New World Order: Colonial Intent Past and Present

Can a man experience any greater joy than to recognize his calling under God and realize the power to achieve it? One can only imagine the meaning such a clarity of purpose must yield. Imagine the torrent of thought Abraham suppressed as he left for Moriah on God’s command to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, yet imagine the joy Abraham must have felt when God rescinded the order and blessed him for his unwavering faith. Can there be any explanation but that the hand of God buoyed him up? How else could Abraham have been strong enough to suppress the humanistic reasoning bent on canceling his faith? Could one assume that this same degree of faith captured the souls of those driven to extend Christendom throughout the New World?

It is the intent of this essay to catalog the evidence affirming the singular intent of New World exploration: to extend the boundaries of Christendom. This fact is obfuscated by secular historians who seek to amputate God’s hand from historical processes. They foul the name of Christianity by calling New World colonization Anglo or Eurocentric expansionism. This transparent race-baiting is the sort of cancerous factionalism George Washington warns about in his “Farewell Address.” Forget race. Cultural relativism be damned. Let’s look at Christianity. And let’s judge human action by the law of God. If doing so makes Christians “ethnocentric,” let’s accept the moniker with relish. After all. Christians no longer find the epithet “Puritan” offensive, do we?

The Shape of Biblical Faith

Because man is basically evil, his actions must be both defined and governed by God’s law. Though man’s salvation lies not in law-keeping, law nonetheless acts as a vehicle to define godly behavior and protect the righteous—regardless of his social rank. Man can judge only the observable, and, even then, his judgment is subject to doubt; nevertheless, intent is known to the individual and God. Regardless of any suspected intent. Christians are to treat everyone equally under the law. It is this equal treatment under the law that forms the basis of Christian love. Farly New World explorers exhibited this love as they sought to convert the natives to Christianity. But before we explore the groundwork implicit in the documents of this period, we must identify those beliefs which guided their efforts. Central to Christianity is the Creator-Creature relationship. Man, God’s creature, is subject to the Creator’s total law.1 God rules creation absolutely, both predestinating and predetermining all that comes to pass. Because God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, the elect are commanded faithfully to maintain His promise of ultimate victory. Though not always easy, Puritans believe, as did their predecessors, the Israelites, that “before God supplies our wants. He shows us that His presence [has] been near, and He reveals His glory. That Presence is in itself sufficient; for no good thing shall be wanting to them that trust in Him.”2 Man manifests his faith in his adherence to the cultural mandate—to be fruitful, multiply, and exercise dominion over the earth. The cultural mandate is the catalyst throughout history to teach all willing converts Christianity.

Colonial Dominion

In “The Charter to Sir Walter Raliegh, March 25, 1584,” to cite an example randomly, Raliegh was allowed only to “discover, search, find out, and view such remote, heathen and barbarous lands, countries, and territories, not actually possessed of any Christian Prince, nor inhabited by Christian People [italics mine].”3Though the penalties for violating this order were stringent, the means by which these ends were carried out were mild and merciful.

Clouding this fact is a disparaging passage from a widely- used public school text describing Christopher Columbus’s advent on American soil:

To all appearance, the life of the whole great continent that fateful October morning in 1492 was wholly unchanged. Save on one insignificant island, there was no stir that day and no excitement. Yet the arrival of these three small ships, bobbing in the warm blue waves off San Salvador, meant that all this life of plains, mountains, lakes, and forests was now an insubstantial pageant soon to fade.4

What really happened that “fateful October morning” is quite uplifting.

When Columbus landed in the Caribbean, he found the natives initially afraid. After careful study of their language, Columbus found that the Indians had believed, and later continued to believe, that he and his crew were gods. Columbus admits, “On my arrival I took by force from the first island a few of the Indians, in order that we might become acquainted with one another’s language, and to gain a knowledge of what their country contained.”5 But he adds:

I have them still with me, and they continue in the belief that we have come from heaven....The natives would come thronging to us, after having banished the fear which seized them at first, men, women, and children, old and young, crowding the roads and bringing us victuals and drink, with the utmost affection and reverence.6

These are hardly the reactions of a repressed people. The Indians were grateful that the Spaniards had come, and welcomed them accordingly—an all-too-familiar scene repeated as many times throughout history as it is ignored by secular historians.

