1 Ne 13:13-19 The pilgrims, the Revolutionary War, and the founding fathers lay the foundation for the Restoration

An article in the June 1999 Ensign, entitled “Preparing for the Restoration,” discusses these historical developments as preludes to the restoration of the gospel:

“On the occasion of the Church’s centennial in 1930, the First presidency declared: ‘It was not by chance that the Puritans left their native land and sailed away to the shores of New England, and that others followed later. They were the advance guard of the army of the Lord, [foreordained] to establish the God-given system of government under which we live….and prepare the way for the restoration of the Gospel of Christ.’

“President Ezra Taft Benson taught that ‘all of the great events that have transpired [in America], including the coming of Columbus and of the Pilgrim fathers, were foreseen by ancient prophets.’ After prophesying about Columbus, Nephi continued: ‘I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters’ (1 Ne 13:13). Writers such as Plymouth Plantation governor William Bradford (1590-1657) described the persecution and imprisonment the Pilgrims endured in Europe before they fled to America in search of religious liberty.

“Nephi foresaw that the colonists would ‘humble themselves before the Lord’ (1 Ne 13:16). William Bradford recorded that as the Pilgrims set sail on their voyage to America, ‘they had a day of solemn humiliation,’ their pastor proclaiming ‘a fast, that we might humble ourselves before our God.’ Acting under inspiration, the Pilgrims drew up the Mayflower Compact, said to be ‘the first written constitution in North America,’ which called for obedience to laws enacted by the group rather than decreed by a monarch.

“The Puritans subsequently settled in Massachusetts Bay and eventually absorbed the Pilgrims. However, the Puritans were not tolerant of those who did not believe as they did. One of the dissenters among the Puritans was Roger Williams, who believed in religious freedom and maintained that the apostolic church organized by Christ was no longer on the earth. After banishment, Williams and his followers founded Providence, Rhode Island, and adopted principles that became important traditions in the United States, such as democracy, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state.

“Colonists in other parts of America also worked for religious freedom. Under the leadership of the Calvert family, Roman Catholics settled in Maryland and in 1649 passed the Act of Toleration, which advocated freedom of conscience. In 1681 the king of England granted a charter of land to devout Quaker William Penn, whose colony in Pennsylvania became a model of religious tolerance. Of these colonists President Benson wrote, ‘The Pilgrims of Plymouth, the Calverts of Maryland, Roger Williams, William Penn—all had deep religious convictions that played a principal part in their coming to the New World. They too, I believe, came here under the inspiration of heaven.’

“The final event that Nephi observed in his vision of the American colonies was the War for Independence. He wrote:

“’And I beheld that their mother Gentiles were gathered together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to do battle against them.

“And I beheld that the power of God was with them, and also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against them to battle.

“And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations’ (1 Ne 13:17-19).

“President Wilford Woodruff taught: ‘Those men who laid the foundation of this American government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth….General Washington and all the men that labored for the purpose were inspired of the Lord.’ President Woodruff also related: ‘Every one of those men that signed the Declaration of Independence, with General Washington, called upon me, as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple at St. George, two consecutive nights and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ordinances of the House of God for them.’

“George Washington gave credit to God for the victory of the United States. In his farewell address to his army, he said: ‘The disadvantageous circumstances on our part, under which the war was undertaken, can never be forgotten. The singular interpositions of Providence in our feeble condition were such, as could scarcely escape the attention of the most unobserving; while the unparalleled perseverance of the Armies of the [United] States, through almost every possible suffering and discouragement for the space of eight long years, was little short of a standing miracle.’ President Spencer W. Kimball said: ‘The Lord permitted these few poorly armed and ill-clad men at Valley Forge and elsewhere to defeat a great army,…a few against the many, but the few had on their side the Lord God of heaven, that gave them victory. And there came political liberty and religious liberty with it, all in preparation for the day when a young boy would come forth and would seek and make contact with the Lord and open the doors of heaven again.’

“After the colonists won their independence, they experimented for a short time with a government under the Articles of Confederation. When they found that method inadequate, leaders turned their attention to drafting a new form of government. Few, if any, people on earth hold the resulting United States Constitution in higher esteem than do Latter-day Saints. The Lord has said: ‘That every man may act in doctrine and principle…according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment…

“And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood’ (DC 101:78,80).

“The Constitution and Bill of Rights applied directly to the needs of a new religion because they provided for freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly. Later the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that ‘the Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner.’” (Arnold K. Garr, June 1999 Ensign, pp 38-40)