John Witherspoon 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 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.
Portrait by Charles Willson Peale, c. 1790
The grave of John Witherspoon's father, Rev. James Alexander Witherspoon
The President's House in Princeton, New Jersey. Completed in 1756, Witherspoon lived here from 1768 to 1779; it is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
In Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull (1818), Witherspoon is the second seated figure from the (viewer's) right among those shown in the background facing the large table.
Scottish Americans or Scots Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scotch-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots, and communities emphasize and celebrate a common heritage. The majority of Scotch-Irish Americans originally came from Lowland Scotland and Northern England before migrating to the province of Ulster in Ireland and thence, beginning about five generations later, to North America in large numbers during the eighteenth century. The number of Scottish Americans is believed to be around 25 million, and celebrations of 'Scottishness' can be seen through Tartan Day parades, Burns Night celebrations, and Tartan Kirking ceremonies.
James VI and I, c. 1604
The Americas in the reign of James VI, 1619
"Uncle Sam" Wilson was based on Samuel Wilson.
Sam Houston was Scotch-Irish (Ulster Scots) descent, and namesake for the city of Houston, Texas.