Columbus’s actions appear consistent with Biblical law. Exodus 21:15 specifically states: “And he that stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.” Rushdoony, in commenting on this passage, notes: “The Biblical law recognizes voluntary slavery because there are men who prefer security to freedom, but it strictly forbids involuntary servitude except as a punishment.”7 Columbus treats the Indians with equanimity and directs his men not to take advantage of them:

I forbade my men to purchase any thing of them with such worthless articles as bits of earthenware, fragments of platters, broken glass, nails, and thongs of leather, although when they [the Indians] got possession of any such thing, they valued it as highly as the most precious jewel in the world.8

Where did Columbus’s intentions lie if not in greed and “Eurocentric” biases? Columbus set out to convert the savages and sought cross-cultural inroads toward that goal. He recounts the Indian vulnerability to missionary efforts:

Throughout the islands there is no diversity in the appearance of the people, their manners or language, all the inhabitants understanding one another, a very favorable circumstance in my opinion, to the design which I have no doubt is entertained by our king, namely to convert them [the Indians] to the holy Christian faith, to which, as far as I can perceive, they are well disposed.9

Missionary work is a delicate endeavor; it requires much patience. Compare Columbus’s actions with Edersheim’s comments on the rights of even the lowest members of society:

The Divine legislation begins, as assuredly none other ever did, not at the topmost but at the lowest rung of society. It declares in the first place the personal rights of such individuals as are in a state of dependence—male [Exodus 21:2-6] and female slaves [Exodus 21:7-11].This is done not only with a sacred regard for the rights of the person, but with a delicacy, kindness, and strictness beyond any code ever framed on this subject.10

This same “delicacy, kindness,” and fairness was exhibited by Columbus and other such explorers, notably the shrewd La Salle.11

After Columbus fulfilled the intentions outlined in “Privileges and Prerogatives Granted to Columbus, April 30, 1492,” namely “to discover and subdue some Islands and Continent in the ocean…by... God’s assistance,” the “Papal Bull Inter Caetera, May 4,1493,” sought immediately to further that enterprise:

We have indeed learned that you, who for a long time had intended to seek out and discover certain islands and mainlands remote and unknown and not hitherto discovered by others, to the end that you might bring to the worship of our Redeemer and the profession of the Catholic faith their residents and inhabitants, having been up to the present time greatly engaged in the siege and recovery of the kingdom itself of Granada, were unable to accomplish this holy and praiseworthy purpose; but the said kingdom having at length been regained, as was pleasing to the Lord, with a wish to fulfill your desire, chose our beloved son, Christopher Columbus...whom you furnished with ships and men equipped for like designs, not without the greatest hardships, dangers, and expenses.12

Christian nations recognized their responsibility to fulfill the cultural mandate—even though it meant risking life and property.

Evidence of God’s hand in missionary work, inexplicable to various explorers, both surprised and sustained their efforts. Pedro de Castaneda comments on an unusual sighting in “Europeans See Buffalo” from The Journey of Coronada:

Near the head there was another cross made of two little sticks tied with cotton thread, and dry withered flowers. It certainly seems to me that in some way they must have received some light from the cross of Our Redeemer, Christ, and it may have come by way of India, from whence they proceeded.13

Colonial Charters

The goal of extending Christendom is embedded in each and every colonial charter, except, possibly, the “Rhode Island Charter” of the colonial troublemaker, Roger Williams. “The First Charter of Virginia” states:

We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting of, their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of Cod, and may in time bring the Infidels and Savages, living in those Parts, to human Civility, and to a settled and quiet Government; Do, by these our Letters, Patents, graciously accept of, and agree to, their humble and well-intended Desires.14

