not realizing Arnold’s participation in the plot, notified him
of André’s capture. Thus warned, Arnold fled to British lines.
Had his treasonous plans not been found out, West Point
would have fallen into British hands, which would have
been a blow too great for the Continentals to sustain.
Washington wrote to Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens:
“In no instance since the commencement of the War has the
interposition of Providence appeared more conspicuous
than in the rescue of the Post and Garrison of West Point
from Arnold’s villainous perfidy.” 6 In his general orders for
September 26, 1780, Washington declared: “Treason of the
blackest dye was yesterday discovered! General Arnold who
commanded at West Point, lost to every sentiment of honor,
of public and private obligation, was about to deliver up that
important Post into the hands of the enemy. Such an event
must have given the American cause a deadly wound if not
a fatal stab. Happily, the treason has been timely discovered
to prevent the fatal misfortune. The providential train of
circumstances which led to it affords the most convinc-
ing proof that the Liberties of America are the object of
divine Protection.” 7
The Continental Congress also attributed the discovery
of the treason to “Almighty God, the Father of all mercies.”
They “recommended to the several states to set apart Thurs-
day, the seventh day of December next, to be observed as
a day of public thanksgiving and prayer” where the people
should praise and thank God, ask Him to pardon their sins
and to smile upon their endeavors, petition Him for peace
and blessings, and “to cause the knowledge of Christianity
to spread over all the earth.” 8
This providential occurrence was typical of many similar
events. God moved miraculously to direct history to further
His purpose to bring liberty to mankind. The biblically
minded Americans recognized the hand of God and offi-
cially gave thanks to Him.
Within three years of the discovery of Arnold’s plot,
England officially recognized the independence of the
United States of America when they signed the Treaty of
Paris on September 3, 1783, which appropriately begins
with the words: “In the name of the Most Holy and Undi-
vided Trinity. It having pleased the Divine Providence...” 9
Most Americans were in agreement that God directed the
events leading to the birth of America and a new era of
liberty in the world.
Four years later, representatives of the states formulated
the United States Constitution, which went into effect in
20
1789 after it was ratified by the states. God’s providence was
at work in this world-changing event as well. The Framers of
the Constitution declared that the forming of that document
was a miracle of God. Writing to Thomas Jefferson just a
few weeks after the Convention, the Father of the Constitu-
tion James Madison said: “It is impossible to conceive the
degree of concord which ultimately prevailed, as less than
a miracle.” 10 Later Madison wrote: “It is impossible for the
man of pious reflection not to perceive in it [the Constitu-
tional Convention] a finger of that Almighty hand.” 11 Even
the non-Christian Benjamin Franklin wrote: “Our General
Convention ... when it formed the new Federal Constitution,
[was] ... influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipo-
tent and beneficent Ruler in whom all ... live, and move, and
have their being.” 12
Perhaps the greatest affirmation of this came from the
most influential of all the Framers of the Constitution—
George Washington. In a letter to his good friend, Governor
Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut, he wrote that the “adop-
tion of the proposed General Government” disposed him
to be of the opinion “that miracles have not ceased.” For, he
said, one could “trace the finger of Providence through those
dark and mysterious events, which first induced the States to
appoint a general Convention and then led them one after
another ... into an adoption of the system recommended by
that general Convention.” 13
Just prior to the official ratification of the Constitution
by the ninth state, New Hampshire, George Washington
summed up the whole era by again referring to the hand
of God: “Should everything proceed as we anticipate, it
will be so much beyond anything we had a right to imag-
ine or expect 18 months ago that it will demonstrate the
finger of Providence in human affairs greater than any
event in history. 14
America’s Founders, both Christian and non-Christian,
had a providential view of history. They believed, in the
words of Franklin when he called the Constitutional
Convention to prayer in the summer of 1787: “That God
governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to
the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire
can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the
Sacred Writings that “except the Lord build the house, they
labor in vain that build it” (Psalm 127:1). I firmly believe
this, and I also believe that without His concurring aid we
shall succeed in this political building no better than the
builders of Babel.” 15