John Witherspoon

John Witherspoon
Portrait by Charles Willson Peale, c. 1790
6th President of Princeton University
In office
1768–1794
Preceded byJohn Blair (acting)
Succeeded bySamuel Stanhope Smith
Personal details
Born(1723-02-05)February 5, 1723
Yester, Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland
DiedNovember 15, 1794(1794-11-15) (aged 71)
Tusculum, Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Resting placePrinceton Cemetery
NationalityAmerican/Scottish
RelativesJohn C. Breckinridge (great-grandson)
EducationUniversity of Edinburgh (MA)
OccupationClergyman and theologian
Signature

John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States.[1] Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense realism, and while president of the College of New Jersey (1768–1794; now Princeton University) became an influential figure in the development of the United States' national character. Politically active, Witherspoon was a delegate from New Jersey to the Second Continental Congress and a signatory to the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence. He was the only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration.[2] Later, he signed the Articles of Confederation and supported ratification of the Constitution of the United States.

In 1789 he was convening moderator of the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.

  1. ^ Longfield, Bradley J. (2013). Presbyterians and American Culture: A History. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 40–41. ISBN 9780664231569. Retrieved November 6, 2015..
  2. ^ "Princeton Presidents". Princeton University. Retrieved July 16, 2010.