"In God We Trust" was put on all paper currency by an Act of Congress in 1955; the phrase was declared the national motto by an Act of Congress in 1956 and first appeared on paper currency in 1957.
The mid-to-late 1950s were a time of overt racism, religious discrimination, and political oppression in the United States. McCarthyism was at its feverous peak. The "red scare" had Congress and President Eisenhower acting in paranoid fits of illegal and unconstitutional activity. The FBI, under the militant J. Edgar Hoover, engaged in illegal spying campaigns against Americans.
During this period, the federal government acted more like an authoritarian dictatorship than a constitutional democracy. The government violated civil rights with impunity.
Adding "In God We Trust" to the US currency was an act of religious and political propaganda, allegedly to counter the threat of "godless communism."
In the early 1990s, the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a lawsuit to remove "In God We Trust" from currency and as our national motto, but their case was dismissed by a federal judge on the grounds that "In God We Trust" is not a religious phrase. If "In God We Trust" is not a religious phrase, what is it? Of course the judge did not attempt to justify his absurd claim.
