What do you know about John Witherspoon?

Witherspoon supported the Declaration’s adoption.

Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a major influence in American religion, education, and politics at the time of the Revolution.

He was born in Scotland and received a divinity degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1743. He preached in the town of Paisley until 1768 when he immigrated to America to become president of the College of New Jersey(now Princeton University), a position he held until his death.

Witherspoon expanded the school’s syllabus to include classes aimed to prepare men for civic leadership. His ideology was “common sense.”

Among his students who later rose to national prominence was James Madison (1751–1836), the fourth President of the United States.

In 1774, Witherspoon joined the movement for independence, urging colonists “ to declare the firm resolve never to submit to the claims of Great Britain, but deliberately to prefer war with all its horrors, and even extermination to slavery.”

In 1776, Witherspoon took part in the ouster of the royalist governor of New Jersey, William Franklin (1731–1813). As a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Witherspoon urged the adoption of the Declaration. During his Congressional service, he was a member of more than 100 committees.

After the war, Witherspoon devoted himself to rebuilding his college.