ABSTRACT
On Friday, June 28, 1776 the New Jersey delegation arrived at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. The delegation appointed to represent the Colony of New Jersey had five members: Richard Stockton, Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkinson, and ‘Revd Doctr John Witherspoon’. Witherspoon—who was always conspicuously dressed in Congress, wearing his Genevan bands—had no patience for delay. John Witherspoon was one of them—a Scotsman, an evangelical, a Calvinist, a confessional Presbyterian, and a minister—the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. By spring 1776, Witherspoon was marshalling all of his energies and all the men and resources of Princeton in the cause of independence. For as much as Witherspoon was stymied by ecclesiastical powerbrokers in Scotland, he was warmly received by both church leaders and political leaders in America. Witherspoon almost revered George Washington, and Washington genuinely respected Witherspoon. As a preacher, Witherspoon was doing nothing different from what he had done on the other side of the Atlantic.
