Materialism
On September 28, 2004, the federal mint released a brand new fifty-dollar bill. The new bill, which was unveiled in April 2004, has subtle background colors of red and blue, along with a blue-silver star. While the appearance of the bill had many new features, one thing that has not changed can be found on the back. Prominently displayed above the picture of the federal capital building will be the words “In God We Trust”—words that are found on most American currency.
Those words first appeared on the 1864 two-cent coin after Congress passed the Act of April 22, 1864. The motto was partially the result of increased religious sentiment exhibited during the Civil War. Many individuals wrote letters to then Secretary of Treasury, Salmon P. Chase desiring that America acknowledge its dependence on Deity in some form or fashion. The barrage of letters prompted Chase to write James Pollock, director of the Philadelphia mint, encouraging him to prepare a motto. In a letter dated November 20, 1861 Chase wrote:
Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins. You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.
Having received the mint director’s proposal, Secretary Chase wrote back on December 9, 1863 altering Pollock’s initial proposal to “In God We Trust.” After the Act of April 22, 1864 passed, Congress approved another on March 3, 1865, allowing the mint director (with the Secretary’s authorization), to inscribe the motto on all gold and silver coins that “shall admit the inscription thereon.” The words “In God We Trust” have appeared uninterrupted since, on almost all of America’s coinage. Almost 100 years later, in 1956, the 84th Congress passed legislation establishing “In God We Trust” as the national motto of the United States. The following year, in 1957, the phrase began appearing on paper money.
Interestingly, the idea of paying homage to Deity on American currency can be traced back to times long before 1865. Coins from the 1780s—just after the Revolutionary War—known as Constellatio Nova Coppers, also gave credence to God. These coins typically featured an “eye” on one side, with rays stretching out to thirteen stars, which represented the thirteen colonies. The eye represented the all-seeing “providential eye” of God. Thus, the rays symbolized God’s looking down on each of the new thirteen colonies. That same eye can be found today, sitting on top of the pyramid on the back of the one-dollar bill. The eye is located just under the Latin words, Annuit Coeptis—which means, “He (God) has favored our undertakings.” This all-seeing eye suggests the importance of divine guidance in favor of the American cause.
How foreign that phrase seems in a country filled with materialism. Many individuals place their real trust in things, bank accounts, or investment accounts. At what point will America really put their trust back into God? What will it take for “In God We Trust” to be more than just a familiar “catch phrase?” Could it be, that as more and more currency rolled off the press, Americans lost more and more trust in God and placed it instead in the freshly printed bills?