first elementary schools also taught Christian morality, and even the [[Unitarian]] (a religion which essentially denies Christ and Divine biblical authority, but which then overall upheld Bible morality, much unlike it does today) ''Father of the Common School'', Horace Mann (May 4, 1796 — August 02, 1859), who became Massachusetts Secretary of Education in 1837, not only understood the impossibility of separating education from religious moral beliefs, but held that it was lawful to teach the truths of the general Christian faith, asserting that the “laws of Massachusetts required the teaching of the basic moral doctrines of Christianity.” Mann, who supported prohibition of alcohol and intemperance, slavery and lotteries, <ref>http://www.famousamericans.net/horacemann</ref>  dreaded “intellectual eminence when separated from virtue”, and that education, if taught without moral responsibilities, would produce more evil than it inherited. (William Jeynes, “American educational history: school, society, and the common good,” p. 149, 150) 

The first elementary schools also taught Christian morality, and even the [[Unitarian]] (a religion which essentially denies Christ and Divine biblical authority, but which then overall upheld Bible morality, much unlike it does today) ''Father of the Common School'', Horace Mann (May 4, 1796 — August 02, 1859), who became Massachusetts Secretary of Education in 1837, not only understood the impossibility of separating education from religious moral beliefs, but held that it was lawful to teach the truths of the general Christian faith, asserting that the “laws of Massachusetts required the teaching of the basic moral doctrines of Christianity.” Mann, who supported prohibition of alcohol and intemperance, slavery and lotteries, <ref>http://www.famousamericans.net/horacemann</ref>  dreaded “intellectual eminence when separated from virtue”, and that education, if taught without moral responsibilities, would produce more evil than it inherited.<ref>William Jeynes, “American educational history: school, society, and the common good,” p. 149, 150 </ref> 

While iniquity was always a significant part of America, it was generally held as shameful and overall resisted by Church and State.  Early on, in a pamphlet for Europeans titled ''Information to Those Who Would Remove to America'' (1754), Benjamin Franklin wrote, in part:  

While iniquity was always a significant part of America, it was generally held as shameful and overall resisted by Church and State.  Early on, in a pamphlet for Europeans titled ''Information to Those Who Would Remove to America'' (1754), Benjamin Franklin wrote, in part:  

During certain periods of America's growth moral degradation increased, and a strong correlation was felt between loss of Christian religious devotion and the increase in iniquity. America's faith saw revival as a result of the [[First Great Awakening]] in the 1730s and 1740's, and which is held to have began the modern [[Evangelical Christian]] movement. During the period of approximately 1800-1830's the [[Second Great Awakening]] took place, and a [[Third Great Awakening]] occurring from the late 1850's to the early 1900's. These revivals had a profound spiritual and civil impact on Christian faith within America and [[England]], and worked toward the abolition of the well-entrenched historical institution of slavery.  

During certain periods of America's growth moral degradation increased, and a strong correlation was felt between loss of Christian religious devotion and the increase in iniquity. America's faith saw revival as a result of the [[First Great Awakening]] in the 1730s and 1740's, and which is held to have began the modern [[Evangelical Christian]] movement. During the period of approximately 1800-1830's the [[Second Great Awakening]] took place, and a [[Third Great Awakening]] occurring from the late 1850's to the early 1900's. These revivals had a profound spiritual and civil impact on Christian faith within America and [[England]], and worked toward the abolition of the well-entrenched historical institution of slavery.  

While not preventing the [[American Civil War]], a heightened moral sense of guilt and accountability is seen expressed in President [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s ''Proclamation for a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer'' (1863).

The 1800's and onward also saw a notable increase in the charitable work by private persons and agencies. In 1835 De Tocqueville<ref>Democracy in America</ref> noted that early America had no distinct class of wealth that could be turned to in times of need to relieve suffering. Associations necessarily formed to create the means to deal with problems and reflected a compassion for all those in trouble. Many agencies created during that time exist today. <ref>http://74.52.60.18/~npt/index.php?page=1800-s A Chronological HISTORY OF PHILANTHROPY in America.</ref>

 

Benevolent societies were a new and conspicuous feature of the American landscape during the first half of the nineteenth century. Originally devoted to the salvation of souls, although eventually to the eradication of every kind of social ill, benevolent societies were the direct result of the extraordinary energies generated by the evangelical movement—specifically, by the “activism” resulting from conversion.<ref>http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel07.html</ref>

The 1800's also saw a notable increase in the charitable work by private persons and agencies. In 1835 De Tocqueville<ref>Democracy in America</ref> noted that early America had no distinct class of wealth that could be turned to in times of need to relieve suffering. Associations necessarily formed to create the means to deal with problems and reflected a compassion for all those in trouble. Many agencies created during that time exist today. <ref>http://74.52.60.18/~npt/index.php?page=1800-s A Chronological HISTORY OF PHILANTHROPY in America.</ref>

While not preventing the [[American Civil War]], a heightened moral sense of guilt and accountability is seen expressed in President [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s ''Proclamation for a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer'' (1863),<ref>http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/ProclamationNationalFastDay.html</ref> which states (in part),

{{cquote|We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!}}

====Early to mid 20th century====

====Early to mid 20th century====