In the next two parts we take a walk back in time to the first half of the 1700’s in England and then back across the pond to the colonies. We need to establish the influence one fiery preacher of the Gospels had in both England and the colonies as well as on one B. Franklin, Printer among millions of others who heard the preaching. Yes – millions. Per numerous historical accounts George Whitefield preached to over 10 million people during his years on the planet. It is believed over 2 million people accepted Christ from his efforts during this time with most of that number within America’s population.
This discussion of Whitefield will help us better understand not only B and his personal beliefs, but establish why he and that preacher friend of his was so important to our independence and success as a nation. If you are unaware of the history and the seeds that were planted leading up to the patriot movement’s acts of rebellion, you may not grasp the full importance of what the Declaration of Independence states. Despite the anti-Christian recency bias we find today, America would not be America without Christianity. It is a cornerstone of our foundation as a nation. From the pilgrims forward it has guided our principles and approach to relations domestically as well as with the rest of the world.
George Whitefield was born in 1713 in Gloucester, England. His parents kept an inn there and he was the fifth of seven children. His father died when he was two years old. As he aged he helped his mother with the inn. Also as he grew older he discovered he had a passion for acting. However, the family had no money for him to continue his education. So he became a servitor to be able to attend the University of Oxford. This involved him becoming a servant doing simple basic living chores for staff and students there in exchange for free tuition.
George wanted to do good works and obey God, but had not yet fully understood the salvation offered by acceptance of Christ. That all changed when he read the book, The Life of God in the Soul of Man. Finally realizing he could not earn God’s favor by doing good works, he accepted Christ as his personal savior and was converted. He realized that all mankind has sinned against God’s will for us and that he needed God’s grace in the person of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. He accepted that this righteousness of Christ was then imputed to all who believed and accepted, thereby creating a new heart and nature that willingly desired to serve God.
We hillbillies call it taking off the old coat and putting on the new. Hi there, Wolf!
After Whitefield’s conversion the Bishop of Gloucester ordained him a Deacon in the Church Of England. He began preaching one week after his ordination. He soon took to preaching the Word of God wherever the people were since the Church of England did not give him a church. He was disappointed, but it did not deter him and as a result he went to the parks and fields to reach the people who did not go to church.
Soon, America and Great Britain would never be the same again. However, there was a friend/foe relationship with another major evangelical contemporary of that period who was educated in the same university in the same general time frame as George.
John Wesley and George Whitefield
Rather than summarize this relationship, I am going to post a link below to a short story about the two. In this part I would prefer to avoid a discussion about the issue that divided them – Calvinism versus Arminianism. The truth is that I personally believe elements of both of these Christian doctrines. At that time it was an extremely divisive issue within the clergy. It drove a wedge in the relationship of Wesley and Whitefield. There are letters to each other available for review online that are heart-wrenching. One I read from Whitefield to Wesley sounds like Paul’s reproach of Peter that we read in his letter in scripture. Just know that the two reconciled late in life, basically agreeing to disagree, as should all of us who allow a dividing doctrine to infest our hearts.
https://myrealchurch.org/disputable-matters-john-wesley-and-george-whitefield
The common theme of the two was that they went to the people in both England and the colonies with the intent to bring the message of salvation in Christ as well as providing for the least of these. Both were active in ministry in England prior to going to the colonies. Both were religious until experiencing a time when they found their personal hearts strangely warmed by Christ, a situation and understanding that many believers would call being born again. Both sought for all the experience of seeking Christian perfection as a life long worthy endeavor.
Being “born again” is a real thing. It happened to me.
The Fields Were Ripe For Harvest
By 1738, Whitefield felt the call to go to Georgia in the colonies to minister to orphans there after an unsuccessful, despondent Wesley returned to England at the same time. George began preaching at Christ Church in Savannah, which had been founded by Wesley previously. The Wesley brothers (John and Charles) were not all that pleased with their own results in that colony as they were met with much resistance. Whitefield felt the opposite. He embraced the people and the mission. His passion for the orphans was legendary. He solicited funds and opened three schools, one of which was for girls. He spent every available moment preaching the Word throughout the region. His bullhorn like voice could be heard a mile away, so he was very effective with outdoor assemblies where thousands would attend each time.