It is important to note that the colonists worked to teach the savages those principles which would enrich their lives. This charter even warns of Roman Catholicism:

And lastly, because the principal Effect, which we can desire or except of this Action, is the Conversion and Reduction of the People in those Parts unto the true Worship of God and Christian Religion, in which Respect we should be loath, that any Person should be permitted to pass, that we suspected to affect the Superstitions of the Church of Rome.15

On the other hand, the Roman Church continued the work Columbus had begun. “The Charter of Maryland” sought to establish churches conveniently located and accessible to all:

[The] country hitherto uncultivated, in the Parts of America, and partly occupied by Savages, having no Knowledge of the Divine Being, the Patronages, and Advowsons of all Churches which (with the increasing Worship and Religion of Christ) within the said Region, hereafter shall happen to be built, together with Licence, and Faculty of erecting and founding Churches, Chapels, and Places of Worship, in convenient and suitable Places within the Premises, and of causing the same to be dedicated and consecrated according to the Ecclesiastical Laws of our Kingdom of England.16

The “Second Charter of Virginia” obligates all colonists to live according to God’s precepts which should, in turn, bring about peace:

And forasmuch, as it shall be necessary for all such our loving Subjects, as shall inhabit within the said Precincts of Virginia aforesaid, to determine to live together, in the Fear and true Worship of Almighty Cod, Christian Peace, and civil Quietness.17

The “Ordinance for Virginia” makes clear that the colonists must assist their Governor:

first and principally in the Advancement of the Honour and Service of God and the Enlargement of his Kingdom amongst the Heathen People; and next, in erecting of the said Colony in due obedience to his Majesty, and all lawful Authority from his Majesty’s Directions; and lastly, in maintaining the said People in Justice and Christian Conversation amongst themselves, and in Strength and Ability to withstand their Enemies.18

The mission of the Virginians is clear: As they undertake God’s calling, God will protect them from their enemies.

John Smith, often mistaken as a chamber-of- commerce caliber spin doctor, comments on the lure of New World colonization:

If he [any English citizen] have any grain of faith or zeal in Religion, what can he do less hurtful to any, or more agreeable to God, than to seek to convert those poor Savages to know Christ, and humanity, whose labors with discretion will triple requite thy charge and pains?19

True, Smith speaks unabashedly of the potential economic windfall connected with New World colonization—such would benefit one’s family (central to Biblical government). But these blessings are incidental. The actions “more agreeable to God [italics mine]” involve missionary work.

“The First Charter of Massachusetts” likewise declares that the principal end of Massachusetts Bay Colony is Christianizing the natives. The wording implies that because the natives are considerably impressionable,20 the colonists were doubly responsible to live lives of exemplary Christian character:

Our said People, ...may be so religiously, peaceably, and civilly governed, as their good Life and orderly Conversation, may win and incite the Natives of the Country, to the Knowledge and Obedience of the only true God and Savior of Mankind, and the Christian Faith, which in our Royal Intencon [sic], and the Adventurers free Profession, is the principle [sic] End of this Plantacion [sic].21

The blessings for obedience should compel the natives to emulate the colonists’ example.22

In the same vein, “The Cambridge Agreement” states that the colonists must look first to God’s glory before expecting success:

Having weighed the greatness of the work in regard of the consequence, God’s glory and the churches’ good....it is full and faithfully agreed amongst us, and every of us doth hereby freely and sincerely promise and bind himself in the word of a Christian and in the presence of God who is the searcher of all hearts, that we will so really endeavor the execution of this work, as by God’s assistance we will be ready.23

Finally, “The New England Confederation” sums up the intentions of the colonies in their entirety:

We all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the liberties of the Gospel in purity with peace.24

The reasons for colonial expansion are singular but no mere mantra; their purpose is simple and clear.

The Effects

Churches and other tithe agencies, according to De Tocqueville in Democracy in America continued to convert many to Christianity; feed, clothe, and shelter the needy; and train many Indians as well as colonists to be productive citizens. The mission to spread God’s kingdom, however, is currently suffering a decisive blow. As statism aggressively usurps the role of church and private charity, churches and private charities themselves languish. Still the faithful struggle to make up the difference.

