John Witherspoon Quotes

John Witherspoon was born in Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland. He was a Scottish-born American Presbyterian minister and a Founding Father of the United States. He embraced the concepts of Scottish Common Sense Realism, and while president of the College of New Jersey, became an influential figure in the development of the United States' national character. He was a delegate from New Jersey to the Second Continental Congress and a signatory to the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence. Later, he signed the Articles of Confederation and supported ratification of the Constitution. In 1789, he was Convening Moderator of the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. He earned an MA degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1739. In 1764, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in divinity by the University of St. Andrews. He was a staunch Protestant, nationalist, and supporter of republicanism.