Jon Rowe
2009-07-11 07:59:35
It is commonly claimed that the Revolutionary population was 1/3 for it, 1/3 against it, and 1/3 neutral. From what I have read, this is a misreading of something that John Adams wrote in a different context. The Revolution enjoyed general support in America, or most of these state governments could not have continued their actions.
The revolution enjoyed “general support” AFTER ministers like Jonathan Mayhew (described as the “morning gun of the Revolution”) convinced that 1/3 to get off the fence. And these ministers did so by removing the theological obstacle — the traditional Calvinistic understanding of Romans 13 — by arguing it away using Locke and Nature.
