Reintroducing John Witherspoon: Interstate Relations and Survival in Revolutionary America

David HendricksonHendrickson, David, a political scientist, intimates in his landmark work, Peace Pact: The Lost World of the American Founding (2003), that the United StatesUnited States circa its revolutionary and antebellum era (≈ 1774–1860) provides an underexplored and rich area of inquiry for analysts interested in diplomacyDiplomacy, foreignForeign affairs, global governanceGovernanceglobal, military and securitySecurity issues, and war. This chapter illustrates this claim via snapshots of Declaration of IndependenceDeclaration of Independence signer John Witherspoon’sWitherspoon, John experience around the American RevolutionRevolutionAmerican. “Who is John WitherspoonWitherspoon, John?” many of you reading this may be thinking. Welcome to the “lost world.”