The hymn was written in 1876 for a celebration of the Centennial Fourth of July, and sung at Brandon, Vermont, to the tune called Russian Hymn! When our General Convention appointed a Commission to revise the Hymnal, I sent it, without my name, promising to send the name if the hymn were accepted. It was accepted and printed anonymously in the report of the Commission. Before the Hymnal was printed, the Reverend Dr. Tucker, late of Troy, editor of our best musical Hymnal, and Mr. George William Warren, organist of St. Thomas' Church, New York, were appointed to choose a hymn for the centennial celebration of the adoption of the Constitution. They selected this hymn, then anonymous, and wanting a tune, Mr. Warren composed a tune to which it has since been set in the Tucker Hymnal.

-- Hymn writer Daniel C. Roberts

Source: The Cyberhymnal