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The Nov. 30 issue of The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) has a wonderful profile of how, during the Civil War, “In God We Trust” was first considered to be inscribed on United States coins. According to the Journal, on Nov. 13, 1861, Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase received a letter from a reverend asking whether future generations would see the United States as a heathen nation.

Moved by the letter, the article says Chase wrote to the director of the Mint in Philadelphia that “no nation can be strong except in the strength of God…[and that]… the trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins.” The law calling for “In God We Trust” to be inscribed on U.S. coins was passed by Congress in 1865 (it first appeared on the dollar bill 50 years ago).

Chase was indeed a man of faith inspired to take action. The article credits his faith for driving his early career as an anti-slavery lawyer:

Chase’s relationship and trust in God would put him on a path that would affect both him and the country in the years to come. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa, Chase became a lawyer. Believing slavery to be a sin, he defended many escaped slaves in his early years of practice in Cincinnati. He tried to argue, for instance, against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 on the grounds that Ohio was admitted to the Union as a free state and not allowed to have slaves based on the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Chase eventually gained the nickname “attorney general for runaway Negroes.” He embraced the title (which was intended to be an insult) and went on to fight the institution of slavery while serving first as a U.S. senator and then as the governor of Ohio.