Chalcedon, the flagship of twentieth-century Christian Reconstruction, leads the campaign. In the November 1994 Chalcedon Report Rushdoony writes:

Because we take God’s word very seriously, we believe that we have a duty towards all the world in terms of the Great Commission and all God’s requirements of us. We are not here to please ourselves.... We believe we must train men to see the broader scope of the gospel requirements. Institutions are necessary, but the kingdom of God must have priority. The peoples must be converted and trained to apply God’s law-word to every sphere of life and thought.25

Though the state oversteps its God-given authority, man’s responsibility to tithe is in no way negated nor are the church’s responsibilities eased. The failure of statism to make good on its promise of cradle-to-grave security while taxing its citizens roughly 50% of their income is damning proof that the hand of God is absent from their activities. Not without some difficulty, organizations like Chalcedon set out to continue the work begun by the early Puritans with the same fervor—and results.

The original New World Order exists. The persistent optimism of Christians still conscious of their responsibilities, despite moves to obliterate any vestige of their work through statist control and revisionist history, is a patent sign of their strength and success. Their joy lies far beyond the humanist’s meager experience. And their hope lies in a just God.

1. Christians mistakenly define God’s law as both natural and moral. The humanism implicit in this artificial distinction is pervasive. Humanists reduce law to social science in an attempt to throw God out of the legislative process. God’s word is law, period.

2. Alfred Edersheim, Old Testament Bible History, volume II, 95.

3. “Charter to Sir Walter Raliegh, March 25, 1584,” as cited in Documents of American History, seventh edition, Commager, Editor, 1963, 6.

4. John Bakeless, The Eyes of Discovery, as cited in United States in Literature, 1989, 12.

5. Christopher Columbus, “A Spectacle of Great Beauty” as cited in ibid., 1989, 10.

6. ibid.

7. Rousas John Rushdoony Institutes of Biblical Law, 1973,120; See also see Bruce Herschensohn’s Lost Trumpets, “Conflict,” 3-6.

8. Herschensohn, 10.

9. ibid.

10. Alfred Edersheim, op. cit.,116.

11. Robert de La Salle, “Making Peace with the Illinois” as cited in United States in Literature, 1989, 28. In his dealings with the Illinois, La Salle craftily obtains their assistance in making peace with the Iroquois. He offers to return all food-stores he had taken from them to sustain his starving men. La Salle convinces the Illinois to accept needed tools in exchange for the food, an offer they gladly accept.

12. “Papal Bull, Inter Caetera, April 30, 1492,” as cited in Commager, 2.

13. Pedro de Castaneda, “Europeans See Buffalo” from the  Journey of Coronado, as cited in United States in Literature,1982, 108.

14. “The First Charter of Virginia, April 10, 1606, as cited in Documents of American History, 8.

15. ibid., 11.

16. “The Charter of Maryland, June 20, 1632,” as cited in ibid., 21.

17. “Second Charter of Virginia, May 23, l609,” as cited in ibid., 11.

18. “Ordinance for Virginia, July 24, 1621,” as cited in ibid., 13.

19. John Smith “The New Land, I6l6,” as cited in United States in Literature, 33.

20. William Byrd notes in his History of the Dividing Line that missionary work can be counterproductive as the Indians pick up the bad habits of the colonists.

21. “The First Charter of Massachusetts, March 4, 1629,” as cited in Documents of American History, 16.

22. Washington had hoped that the U.S. Constitution, if sacredly maintained by Americans, could be a template for countries throughout the world that strive to emulate America’s freedom and productivity.

23. “The Cambridge Agreement, August 26, 1629,” as cited in Documents of American History, 18.

24. “The New England Confederation, May 19, 1643,” as cited in idem., 26.

25. Rousas John Rushdoony, Chalcedon Report, “The Opportunity and the Need,” 2.