The phrase
emerges to have initiated in "The Star-Spangled Banner", written
during the War of 1812. The fourth stanza takes in the phrase, "And this
be our motto: 'In God is our Trust.'" As per Ted Alexander, Chief
Historian at Antietam National Battlefield, the contracted "In God We
Trust" was first employed by the 125th Pennsylvania Infantry as a battle
cry on September 17, 1862, during the Battle of Antietam of the American Civil
War.
The
concluding form of the motto and its position upon currency were forged
completely within this crucible of national chaos (lasting from 1861 to 1865).
The Reverend M. R. Watkinson, in a letter dated November 13, 1861, appealed the
Treasury Department to add a statement identifies "Almighty God in some
form in our coins." At least part of the motivation was to state that God
was on the Union side of the Civil War.