Seven months later he decided to return to England and arrived there months later after a very perilous voyage. Not long after arrival he was ordained a priest in the Church of England. After all he was willing to do and had accomplished he believed churches would be opened for him to preach, but the opposite was true. As a man of the people growing up in a lower status he was not welcomed in the pulpits of establishment churches. He made the best of it, preaching wherever he was welcomed. His presence was greatly appreciated when he preached in coal country where 10,000 people at a time would come to hear him speak. What an amazing sight and sound it would have been there to witness thousands standing to sing hymns and praise the Lord during the times he spoke. It was said that the singing could be heard some two miles away.
His largest successes in reaching the people came when preaching in a large, open tract of land known as the Moorfields. He set no schedule for doing so, but no matter whether he preached in the early morning or at night, thousands would come to listen and participate. One morning 20,000 came and later that evening the same day some 35,000 were there to hear him. Not all appreciated what he had to say. He once said, “I was honored with having stones, dirt, rotten eggs and pieces of dead cats thrown at me.” 😂 During one event, 80,000 people came to hear him preach 1.5 hours.
Yet, he was only 25 years old during those days. Wow.
Unfortunately his popularity with the masses disappointed the establishment and his bishop denounced him by August 1739. So, he headed back to the colonies with donations for his planned orphanages. He arrived in Philadelphia in late October and began preaching there. During the short time he was there he preached to tens of thousands of colonists at at time. It was during one of those times he first met B. Franklin, Printer.
His intent was always to return to Georgia and establish the orphan ministry there, but his next stop was New York where there was a similar response to his preaching. He stayed a short time before preaching his way down the Atlantic coast, traveling by horseback, until he finally arrived in Savannah in January 1740. He then went about building the orphanage. By September he was sailing back north to the New England area to begin preaching there. It was in this period that historians state our country’s first “great awakening” occurred.
The great American evangelist,Jonathon Edwards, had been preparing the area for revival for some time before Whitefield. When George arrived, it all broke loose. He was invited to speak by colonial governors and colleges such as Harvard. The places would become so crowded they had to turn people away. This revival lasted 1.5 years before Whitefield returned to England again. The Christian seeds had been planted that would eventually lead to our founding as a nation.
Whether you the reader personally believe in Christianity or not; this historical truth cannot be altered by those seeking to rewrite history or introduce counter narratives. The changes in mind and hearts of We the People in those days flowed into our founding documents that have governed our nation for 250 years. Within those documents We the People acknowledge God’s providence. The law itself is largely in alignment with Biblical principles. We the People of those days cut a forever deal with the Almighty. As has been proven in our nation’s history, any turning from it by leaders or We the People will result in great angst and even violence as discipline. We just need to stop being the prodigal son as a nation and start doing God’s will. Back to Whitefield…
Upon his arrival in England he learned that his friend John Wesley had turned from the Calvinistic Methodism that both embraced as younger preachers. As a result they went their separate ways. Whitefield’s base of preaching moved back to the Moorfields and a tabernacle was built, however, he traveled throughout Great Britain preaching as requested. While in Wales he met his future wife, Elizabeth, a widow. They married and had one son in 1743, who passed away as a four month old baby.
He made seven trips in total to America before passing away in Massachusetts some two hours after preaching before thousands in 1770. His words and presence always sparked an emotional response from those who heard him. Again, the response would be negative at times. There was one occasion he was beaten badly with a cane by a deranged man and other times when he was stoned both in England and in the colonies. Throughout it all he never lost his fervor for bringing God’s Word.
At this point we will conclude until next time with some of his interactions with B, a key founding father with whom he never lost contact and cared deeply about. It is now time to discuss another signer from Pennsylvania.
James Wilson
With James Wilson we have another brilliant attorney and associate justice to the Supreme Court as a founding father who served nobly only to fall victim to seeking riches in land speculation with excessive debt at the end of his life. It sounds like a familiar story with decisions and a similar fate that awaited another previous discussed founder, James Morris.
James Wilson was born in Fife, Scotland in 1742, the middle child of seven in a hard working farming family of the Presbyterian faith. His father rented the land he farmed. At age 15 he entered, studied and graduated from the University of St. Andrews. He followed that with studies at Edinburgh and Glasgow without graduating. In 1765 he emigrated to the colonies at New York in the middle of the Stamp Act controversy and soon moved to Philadelphia. He brought with him letters of introduction that enabled him to receive a job tutoring and teaching at the College of Philadelphia (Penn). While there he proceeded to study law under highly respected John Dickinson. For his work at the school he received an honorary Masters of Arts and later in life, a LL.D. Two years after arrival in 1767 he earned admission to the bar and established a law practice in Reading, PA, where he became very successful. In 1771 he married Rachel Byrd and they had six children together.
