The Legacy of Witherspoon

If Witherspoon had been seen as a friend of slavery and an enemy of abolition in his own time it is unlikely that Newton and Wilberforce would have thought of him so highly. But considering the totality of his teaching and his personal example on the issue of slavery we also question any assessment that makes Witherspoons out to be someone deeply enmeshed in slavery throughout his life or in favor of the indefinite perpetuation of slavery. He was respected in his day as a great theologian, an exemplary college president and quote an animated son of liberty whose leadership and sacrifice did much to advance the cause of the American Revolution. His legacy deserves to be commemorated by the Scottish,