Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street. Sunday marks the anniversary of the inauguration of John Witherspoon as president of the College of New Jersey. which is known today as Princeton University. He was among the most important and perhaps the most underrated of all of the American Founding Fathers.
Born in Scotland in seventeen twenty three, he received his Masters of Arts degree at age sixteen from the University of Edinburgh, where he would continue to study divinity. In seventeen forty five he became an evangelical minister in the Church of Scotland. A year later, Witherspoon was briefly imprisoned for opposing the Royalist Jacobite uprising. Though that experience would damage his health for the rest of his life, it did not slow him down. Upon his release he returned to pastoral ministry and became a popular preacher, sought after speaker, and author.
In seventeen sixty four the University of St. Andrews awarded Witherspoon an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. Four years later, he accepted the presidency. of the College of New Jersey. Though the school's primary mission at the time was to train Presbyterian ministers, Witherspoon found a mess.
The students at the College of New Jersey received poor teaching and had an inadequate library. Through fundraising, reorganization, higher standards, and new resources, including hundreds of books he donated from his own personal library, Witherspoon transformed the college into a top tier school. In addition to his leadership at such a crucial time in the university's history, Witherspoon taught courses in rhetoric, history, divinity, and moral philosophy. His ideas were anchored in Reformed theology and the natural law tradition. He was also heavily influenced by Scottish philosopher Thomas Reed and his common sense realism.
These ideas became deeply rooted not only across Princeton, but across American society. And Witherspoon's teaching laid essential groundwork for both the American Revolution and the government that followed. Leaning heavily on the Calvinistic tradition, Witherspoon promoted the rights of people to challenge government overreach, even by the force of arms, if necessary. He strongly supported the American Revolution with growing concern about the centralization of government and the crown assuming responsibilities that were historically relegated to the colonies. And the final straw for Witherspoon was when bishops were appointed from England to oversee religious life in the colonies.
Like his Presbyterian forebears in Scotland, Witherspoon saw these violations as justification for revolt. He served in the Continental Congress from seventeen seventy seven to seventeen eighty four, taking on an incredible amount of work and serving on over a hundred committees. His energy and passion caused John Adams to refer to Witherspoon as an animated son of liberty. After the war he helped draft the Articles of Confederation, and he later shepherded the Constitution through the New Jersey State Legislature. And yet, even with that impressive resume, his most important legacy are his students from the College of New Jersey.
Witherspoon taught James Madison the necessity of checks and balances in government. His other students included Aaron Burr, 37 judges, including several members of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and three U.S. Supreme Court justices, 10 cabinet officers, 12 members of the Continental Congress. 28 U.S. Senators and 49 U.S.
Congressmen. Witherspoon was arguably the single most influential founding father who shaped the early years of the Republic. Today, however, he's mostly remembered for owning two slaves. Like many of the founders, his attitude towards slavery was complex and contradictory. He taught that slaves and employees should be treated with dignity and respect.
He even spoke out against the institution of slavery at the college.
However, he also opposed a measure by the state legislature that would have banned slavery in the state of New Jersey. Like many others, he believed that slavery would die out within a generation. and therefore the legislation was unnecessary and might even interfere with the process that he believed to be inevitable. Witherspoon failed to extend his convictions about liberty to the slaves in his midst. That was a moral tragedy.
However, that does not change the honor that's due this incredible man and his incredible contributions to the founding of the United States. Like almost no one else, he advanced the ideas that secured American liberty and flourishing. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Break Point. Today's Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Glenn Sunshine.
If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast. For more resources to live like a Christian today, visit us at breakpoint.org.