The aftermath of the Stamp Act encouraged him to deeply study the legal relationship between Great Britain and the colonies. Taxation without representation was a deal killer as far as Wilson was concerned, so he published his position on the subject. As he continued to research he concluded there was very little basis for the cause of independence for the colonists, yet, there was a recognition that all colonists were citizens of Great Britain with equal rights as residents. As a result in his view the acts Parliament took that related to the colonies were illegal due to the colonists lack of equal representation in governance in the same manner as citizens located in Great Britain.
This legal approach was utilized when the Declaration of Independence was drafted. It called out the King for misconduct as a result as we can see from the wording in the document. Wilson published this legal interpretation in 1774. What happened next is best described by this quote from the Descendants site;
Wilson’s language adopting the doctrine of popular sovereignty and natural rights foreshadowed the content of the Declaration of Independence two years later, as indicated by an early paragraph:
All men are, by nature, equal and free: no one has a right to any authority over another without his consent: all lawful government is founded on the consent of those who are subject to it: such consent was given with a view to endure and to increase the happiness of the governed, above what they could enjoy in an independent and unconnected state of nature. The consequence is that the happiness of the society is the first law of every government.
Seems we have seen that content phrased into our Declaration of Independence. But who knew James Wilson was the primary source? Not this guy.
Later in 1774, Wilson was made head of the committee of correspondence at Carlisle and was elected to the first Provincial Conference at Philadelphia. In January 1775, he was a member of the Convention of the Province and in May joined the Continental Congress. A year later in June 1776 as the Congress contemplated Richard Henry Lee’s resolution for independence, Wilson sensed the Congressional members were not yet ready for an affirmative vote as the states were split seven for and five against at that point. He voted for a delay with other key members. After more spirited discussions, three weeks later the vote was held. He, John Morton, and our boy B voted for it, which put Pennsylvania in the for independence column by a vote of 3-2.
After approval and signatures, they quickly moved toward the establishment of state constitutions. Wilson found himself on the wrong side of the issues in Pennsylvania, so he was removed from Congress in 1777. In addition to his return to the law practice, from which he assisted many loyalists, he became an advocate general for France for a handful of years. He was also involved in the formation of the Bank of North America with Robert Morris in 1780 that we addressed in that part. This bank formation provided a much needed funding source for our young nation’s treasury.
Wilson returned to Congress when conservatives assumed more power over state affairs in 1782. He served in it until 1787 when it came time for the Constitutional Convention. His wife had passed away the previous year, so all of his efforts went toward the work.
While at the Convention he played a major role as a framer of the document and was considered by many to be the most knowledgeable lawyer in the group. He was a prominent speaker in the assembly. He continued stressing his emphasis on natural rights within the proposed law. With groups opposing each other regarding election of the President by popular vote (Wilson supported) or legislative vote, Wilson proposed the Electoral College that is now used. At first the idea was rejected in favor of a legislative vote, however, those supporters could not agree on the terms. With James Madison and Gouverneur Morris as strong supporters of Wilson’s proposal, a compromise was reached in the committee incorporating an acceptable version of the Electoral College into the Constitution.
After this work Wilson was selected by Washington to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court in 1789. He served until his death from a stroke brought on by malaria in 1798. In 1790 he also became the first law professor in the history of the College of Philadelphia/Penn. In 1793 he married Hannah Gray. They had a child together who passed away at age three. Although Wilson claimed to be anti-slavery, he had a slave for most of his adult life. Hannah requested the man’s release and in 1794 he did so.
However, this last decade of Wilson’s life was tumultuous. He fell victim to the same temptation of Robert Morris through excessive land speculation. He owed hundreds of thousands of dollars on land deals, but would not stop buying more until he became insolvent. He was briefly jailed in debtor’s prison in New Jersey before his son paid the related debt off. He spent the last year of his life running away from other creditors and ended up dying in Edenton, NC in poverty. He was initially interred there before his remains were removed and brought back to the Christ Churchyard in Philadelphia where other founders are interred.
James Wilson as a founding father is another man who is not typically discussed. However, he left a long lasting positive imprint on our nation through his law career and particularly with the Constitution. We remain greatly appreciative of his patriotic service to our country.
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Be blessed and go make something good happen!
