53. Chapter 48: The Church and the War for Independence

CHAPTER 48 The Church and the War for Independence

1. The Great Awakening Promotes Colonial Unity The churches in America did much to promote the desire for in­dependence, and to support the war which was waged to attain it. The Great Awakening had a large significance for the colonies not only religiously but also politi­cally. Originally the thirteen Eng­lish colonies in America were en­tirely separate from each other. They had very little to do with one another. It was through the Great Awakening that they experienced for the first time a common inter­est and a common feeling. The in­habitants of the colonies took a common interest in the leaders of the Great Awakening—Whitetield, Edwards, Tennent, and others ­before the names of Washington and Franklin became for them symbols of a common cause.

2. The Churches Oppose the Idea of an Anglican Bishop for America

There was another church mat­ter which became politically impor­tant. It was the long-drawn-out agitation for the appointment of a Church of England bishop for the colonies. Such an appointment would have been a good thing for the Episcopal Church in the colonies, but for that very reason the other churches strongly opposed it. The Reverend Jonathan Mayhew, minister of the West Church in Boston, said that the purpose of appointing a bishop for America was to root out Presbyterianism. He warned that, "People have no security against being unmercifully priest-ridden but by keeping all imperious bishops, and all other clergymen who love to lord it over God’s heritage, from getting their feet in the stirrup." At this time Timothy Cutler, president of Yale, and his whole teaching staff were converted to Episcopalianism. This made the threat of the appointment of an American bishop seem very real. The opposition became even more determined. Bishops were de­nounced as apostolical monarchs or as right reverend and holy mon­archs. It was claimed that if bishops were once established in America, they would introduce canon law, which was regarded as a poison and a pollution.

Starting in 1766 the Congrega­tionalists of New England and the Presbyterians of the middle col­onies united in annual conventions to prevent the establishment of an Episcopacy in America. A good many Episcopalians themselves were in opposition. Arthur Lee, an American diplomat and a man prominent in the early history of our country, regarded the idea of a bishop as an attempt to subvert our civil and religious liberties. The cutting of the ecclesiastical bonds which tied the colonies to England was an important step toward the severing of the political bonds.

3. The Episcopalians Are Divided in Their Loyalty When the War for Independence broke out, the majority of both the clergy and the members of the Episcopal Church in New England remained loyal to the mother coun­try. They were known as Loyalists, or Tories. In the southern colonies, especially in Maryland and Vir­ginia, they took their stand on the American side. In the middle col­onies they were about equally di­vided. William White, rector of the Episcopal Church in Philadel­phia, became chaplain of Congress. Two-thirds of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Episcopalians. Six were either sons or grandsons of Episcopal clergymen. Washington, Madison, Franklin, Marshall, Patrick Henry, and Alexander Hamilton were at least nominally members of the Episcopal Church.

4. Most of the Churches Whole­heartedly Support the War With few exceptions the Congre­gationalist ministers of New Eng­land were American trained, grad­uates of either Harvard or Yale. They gave to the American cause all they could give of the approval and support of religion. When the news of the repeal of the Stamp Act came, Charles Chauncy of First Church in Boston preached on the text: "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." On the occasion of the so-called Boston Massacre John Lathrop preached on the sub­ject: "Innocent Blood Crying to God from the Streets of Boston." The New England ministers made resistance and independence a holy cause.

KING’S CHAPEL, BOSTON
King’s Chapel was the first Protestant Episcopal church in New England. Its organi­zation dates back to 1686. A Bible sent by King James II is still in use in the Chapel. This church was a favorite place of worship among officers of the British army. In 1785 King’s Chapel became the first Unitarian church in America. When actual hostilities began many New England Congregation­alist ministers became "fighting parsons." They acted as chaplains, recruiting agents, officers, and combat soldiers, and they contrib­uted money out of their small sal­aries. The Presbyterians as one man took the side of the colonial patri­ots. Their outstanding leader dur­ing the war was the Reverend John Witherspoon, who had come from Scotland to serve as president of the College of New Jersey. Witherspoon was selected as a del­egate to the Continental Congress, and was the only minister among the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His name is still held in high honor among the Presbyterians, and the building in Philadelphia which houses the of­fices of the northern branch of the Presbyterian Church is named after him.

