Posted on 07/03/2006 7:37:23 AM PDT by kellynla
"He is as high a Son of Liberty, as any man in America."--John Adams on John Witherspoon, 1774 Who is the most unfairly neglected American Founding Father? You might think that none can be unfairly neglected, so many books about that distinguished coterie have been published lately. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington--whom have I left out? It has been a literary festival of Founders these last few years, and a good thing, too. But there is one figure, I believe, who has yet to get his due, and that is John Witherspoon (1723--1794). This Scotch Presbyterian divine came to America to preside over a distressed college in Princeton, New Jersey, and wound up transmitting to the colonies critical principles of the Scottish Enlightenment and helped to preside over the birth and consolidation of American independence.
Jeffry Morrison's brief, excellent new book, "John Witherspoon and the Founding of the American Republic," both testifies to and partly redresses the neglect Witherspoon has suffered. Modern scholars, Morrison points out, "have not made much out of Witherspoon one way or another." For example, a standard text called "The Forgotten Leaders of the American Revolution" (1955) omits Witherspoon entirely. But during his lifetime Witherspoon enjoyed a very high reputation not only as a clergyman but also as a public intellectual and man of affairs. He commanded immense prestige both in his native Scotland and, even more, in America. Benjamin Rush spoke for many when, a few years after Witherspoon died, he eulogized him as "a man of great and luminous mind" and predicted that "his work will probably preserve his name to the end of time." He radiated what his contemporaries called "presence": a personal dignity and charisma that transcended ideological differences and commanded respect.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
for later
This statement on Paine's importance is widely attributed to John Adams: "Without the pen of Paine, the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain." The first chapter of The American Crisis was published in Philadelphia, days before General Washington's daring attack on the Hessian troops at Trenton, New Jersey. In preparation for that attack, Washington ordered that the chapter be read to his assembled troops.
It begins with these immortal words: "These are the times that try men's souls." I've been working on my seventh book, on Paine, for several years. And trying to find a publisher. Alas, so far I have a stack of rejection slips. But I will persist, because the book deserves to be published, as its subject deserves to be discussed.
P.S. Interested in a Freeper in Congress? Keep in touch with me.
Congressman Billybob
Random fact: The actress Reese Witherspoon is a descendant of his.
While living in Scotland he went to prison as a hardcore Loyalist for supporting King George II during the Jacobite uprising.
Yet he was a leader of the colonists against King George III.
"I couldn't forget him - he was played by James Noble in "1776," one of my favorite musicals. Had a fairly prominent role, too.
Maven"
A favorite here also!
"...would someone shut that man up!?"
"...but I burn Mr. A....so do I Mr. J!"
My favorite character is Richard Henry LEE!
That's awesome. My natural question is where did you ever find it?
I'm not directly descended from any of the Signers, but my family tree branches include the Lees and Madisons (both James and Dolly, from different branches). Genealogy is such a hoot!
-PJ
Declaration of Independence bump.
He's not forgotten in Princeton, N.J. He was president of Princeton University, there are some things named after him around the campus, and he is buried in Princeton Cemetery (along with Aaron Burr and Grover Cleveland).
A friend of my husband's found one of the original maltese falcon statue props that way. He bought it for peanuts.
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