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In 1876, on the centennial anniversary of America’s birth as a nation, William Pratt Breed published a volume titled Presbyterians and the Revolution, which examined the historic connection between Presbyterianism and resistance to tyranny.
As Breed notes, Calvinism has imbued a spirit of civil and ecclesiastical liberty into the freedom-loving peoples of Switzerland, France, Scotland, England, the Netherlands, and the American colonies, not to mention the Waldenses and others. Presbyterians have long stood at the forefront of the struggle for “lex rex,” or limited, just government, in opposition to tyranny both in the state and in the church. The heritage of the Scottish Covenanters and French Huguenots in this regard contributed much to the American Presbyterian witness on behalf of Biblical liberty.
Here is the Table of Contents for Breed’s work:
Presbyterians and the Centennial
Presbyterianism A Representative Republican Form of Government
Presbyterianism Odious to Tyrants
Presbyterians Spirit in Harmony With That of the Revolution
The Westmoreland County Resolutions
The Mecklenburg Declaration
Presbyterian Zeal and Suffering
Formal Action of the Presbyterian Church
Declaration of Independence and Dr. John Witherspoon
Organization of the Confederacy
Monument to Witherspoon
Breed quotes from a classic work by Ezra H. Gillett (History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States) to show how closely allied Presbyterianism and the cause of American liberty were:
To the privations, hardships and cruelties of the war the Presbyterians were pre-eminsntly exposed. In them the very essence of rebellion was supposed to be concentrated, and by the wanton plunderings and excesses of the marauding parties they suffered severely. Their Presbyterianism was prima facie evidence of guilt. A house that had a large Bible and David's Psalms in metre in it was supposed, as a matter of course, to be tenanted by rebels. To sing "Old Rouse" was almost as criminal as to have leveled a loaded musket at a British grenadier.
Breed quotes Gillett further to list the heroic sacrifices of Presbyterian clergymen who served and suffered during the war. Among the names listed are John Rodgers, Azel Roe, Jacob Green, Henry Pattillo, David Caldwell, William Tennent III, Hugh McAden, Alexander MacWhorter and many others. We shared an honor roll of Presbyterians who served the cause of American liberty last year as well.
Breed pays special attention to the role of John Witherspoon, who was the only clergyman to sign the 1776 Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.
The Calder statue of John Witherspoon at the Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (photo by R. Andrew Myers).
All of these names — their stories, their service, their sacrifices — recalled to mind by Breed, are worthy of remembrance today, just as they were in 1876. The cause of freedom, both civil and ecclesiastical, is always linked to the right honor of Christ the King, who rules the nations. The record of American Presbyterian contributions to civil liberty constitutes a noble history, though filled with flaws and inconsistencies, but that history is sometimes shrouded in mist, and is in danger of being forgotten. Presbyterians and the Revolution is book worth reading, especially on this Independence Day.
