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Nathaniel Scudder, Our Forgotten “Founding Father”: A Review of David Fisher’s “Calvin’s Crusaders in the Wars That Made America”

Calvin’s Crusaders in the Wars That Made America: The Story of Nathaniel and Isabella Scudder. David T. Fisher. Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2021.

 

It has often been quipped that “truth is the first casualty of war,” an expression whose unknown origin does not detract from its veracity. One “war” which reflects this wisdom is the back-and-forth taking place in the American media over the meaning of the American founding. From the “1619 Project” to the various reactions it has inspired, contemporary debates on America’s national origins are generally long on moral indignation and short on commitment to truth, or at least obscuring a fuller picture of the truth.

However, one light shining out of this tangle of ideological distortion is to be found in David T. Fisher’s new book, Calvin’s Crusaders in the Wars That Made America: The Story of Nathaniel and Isabella Scudder.

This historical novel, ambitious in its aims and epic in its sweep, follows the life of physician and New Jersey militia Colonel Nathaniel Scudder, the only signer of the Articles of Confederation to die in combat during the American War for Independence. This lesser-known member of the American founding generation was remarkable not only for the ultimate sacrifice he made for his cause, but also for his profound aversion to the war profiteering so common at the time.

Scudder witnessed many fellow political leaders involved in the procurement of war matériel shamelessly profiting from the process. Similarly, he saw many Tory loyalists and lukewarm Whigs who were willing to betray the revolutionary cause by engaging in trade with the British. The payments in hard currency that resulted from such trade was a huge advantage given the rampant devaluation in Continental paper. Scudder’s preoccupation with curbing these practices led his family to the brink of financial ruin and was partly responsible for his decision to give up his seat in the Continental Congress in 1780. Alongside other committed Whig Presbyterians in New Jersey, he eventually took extra-legal steps to end the practice, joining the “Retaliators,” a vigilante group which seized the property of those suspected of loyalist sympathies.

Thus, like so many others involved in the War, Scudder dealt with profound moral and philosophical questions on a daily basis. Fisher’s eminently honest portrayal of these issues makes clear that many in the founding generation were not angels. Indeed, there is no shortage of unsavory characters in the book: Southern colonists who fought simply to protect their right to hold slaves, bloodthirsty vigilantes, and ravenous war profiteers to cite a few examples. Fisher acknowledges that many rebels supported the revolutionary cause simply because they wanted to get rich through profiteering or steal Native land in the West. Many engaged in what would today be considered war crimes. Fair portrayals of the colonists’ relations with Native Americans, women, and African Americans demonstrate the problematic treatment of these groups while avoiding the trap of projecting modern values onto the story being recounted.

While the morality of war is an important theme, it is not the primary driver of the narrative. Rather, Fisher seems to be more interested in what it was that inspired this “founding generation” to reach for the impossible. What kept so many going when the cause seemed hopeless? The book can be read as a deep dive into what one might call the collective subconscious of this generation. Fisher finds that the shared conscience of the people he portrays is almost entirely driven by a Christian (Protestant) understanding of reality. The wellspring of Christian symbolism, including notions like the universal brotherhood of man, original sin, and divine grace, is the source and foundation of the founding generation’s indefatigable will to succeed in their struggle for liberty. To concentrate on only a few men, important though they were, whose religious and moral views were not doctrinally Christian, obscures the truth that most of the patriots were Christians and saw their struggle in Christian terms and through Christian eyes.

According to Fisher, then, were it not for these deeply held beliefs, the American Revolution likely would not have been won by the rebels. In the eloquent words of de Tocqueville: “Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts, the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.” Fisher book provides more historical sustenance to Tocqueville’s later observation.

In one telling scene, Nathaniel Scudder has a dream in which it is revealed to him that the only way to resolve the supply issues plaguing the Continental Army is by appealing to the Presbyterian community for material assistance. Rather than attempting to print yet more paper currency or continue waiting for financial help from abroad, Scudder realizes that only through a personal, faith-based appeal can the Continental Army be saved from complete dissolution. Similar scenes where characters express their spiritual understanding of events abound.

For Fisher, then, the American War for Independence cannot be understood on solely immanent terms. It was not simply a battle for economic dominance of the New World, nor was it a senseless power struggle between foreign and domestic elites. On the contrary, the explanations for why the war began and how it was won must take into account the deep religiosity of the Colonial Americans. While economic and international political considerations certainly played a role, one cannot exclude the religious outlook of the colonists as a key factor in any causal analysis of the War.

Fisher has provided an important book, not only in terms of research but in his deep reflection on the meaning of the events recounted in the novel, which produce an enlightening and often times gripping read. Despite a few instances of trite dialogue and one or two rather one-dimensional characters, the book is a welcome break from the strident tone that has come to dominate debates over the meaning of the American founding. It highlights an often forgotten dimension of the founding while not glossing over the darker aspects of that revolution which made America. Anyone interested in the moral and religious spirit that was equally part of the American Revolution should read this book.

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Thomas Holman is a military veteran pursuing graduate studies in political theory at the Catholic University of America. More of his work can be found at his personal site: mobtruth.net.

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