Father of Liberty: Jonathan Mayhew and the Principles of the American Revolution

American Political Thought

by J. Patrick Mullins

Dr. Jonathan Mayhew (1720-1766) was, according to John Adams, a "transcendental genius . . . who threw all the weight of his great fame into the scale of the country in 1761, and maintained it there with zeal and ardor till his death." He was also, J. Patrick Mullins contends, the most politically influential clergyman in eighteenth-century America and the intellectual progenitor of the American Revolution in New England. Father of Liberty is the first book to fully explore Mayhew's political thought and activism, understood within the context of his personal experiences and intellectual influences, and of the cultural developments and political events of his time. Analyzing and assessing his contributions to eighteenth-century New England political culture, the book demonstrates Mayhew's critical contribution to the intellectual origins of the American Revolution.

As pastor of the Congregationalist West Church in Boston, Mayhew championed the principles of natural rights, constitutionalism, and resistance to tyranny in press and pulpit from 1750 to 1766. He did more than any other clergyman to prepare New England for disobedience to British authority in the 1760s--and should, Mullins argues, be counted alongside such framers and fomenters of revolutionary thought as James Otis, Patrick Henry, and Samuel Adams. Though many commentators from John Adams on down have acknowledged his importance as a popularizer of Whig political principles, Father of Liberty is the first extended, in-depth examination of Mayhew's political writings, as well as the cultural process by which he engaged with the public and disseminated those principles. As such, even as the book restores a key figure to his place in American intellectual and political history, it illuminates the meaning of the Revolution as a political and constitutional conflict informed by the religious and political ideas of the British Enlightenment.

240 pages, Hardcover

Published June 23, 2017

Reviews

[Andy Efting · Rating 3 out of 5]

My reading of the American Revolution and biographies of our founding fathers alerted me to the person of Jonathan Mayhew, who is said to be the most influential clergyman from that era. I wanted to know how Christians at that time, who would be expected to submit to rightful authority, came to embrace the overthrow of the British crown? This book does a good job of explaining Mayhew’s reasoning and influence.

Even though it’s not the primary focus, this book also touches on another interest of mine, namely the transition from Puritan Calvinistic theology to the Unitarianism that eventually took hold in many congregational churches in New England. Mayhew had a role in that, too. Unfortunately, as a committed Trinitarian, that aspect of Mayhew’s position and impact made it impossible for me to appreciate him as much as I might have otherwise.

This book isn’t really the light reading of an engaging biography. It’s more of a philosophical analysis of his political theory and how that played out in history. It's a worthy read but not a spectacular read.

[Andrew Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mullins has written a definitive history of the influence and scope of Jonathan Mayhew's sermons and writings. Mayhew has been ignored for too many years and Mullins has restored him to the prominence he deserves. He was a strident Congregationalist preacher who also believed that the colonies should have an equal say in the British Parliament. He engaged colonial administrative leaders whom he believed were working against the best interests of the people. In this way, Mayhew helped sow the seeds for protest against the Stamp Act and other measures enacted by the British Parliament to secure needed funds for the maintenance of the empire. In this book, Mullins skillfully demonstrates how Mayhew was a leader of his community not only as a pastor but also as a proponent for colonial rights. This is a tour de force in historiography.

[Mike Dial · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some people apparently think that, if they could just discredit Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, they would discredit the founding of this country on the principles of Liberty. This book shows us that, far from generating something new from whole cloth, Jefferson was largely summing up the general thought about Liberty generated by himself and many other men like Mayhew when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Reading this book will give you more confidence in the righteousness of their cause, even though it took several more decades to apply it to everyone.