James McHenry

James McHenry (* November 16, 1753 in Ballymena, Ulster, † May 3, 1816 ) was an American politician and a signer of the U.S. Constitution of Maryland. He was also a delegate to the Continental Congress from Maryland, and Secretary of War under Presidents George Washington and John Adams. According to him, the Fort McHenry was named.

He enjoyed a classical education in Dublin and emigrated to Philadelphia in 1771, where he became a doctor. In Baltimore, he and his brother an import - export company.

Religious beliefs

Like many of the Founding Fathers James McHenry was a professing Christian. In a letter of 1813 McHenry asked its President for funds for the first Bible Society in Baltimore.

Public assistance programs consist mostly forcibly for the general defense of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment with which they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone society, order and peace secure, as well as our courts and government constitution, purity, stability and usefulness. Without the Bible, we extend vain the penal code and design jumps to our institutions. Bibles are powerful jumps. Where they are available in abundance, men can not pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy a quiet conscience.