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The American Revolution: The Dominion Of Providence Over The Affairs Of Men

Today is the 250th Anniversary of one of the most important sermons of the Revolutionary War.

Craig Seibert | May 17, 2026

In the Revolutionary era, the pulpit was an important place for the colony’s greater thinkers to advance important values about human liberty. Today is the 250th Anniversary of one of the most important sermons of the Revolutionary War.

Forgotten Founding Father, John Witherspoon, stands among the most influential yet often overlooked figures of the American founding era. He was a minister, educator, political leader, and signer of the Declaration of Independence,

Witherspoon was born on February 5, 1723, in Gifford, Scotland, near Edinburgh. He was raised in a deeply religious Presbyterian family with roots tracing back to the Scottish Reformation. At age 13, he started attending the University of Edinburgh. In 1745, after completing his education, including a master’s in theology, he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He quickly gained recognition as a gifted preacher and writer, with sermons that displayed both intellectual rigor and passionate conviction.

In 1766, The College of New Jersey (today’s Princeton) was seeking a new president who could strengthen the institution academically and spiritually. The college had been founded primarily to train ministers, but its leaders also hoped it would prepare civic leaders for the colonies.

After initially declining the offer to become its president, in 1768, Witherspoon finally agreed and emigrated to America to take the role. He swiftly transformed the college into one of the leading centers of higher education in colonial America. He believed education should prepare students not merely for careers, but for lives of moral leadership and public virtue.

Through his teaching, Witherspoon instilled in students the belief that liberty required virtue and that free government depended upon moral and religious foundations. He argued that human rights came from God, not government, and that tyranny violated both moral and natural law. His emphasis on liberty, morality, and........

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