John Joachim Zubly

John Joachim Zubly (born August 27, 1724 as Hans Joachim Züblin in St. Gallen , Switzerland ; † July 23, 1781 in Savannah , Georgia ) was a pastor, farmer and politician during the American Revolution. Although he attended the American Continental Congress as a delegate for Georgia , he was considered a British loyalist.

Youth and career

Zubly was born in St. Gallen and settled in Purrysburg , South Carolina in his youth . He worked as a seller and planter before he was ordained a Protestant pastor in 1744. In 1756 he preached to a congregation in Savannah , which he took as the first Presbyterian pastor in 1758.

Zubly's relationship to the revolution reflects the conflicts inherent in the changing values ​​of this time. His Calvinist beliefs made him an open and influential supporter of colonist rights. In 1775, Zubly saw with dismay the increasingly secular and ungodly resistance of the colonies. Many see his career as a shift from a staunch defender of colonists' rights to an apologist for the monarchy and ultimately a loyalist and an opponent of the republican government.

Beginning of the revolution

Under the Stamp Act of 1765 , some of his sermons were distributed as leaflets, including: "An Humble Inquiry Into the Nature of the Dependency of the American Colonies upon the Parliament of Great-Britain and the Right of Parliament to Lay Taxes on the Said Colonies." ( A humble question about the nature of the American colonies' dependence on the British Parliament and that Parliament's right to tax said colonies. ) His thoughts helped to define more precisely the differences and relationships between constitutions, the legislature, law and the people.

In the period before the revolution, Zubly was not a member of the Georgia Congregation, but was often invited to open the sessions with a sermon and prayer. Georgia sent no delegates to the first national congress in 1744, however, Zubly was selected in July 1775 at a revolutionary congress in Savannah as envoy for the second national congress in Philadelphia .

The Continental Congress

On September 15, 1775 , Zubly took his place in the National Congress. He committed himself to his position early on: "I came here with two concerns: first, to secure America's rights; second, to achieve a reconciliation with Britain." His distance from the views of Congress widened during debates over trade embargoes and import refusals as he also considered the situation in Georgia. There was not even the limited production capacities of the other colonies, it was the colony that could least stand on its own two feet.

As the other delegates argued with him about agreement and conformity with prevailing opinion, he became increasingly clear: "Trade is important ... Wisdom is better than weapons. We must not oppose Britain just to pass the time. If it is necessary, that we wage war, we should also have the means to do so. " And when he was provoked, Zubly said, "A republican government is little better than a government of devils."

In mid-November, Zubly made his way back to Savannah. Congress had accused him of disloyalty because he was still corresponding with his friend James Wright, the royal governor of Georgia. He climbed back into his pulpit and continued to look for a way to reconcile with the British so that they would respect the rights of the colonists.

Exile and return

As the revolutionary mood in Georgia grew, the Security Council decided that "his freedom ... endangers public security." He was placed under arrest on July 1, 1776, but was able to escape and join loyalists in South Carolina . His property was confiscated and his library dumped in the Savannah River .

When the British retook Savannah in 1778, Zubly was able to return home. From August 1780, he published a series of nine essays under the pseudonym "Helvetius" in the Royal Georgia Gazette , in which he found that the colonists violated both God and international law. He died in Savannah before the end of the War of Independence. He is said to be buried in the city's colonial cemetery.

Web links

• Zubly's Congressional Biography
• Rev. John J. Zubly Biography of the Loyalist preacher
• New Georgia Encyclopedia Biography of Zubly