And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life through the great mediator of
all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men
might be miserable like unto himself” (2 Ne 2:27). Later, Jacob would affirm, saying “And this land shall be a
land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles”(2
Ne 10:11).
The “multitudes of Gentiles” brought with them their Bibles, the foundation of their faith in God, the
God who had led them to their new “land of inheritance” across the great waters in order to worship God according
to their own conscience. Moses’ Book of Deuteronomy, chapter one, became a pattern for self-government in their new
“wilderness.” The “Spirit of the Lord” was resting upon those early colonists seeking liberty in the
writings of Moses.
In 1701 William Penn obtained a Charter of Privilege for Pennsylvania.
This charter, liberal for its day, spoke of the rights of freedoms valued by the people the world over, and included thoughts
relating to religious freedoms. In 1751, inspired by Moses (Lev 25:10), and the “Spirit of the Lord,” Penn’s
followers planned a celebration for the 50th anniversary of the Charter. They commissioned a “Liberty Bell”
to be cast in England and inscribed on it, “proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants . . .”
The Liberty Bell became a powerful symbol of liberty for the colonists during the difficult days and years that lay ahead.
The Spirit of the Lord continued to work on the colonists. In 1776 Thomas Jefferson penned America’s Declaration
of Independence using words that established America again as “a land of liberty” and “a choice land of
the Lord” (Ether 13:2). Jefferson’s immortal words include “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,”
in paragraph one, and, in paragraph two, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness . . . ,” and in clear unmistakable
words wrote in paragraph four, “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World . . .” and “with a firm Reliance
on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor.”
Fifty-six men, America’s Founding Fathers, signed this document with a full knowledge that a horrible death would be
their fate should their war for liberty and self-government end in failure (Declaration of Independence).
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