Would you fight in the American Revolutionary War?

Then there's John Hart, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Hart started out as a Presbyterian, but in the late 1740's he eventually not only sided with, but also donated part of his farm in what's now known as Hopewell Township in the western part of central NJ so that the Baptists living in that area could build a meeting place. Subsequently he was ordained as a deacon in that congregation.

Politically, he was selected as a delegate from NJ to the 2d Continental Congress, having already served as Vice President of NJ's provincial congress, and, earlier than that, as a member of both his local area's Committee of Safety and Committee of Correspondence---as well as a judge in that colony's Court of Common Pleas (where he earned the nickname of "Honest John").

As a member of the 2d Continental Congress, he signed his name to the Declaration of Independence; then in August of 1776, he resigned his position to serve not only as Speaker of the NJ General Assy but also as 1)Treasurer of NJ's Committee of Safety, 2) President of the Joint Meetings of the NJ Congress, and 3) Commissioner of the State Loan Office.

As one who signed his own death warrant by signing the Declaration of Independence, later on in 1776, Hart's farm was raided and occupied by British & Hessian troops while he sought refuge for almost a month in the nearby mountain caves. Only the Continential's victory at Trenton (their ultimate target as they crossed the Delaware River on Dec 25) allowed Hart to return to his farm.

A year and a half later, Hart allowed Gen. Washington's 12,000 men to make camp on his farm prior to the Battle of Monmouth in June, 1778.

By November, 1778, Hart returned to Hopewell from the assembly in Trenton, but within a couple days of his return, he resigned his position in the NJ assembly, citing his illness with kidney stones that he picked up by drinking the dirty water he had to while in refuge. For more than 6 months Hart suffered under these painful conditions until his death on May 11, 1779.

Eight days later, the New Jersey Gazette pubished an obituary from which the following is excerted:

"On Tuesday, the 11th instant, departed this life at his seat in Hopewell, JOHN HART, esq, the Representative in General Assembly and late Speaker of that House. He had served in the Assembly for many years under the former government, taken an early and active part in the present revolution, and continued to the day he was seized with his last illness to discharge the duties of a faithful and upright patriot in the service of his country in general and the county he represented in particular, The universal approbation of his character and conduct among all ranks of people is the best testimony of his worth, and as it must make his death regretted and lamented, will ensure lasting respect to his memory.

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Was Baptist deacon John Hart right or wrong in his choice to side with the Americans in the 1770's?

I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know this much: One day in glory I hope to meet this old deacon and ask him what God told him was the right thing to do way back then.

 

It was the English throne that was ultimately for taxing the colonists back in those days, along with the tacit agreement of the Parliament's [at that time] very powerful House of Lords.

There were various kinds of colonial governments when they were first established in the 1600's - early 1700's. EX: PA was orginally a "Proprietary" colony in that in 1681 King Charles II granted Wm. Penn a charter that said, in essence, PA [which originally included what was is now a large part of present-day Delaware] is the sole "property" of William Penn & his heirs, and that the early settlers in PA had to swear their allegiance to the Penn's. [This set-up for PA was subsquently changed in the early 1700's.]

However, by the 1750's - early 1770's, most all of the colonies were forced to become "Royal" Colonies in that the colonial governors were mere puppets of King George III in that they were appointed directly by the king & served only at his pleasure (kinda like our present day presidential cabinet secretaries [except that the royal govs didn't have to have any legislative confirmations as our cabinent secys do]. Hence, any Royal colonial acts or laws or decrees were mere formalities---with the "real" power & authority coming straight from the English throne.

It must also be noted that the vast majority of Baptists living in England tended to support the side of their colonial brethren in opposition to their colonial brethren being taxed w/out first being duly represented before either the throne or even in the House of Commons (which at that time had very little power or say-so compared to the House of Lords).

 

Definitely the Patriots.

However some Christian ministers I follow (most notably Dr. John MacArthur) believe otherwise.