Journal of Student Research 2023

Journal of Student Research 72 Adams considered the predicament over the motion, and determining that he could lead by example as a Bostonian and a Congregationalist, he announced that because he was a stranger and not knowledgeable of the Philadelphia area, the local Rev. Duche, an Episcopalian (Anglican: Church of England), should say prayer for the assembly. 22 Samuel Adams, as a Congregationalist, would be no flatterer of Episcopalian ministers; nonetheless he suggested Duche. This was done in an effort to apply the “Father Abraham” sermon theme to unify the delegates and allow them to work together. Upon this confession of Adams, which showed a willingness to lead by example and unite with people of different denominations, the original motion by Mr. Cushing was approved and Duche came before the assembly. 23 The prayer that Duche prayed was powerful and according to John Adams “had an excellent effect upon everybody here.” 24 This prayer by Duche, suggested by someone of a competing Christian denomination, helped to remove disagreement and create an atmosphere of progress in order to decide steps to oppose Great Britain. The influence of the “Father Abraham” sermons on religious and hence political unification rested on a shared fundamental Christian ethic. In addition to the episode of the First Continental Congress, other instances recalled a similar unity at crucial and sometimes dire points in the American War for Independence. This was exemplified by the fact that Congress called the nation to a unified prayer 15 times during the Revolution. 25 The “Father Abraham” sermons Whitefield gave was a glue which kept disparate colonies united through difficult years. Whitefield’s calls for unification based on shared fundamental Christian orthodoxy in the decades before the War of Independence created the environment in which the colonists could work together regardless of their differences. His influence can be traced through the decade when uncertainty in the outcome of the war was a daily occurrence. It can be conceded that Whitefield’s sermons, heard by so many, were an inspiration in uniting the colonies in opposition against Britain. Reverend Jonathan Mayhew The observation “The people made the laws, and the church made the people” 26 by historian David Gregg describes how the church influenced those making the laws. This assessment is strengthened by the fact that over 98% of 22 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. 23 Adams, 23-24. 24 Adams, 23-24. 25 Journals of the continental Congress (Washington Printing Office, 1906), 2: 87-88, “Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer,” for July 20, 1775; 4:208-209, “Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer,” for May 17, 1776; 6:1022, “Fasting and Humiliation,” for December 11, 1776; 9: 854-855, “Thanksgiving and Praise,” for December 18, 1777; 10: 229-230. “Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer,” for April 22, 1778; 12:1139, “Thanksgiving and Praise,” for December 30, 1778; 13:343-344, “Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer,” for March 4, 1779; 15: 1191-1193, “Thanksgiving,” for December 9, 1779; 16:252 253, Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer,” for April 26, 1780; 18:950-951, “Thanksgiving and Prayer,” for December 7, 1780; 19:284-286, “Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer,” for May 3, 1781; 22:137-138, “Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer,” for April, 1782; 23:647, “Thanksgiving,” for November 28, 1782 25: 699-701, “Thanksgiving,” for December, 1783. 26 David Gregg, W.W. Goodrich, and Sidney H. Carney, Makers of the American Republic (New York: E.B. Treat and Company, 1905), 439.