John Witherspoon and the Founding of the American Republic by Jeffry H. Morrison

Author:Jeffry H. Morrison [Morrison, Jeffry H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, Revolutionary Period (1775-1800), Colonial Period (1600-1775), Political Science, History & Theory
ISBN: 9780268087227
Google: w5cFDgAAQBAJ
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
Published: 2003-01-27T01:42:06+00:00

The Presbyterian Constitution of 1787

Witherspoon’s energetic role in the nationalization of the Presbyterian Church in the United States—he drafted the Introduction to its national constitution and was elected the first Moderator (the ecclesiastical equivalent of president) of the newly created General Assembly—provides an interesting corollary to his pro-federal Constitution stand and is an indicator of his desire for the formation of a new nation. Witherspoon understood that the mere formal arrangements of government were not enough to hold together a body politic. Habits of thinking, speaking,65—like Noah Webster, Witherspoon was fascinated by the effect of language on national character–and even worship had to be cultivated. In effect, a national conscience needed to be developed, and the strengthening of the Presbyterian church could be an essential factor in that development. During the War, Witherspoon lamented that while the fact of independence seemed imminent, “we have not yet acquired the whole ideas and habits of independence.”66 If, as some historians insist, “[r]eligion was one of the more potent factors in the making of the United States of America,” and not merely in the creation of certain political documents but also in the unifying of a “free people held together by ties such as … language, religion, manners and customs,”67 then Witherspoon’s role in the nationalization of the Presbyterian church is worth emphasizing. Examining the form of government outlined in the Presbyterian constitution also provides evidence of his position in the New Jersey ratifying convention.

The unification of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and the subsequent drafting of its constitution were events of no small significance in the nationalization of America. Edward Humphrey has written that “[w]e cannot but repeat that the centralized governing body of the Presbyterian Church in America during the colonial period, the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, was the most influential of all colonial institutions towards the development of a centralized national conscience.”68 The activities of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, which culminated in the writing of the Presbyterian constitution in 1787, not only helped heal the breach between two rival groups within the denomination (Old Side and New Light), but they also created a constitution that was curiously similar, as we will see, to the one produced at the same time by the Federal Convention.69

When they set about to affirm a confession of faith as the first document within their constitution, the Synod quite naturally turned to the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1647. On the whole they reaffirmed the Westminster Confession verbatim, yet with one notable exception. Article III of Chapter XXIII of the 1647 Confession dealt with the rights and responsibilities of the civil magistrate concerning the proper worship of God by the churches. The Americans made substantial changes to this article, severely limiting the magistrate’s power to interfere in church government to reflect their greater degree of distinctness between church and state. The original article from 1647 read as follows:

III. The civil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of

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