There were other important lead­ers among the Presbyterian clergy. George Duffield, minister of the Third Presbyterian Church of Phil­adelphia, rebuked his congregation because there were so many men present. He said, "Tomorrow there will be one less, and no prayer meeting Wednesday evening."

JOHN WITHERSPOON
Presbyterian Historical Society
Portrait by A. H. Ritchie At the end of the war the Synod of the Presbyterian Church pro­claimed a day of thanksgiving for the establishment of the independ­ence of the United States. The Dutch Reformed, the Ger­man Reformed, and the German Lutheran churches gave their hearty support to the war. Much property of the Dutch Reformed Church was destroyed or damaged. One of their church buildings in New York City was used by the British as a riding school, and an­other as a hospital. The clergy of the Reformed churches did all in their power to help the cause of freedom. At the opening of the war one of the Ger­man Reformed ministers preached on the text: "Better is a poor and wise child, than an old and foolish king." To the Hessian prisoners, Germans who had hired themselves out as soldiers for the British, the German Reformed minister at Lan­caster preached on the text: "Ye have sold yourselves for naught; and ye shall be redeemed without money." A son of the elder Muhl­enberg (ch. 46, sec. 8) received a commission as colonel in a Virginia regiment. Having finished his fare­well sermon, he drew aside his robe and, pointing to his officer’s uni­form underneath, said: "As de­clares Holy Writ, there is a time for all things. There is a time to preach, and there is a time to fight, and now it is time to fight." Then with the roll of drums he stood at the door of his church and enlisted its members. Thereupon he marched off to the war. His broth­er Conrad Muhlenberg, minister of Christ Lutheran Church in New York, was forced to flee at the approach of the British. He was very active and prominent in all the political affairs of the time, and became the first Speaker of the House of the national Congress. The Baptists gave wholehearted support to the war. They used the circumstances of the times to ad­vance their principle of the sepa­ration of Church and State. The Quakers and the Moravians were conscientious objectors to war, but they went as far in its support as their principles allowed. The Methodists, who had but re­cently made their appearance in America, and who were as yet few in number, found themselves in a difficult position. John Wesley, the accepted leader of Methodism, took the side of the English. The result was that the American patriots looked askance at all Methodists in America. When the war began Wesley advised his followers in America to remain free of all parties, and say not one word against one or the other side. All Wesley’s English preachers in America returned to England ex­cept Asbury, who openly took the American side. In Maryland many Methodists were thrown into jail. Some were beaten and tarred and feathered. All the native American Methodist preachers were loyal to the cause of liberty. In spite of all handi­caps, Methodism continued to grow during the war. Their numbers in­creased from less than 4,000 in 1775 to more than 13,000 in 1780. The Catholics at the time of the war were only a small body, but they gave almost complete support to the American cause. One of the signers of the Declaration of Inde­pendence was Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a member of the wealthy Catholic Carroll family of Maryland. He pledged his fortune to the cause of freedom.

5. The Churches at the End of the Colonial Period

It has been estimated that at the close of the colonial period there were about 3,105 local churches in America — about 1,000 in each of the three main sections of the coun­try: New England, the middle col­onies, and the southern colonies. The Congregationalists were the most numerous, having 658 churches. Then followed the Pres­byterians, the Baptists, the Episco­palians, the Quakers, the Dutch Reformed and German Reformed, the Lutherans, and the Roman Catholics.

You will notice that the small German sects and the Methodists are absent from the list. The small German sects remained small, and their beliefs led them to keep strict­ly to themselves; consequently they had little influence outside their own circles. The Methodists on the other hand were destined to grow very large and exert wide influ­ence. But when the colonial period came to a close they had not yet been organized as a separate church. They still belonged to the Church of England.