...recollection of the happy conjuncture of times and circumstances, under which our republic assumed its rank among the nations. The foundation of our...empire was not laid in the gloomy age of ignorance and superstition ; but at an epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly...

...not in the power of Man to alienate this gift, and voluntarily become a slave. — GEORGE WASHINGTON The foundation of our empire was not laid in the gloomy age of ignorance and superstition: but at an epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined...

...recollection of the happy conjuncture of times and circumstances, under which our republic assumed its rank among the nations. The foundation of our...empire was not laid in the gloomy age of ignorance and superstition, but at an epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood, and more clearly...

...recollection of the happy conjuncture of times and circumstances, under which our Republic assumed its rank among the Nations ; The foundation of our...Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition, but at an Epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined,...

...new civil religion. In his Circular to the States on June 8 of that year, George Washington wrote: The foundation of our Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition, but at an Epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined,...

...widespread belief in America's good fortune, a belief expressed by Washington at the end of the war: "The foundation of our Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of ignorance and superstition, but at an epoch when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined,...

...also stipulate and require. The address proper opens with a paean to the Enlightenment in America: "The foundation of our Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition, but at an Epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined,...

...unimaginative intelligence of America" it was George Washington. Yet he too was imbibed with the same optimism. The foundation of our empire was not laid in the gloomy age of ignorance and superstition; but at an epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined,...

...theological roots of the Revolution and America's place in the larger traditions of history and civilization. "The foundation of our empire was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition," he wrote in one of his most striking statements, but at an Epocha when the rights of...

...view, in his final act as commander in chief, when he wrote to the governors of the thirteen states: The foundation of our empire was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition, but at an Epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined,...