Yesterday at an estate sale I purchased a very nice picture titled "The American's Creed". It was in a gold picture frame, has the fancy lettering, a picture of the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, the Washington Monument, a photo of the United States Capitol, and a gold eagle on each side of the capitol photo. I thought it would look nice hanging on my living room wall. After reading the inscription called "The American's Creed", I realized I was familiar with it from the days of my youth from way back when. I imagine one of my teachers in school gave us a lesson about this important document. It was written by William Tyler Page, and I decided to see what I could find out about Mr. Page and his American's Creed on the internet. The Creed was written in 1917, and accepted by the United States House of Representatives on April 3, 1918.
The American's Creed
I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a Republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect Union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.
I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag; and to defend it against all enemies.
William Tyler Page
William Tyler Page of Friendship Heights, Maryland, described it as "a summing up, in one hundred words, of the basic principles of American political faith".
The Creed was written as a result of a nationwide contest. Henry S. Chapin of New York, conceived the idea of promoting the contest for the writing of a national creed. Mayor James H. Preston of Baltimore, Maryland, offered a reward of a thousand dollars for the winning creed.
One day, when the contest had been in progress for some time, the idea was presented to Mr. Page that he should write a creed and thus enter this contest. William Page was a student of history and was so familiar with our great documents of our United States as well as famous statements of many of our great Americans
The Creed was sent to the commitee on manuscript for the contest in August, 1917. Then in March, 1918, Mr. Page received notice from the committee that he was the successful competitor among three thousand contestants. The award was presented by Mayor Preston on April 3, 1918 in the House of Representatives Office Building, Washington, D.C. Three days after the award Mr. Page purchased Liberty Bonds with the prize money and gave them to his church.
Mr. Page gave almost 61 years of service at the United States capitol, starting to work as a page on December 19, 1881 at the age of thirteen. In 1919 he was elected Clerk of the House and held that office until December, 1931. A new post was created for him-emeritus minority clerk, which he held for the remainder of his life. He died on October 19, 1942.
The American's Creed as given to us by William Tyler Page arouses in every American a deep sense of responsibilities to preserve our Country and our constitutional form of Government as given to us by our Forefathers. I share this with you today because there could be some of you who do not know there is an American Creed. Democrats constantly live this Creed every day. We love our country. Now if we could only get the Republicans to stop trampling our Constitution, they need to live the Creed too.