George Washington and 'Under God'

Introduction

Background

This project of History at LiberatedText is an attempt to pierce the bipolarized rhetoric, and through research using authoritative texts, list the actual instances that George Washington used the phrase "Under God" in his writings. Two texts were used as sources for this project, and both are available online:

Washington, George. Fitzpatrick, John C. (Ed). 1931-1944. The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799. Government Printing Office.
Available on the internet at The University of Virginia Library's Scholars' Lab (formerly E-Text Center).

Washington, George. Ford, Worthington Chauncey (Ed). 1889-1892. The writings of George Washington. New York: G.P. Putnam' Sons.
Available at Google Books - see bibliography for list of links to individual volumes.

Hereafter in this project these two collections will be referenced prefaced with either Fitzpatrick or Ford, then followed with the Volume and page(s) of the citation, along with a URL directly to the online source.

Although not completed yet, a third source, one using images of the manuscripts, is intended for future inclusion in this project: George Washington Papers collection from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress

Research Synopsis

Searching the Fitzpatrick and Ford collections for the phrase "Under God" both returned an identical set of nine records.

Two of those records do not fit the proper criteria, but have been noted in this project to avoid any confusion for individuals searching these records.

The remaining seven citations are all military orders of Washington when he headed the Continental Army. All seven citations occurred within slightly less than a one year span: September 14, 1775 - September 4, 1776. The Revolutionary War lasted from April 19, 1775 (Lexington and Concord, Maryland) to November 25, 1783 (last British troops evacuate New York and Brooklyn).

To put it in perspective, the use of "Under God" by George Washington occurred during less than 11% of the Revolutionary War, and less than 2% of the timespan covered in his writings (1745-1799).