Journal of Student Research 2023

Black Robes: God’s Patriots that Prepared America for Independence 71 This is the point in the American story when Whitefield came into view; he began to preach his then famous “Father Abraham” sermons. These sermons were an attempt to break down the barriers between denominations. He approached the issue the best way he knew how—by returning to the basic and fundamental belief system that all Christians at the time possessed rather than becoming enmeshed in doctrine and theology. Whitefield preached widely throughout the colonies. Many colonists, including some Founding Fathers, heard Whitefield’s most famous type of sermon: The Father Abraham Sermons. John Adams wrote in a letter to Thomas Jefferson extolling Whitefield’s sermon: He began: “Father Abraham,” with his hands and eyes gracefully directed to the heavens (as I have more than once seen him): “Father Abraham, whom have you there with you? Have you Catholics? No. Have you Protestants? No. Have you Churchmen? [Anglicans]. No. Have you Dissenters? [Congregationalists]. No. Have you Presbyterians? No. Quakers? No. Anabaptists? [Amish and Mennonites]. No. Whom have you there? Are you alone? No. My brethren, you have the answer to all these questions in the words of my next text. He who feareth God and worketh righteousness, shall be accepted of Him” [Acts 10:35]. 17 Whitefield’s words speak for themselves. Unity based on a shared belief in the same God, without worries as to specific faction or party of Christianity, was the order of the day when Whitefield came to town. This message of unity was heard by other Founding Fathers such as Benjamin Franklin. 18 The “Father Abraham” sermons would play a critical role in unifying the colonies in general, and immediately preceding the American Revolution there would be one instance where this sentiment would be critical in helping the Founding Fathers birth a new country. At the first Continental Congress, there were pervasive divides among the delegates about fundamental issues facing the American colonies. Some, like Samuel Adams, were clamoring for a break from Britain, but many were not prepared to go that far in 1774. When the delegates first came together to discuss what their response to Britain should be, John Adams wrote: When the Congress first met, Mr. [Thomas] Cushing [of Massachusetts] first made a motion that it should be opened with prayer.” 19 It was opposed by Mr. Jay of New York and Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina because we were so divided in religious sentiments—some Episcopalians, some Quakers, some Anabaptists, some Presbyterians, and some Congregationalists—that we could not join in the same act of worship. 20 It was not a matter of distaste for religion that prevented the motion from being acted upon; rather, it was the same problem Whitefield had addressed in his “Father Abraham” sermons. This precarious moment in the history of the First Continental Congress found its resolution in Samuel Adams, the man known as “The Father of American Revolution.” 21 17 Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, vol 14, ed. Andrew A. Lipscomb (Washington DC: The Thom as Jefferson Memorial Association, 1905), 19-20, from John Adams on December 3, 1813. 18 “Benjamin Franklin on Rev. George Whitefield, 1739,” National Humanities Center. 19 John Adams, Letters of John Adams Addressed to His Wife, vol 1, ed. Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1841), 23-24, to Abigail Adams on September 16, 1774. 20 Adams, 23-24. 21 See Mark Puls, Samuel Adams Father of the American Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 2006).