Randy Petersen. The Printer and the Preacher. Nelson, 2015.
We recommend The Printer and Preacher to anyone who teaches American Literature or American History. It gives us some important clues as to what even today makes the United States different from other places. The author uses two important figures from eighteenth century America to illustrate his point: Benjamin Franklin, the printer; and George Whitefield, the preacher.
Petersen makes a reasonable case that Franklin and Whitfield were the first two American celebrities. Yes, there were early colonial founders like the Winthrops, William Penn, Lord Baltimore, Roger Williams, John Smith, and so on. There were some other writers like the Mathers and Jonathan Edwards, but they and their work tended to be localized. Franklin and Whitfield were the first names widely recognized among all of the thirteen colonies.
For years I have shared with my classes what Franklin said about Whitefield in his autobiography. Franklin admired and respected him, even if he did not always agree with him. But what is written in his autobiography does not tell the full story of their relationship.
Petersen notes that their relationship was not only cordial but symbiotic. Franklin made money selling Whitfield’s sermons and reporting on his travels. Whitefield preached at evangelistic rallies in every colony from New Hampshire to Georgia. (Readers may recall that Maine was part of Massachusetts before 1818, and Florida was Spanish during most of the Colonial period.) There was probably no contemporary figure, except for the King, better known in the colonies than Whitfield. No one except for the King made the news more.
Except for, possibly, Franklin. His Poor Richard’s Almanac was a best seller, and as he began his scientific experiments and political involvement, he became more famous. Petersen reminds us, for example, it was Franklin who coined the terms positive and negative for electrical charges along with his various electrical experiments and inventions like the Franklin stove and bifocal glasses.
Whitfield also stuck up for Franklin. In the 1760s when Franklin was in London representing several colonies, he opposed the Stamp Act and was able to work out a compromise to repeal it. Many in the colonies thought he still gave up too much with the compromise, but Whitefield wrote a letter that was reprinted in many newspapers defending Franklin’s actions. Thanks largely to this letter, the controversy over Franklin’s actions blew over.
In his autobiography Franklin tells how he supported the building of a protected theater that could be used by speakers of all religions. Whitefield would use that and become a supporter. That lecture hall became the foundation of the University of Pennsylvania. Both men are included when naming its founders. Both men would correspond with each other until Whitefield’s death in 1770.
Whitefield was far and away the best-known itinerant evangelist of the Great Awakening. He was a personal friend of the Wesley brothers and corresponded with Jonathan Edwards. He was a native of England and traveled all over the British Isles, but he spent a lot of time in North America and died in 1770 in Newburyport, Massachusetts, where he is buried.
What distinguished him in this time period was that, though he was ordained by the Anglican Church, he did not promote a particular denomination or theology. He tried to emphasize the necessity of committing to Jesus Christ, regardless of church affiliation. That was something new and different. It would become the precursor of many evangelists and movements in America. I am reminded of a Christian men’s organization which had a song that said, “I don’t care what church you belong to, as long as at Calvary you stand.” For probably a century or so, that idea would only take root in America.
Franklin liked that about Whitefield. His autobiography tells us that by the age of thirty he had given up his deistic ideas, but he said he could never join a particular church because do so would seem divisive. Petersen does note also, though Franklin came to understand that God took an active part in history, he was unsure about Jesus’ divinity. Still he would promote religious freedom. By the time the United States’ Constitution was ratified, most Americans acknowledged the idea of religious liberty. We have both the printer and the preacher to thank for that.
Petersen also notes something else very distinctive about the American colonies. There was no established aristocracy. In England, the concept of a gentleman was someone who did not have to work for a living. He could live off rents, investments, and inheritances. While there were men who tried to live that way in America, Franklin showed there was perhaps a better and more honorable way: work hard. Even today, if America has an immigration problem, it is primarily because people want freedom and want a chance to succeed in life. Franklin in his writings and in his life showed how this was possible. While he did know how to relax, he was never idle for very long.
Plymouth, Massachusetts, bills itself as America’s Hometown. It has a good case for that title: early religious tolerance, no state church, and a representative form of government patterned after the Congregational churches. But if you were going to speak of colonial celebrities who both influenced and demonstrated directions that the English speaking colonies in North America would take, take a look at The Printer and the Preacher.