John Witherspoon
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. 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. 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.
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