Phil Webster/ John Jay at Salisbury MD Barnes and Noble bookstore Dec. 2, 2017

Phil Webster/ John Jay at Salisbury MD Barnes and Noble bookstore Dec. 2, 2017

Phil Webster appeared in character as John Jay at a booksigning of his books 1776 FAITH, 1776 DELMARVA and 1787 FAITH on Saturday, December 2, 2017.

John and Sally Jay had two sons:
one born in 1776 (Peter), the year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence
and one in 1789 (William), the year when the new government started under the Constitution.

1776 FAITH documents the Christian worldview of the signers of the Declaration of Independence (54 of the 56 signers had a Christian worldview) It also shows the days of prayer for the country (at least once a year during the American Revolution), the original state Constitutions which had a place for God, instances of Divine Providence on the young nation, the Christian colleges of the era, the effect of the Great Awakening on the Founders and the Christian music of the era. This is a resource to counter specific challenges to specific Founding Fathers.

1787 documents the Christian worldview of the signers of the Constitution (at least 36 of the 39 signers of the Constitution had a Christian worldview) as well as give some background to each signer. It also goes on to show in chapter five how the United States government dedicated itself to God in New York City at St. Paul's Chapel on April 30, 1789. St. Paul's Chapel is significant in that the Twin Towers fell down at its back door. Does the First Amendment say "Freedom of Religion" or "Separation of Church and State?" Why do all 50 states mention God in their state constitutions? What would the first Chief Justice under the Constitution say about faith in God?

1776 DELMARVA attempts to show the contributions and sacrifices of the Delmarva Peninsula during the American Revolution. Most Marylanders (let alone the rest of the country) do not realize that Maryland has the unique privilege of flying their flag at the same height as the United States flag because of the sacrifice of Maryland soldiers at the battle of Brooklyn. Delmarva soldiers fought at Brooklyn, Kip's Bay, Harlem Heights, Fort Washington, Washington Crossing, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stony Point and Paulus Hook. That sounds like enough right there but in 1789 they were called upon to march south to the Carolinas and fight eventually at Camden, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, the Race to the Dan, Hobrick's Hill, Ninety Six, Eutaw Springs and Yorktown.

These books would be enjoyed by history lovers as Christmas gifts.

At Most 5 of 95 Founders Were Deists

At Most 5 of the 95 Founders Were Deists



For the last decade or so, it has been pushed in the public schools and universities that "all the Founders were Deist and Atheists and there is no place for God in the public square." In the late 1990s, I came across the 25 volumes of "Letters of the Delegates to Congress 1774-1789." I gave myself "The Founders' Challenge." I read all these volumes (plus 34 volumes of "Journals of Continental Congress" to see if the Founders had an atheistic, deistic or Christian worldview. My findings can be found in my two books 1776 FAITH and 1787 FAITH.

In "1776 FAITH: The Christian Worldview of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence" 54 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence had a Christian worldview. The exceptions were Franklin and Jefferson. Even Franklin and Jefferson had strong Christian statements but had views not compatible with a follower of Jesus Christ.
In "1787 FAITH: The Christian Worldview of the Signers of the Constitution" 36 of the 39 signers of the Constitution had a Christian worldview. This is being generous. The possible deists are Franklin, Hugh Williamson and James Wilson. I have yet to see evidence of a blatant anti-Christian worldview from Williamson and Wilson. On the contrary, I have seen quite a bit that puts them in the Christian worldview column. Since Franklin is counted here again, the actual count is 90 to 4 which would be 95.7%

John Jay at Naval Academy along with Hamilton, Madison and Mason

It was a high honor to be able to portray John Jay at the Naval Academy on September 15, 2017 to help the Midshipmen celebrate Constitution Day. John Jay with Alexander Hamilton (Rocky Rockefeller) and James Madison (David Smith) as well as George Mason (Mark Croatti) helped midshipmen interact with these future leaders at the Naval Academy for Constitution Day remembrance.

Naval Academy Library

Jay and Madison with Midshipmen

John Jay at Hale Brynes House August 12, 2017

John Jay at Hale Brynes House August 12, 2017

John Jay spoke about his career at the Hale Brynes House near Newark, Delaware on Saturday August 12, 2017.

Hale Brynes House historical marker which highlights the meeting place where Washington, Lafayette, Nathanael Greene met and strategized in 1777

Hale Brynes House

Kim Burdick introducing John Jay

Syracuse University magazine Reenact Highlights John Jay/ Phil Webster

Syracuse University showing love and attention to John Jay

The Nation's Most Forgotten Founding Father

The Syracuse University grad school of Communications has started a magazine for Reenactors entitled reenactmag. Jasmine Gomez did an article on John Jay on June 29, 2017 and you can check it out on (Rachel George did the great photography).

john jay interpreter headshot
As a John Jay interpreter, Webster is determined to bring Jay the historical recognition that he deserves. “John Jay isn’t feeling the love yet, but we’re working on it,” he says (photo credit: Rachel George).

John Jay Throwing Clay Pipe to Show stopping of subservience to French diplomacy at Treaty of Paris

John Jay Throwing Clay Pipe to Show stopping of subservience to French diplomacy at Treaty of Paris

John Jay threw his pipe into the fireplace to signify the stopping of the practice of being subservient to the French diplomacy of the Treaty of Paris. Jay felt that the United States would get nowhere unless we dealt directly as an independent nation in our diplomacy. Dr. Franklin finally agreed. Keep in mind all of Franklin's work to get the French to help us in terms of getting an alliance with France, getting French monetary support as well as the assistance of French ships and troops.

John Jay Press Conference at Chestertown MD

John Jay Press Conference at Chestertown MD

The United States Suffers From a Vitamin Jay Deficiency: Remedy is John Jay

The United States Suffers From a Vitamin Jay Deficiency

The seven pillars of the Founding Fathers are:
George Washington
John Adams
Ben Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
Alexander Hamilton
John Jay
James Madison

Many people would question the inclusion of John Jay. When people study the Founders in depth, they will see the in-depth contributions of John Jay. Here are some of the tasks that he undertook.

Member of Continental Congress
Chairman of Committee to Detect Conspiracies (which found out the plot to kidnap and kill George Washington- Thomas Hickey was hanged)
Colonel of New York Militia
Brought cannons from Salisbury Connecticut to Fort Montgomery
Wrote New York's first Constitution when they broke away from England
New York Chief Justice
President of Continental Congress
Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain
Negotiator for Treaty of Paris 1783
Secretary of Foreign Affairs 1784-1789
Secretary of State 1789-1790
Chief Justice of Supreme Court
2nd Governor of New York State who outlawed slavery in the state of New York
President of American Bible Society

John Jay recently revisited Philadelphia by means of reenactor Phil Webster. He stopped by Carpenters Hall, the new Museum of the American Revolution City Tavern and Old City Hall (Supreme Court building next to Independence Hall). Mr. Jay went to Philadelphia with Chesapeake Tours and really enjoyed seeing Philadelphia.

Snubs against John Jay

Looking at New York celebrations of the Fourth of July, I saw your festival. I was wondering if you would ever like a presentation from John Jay. John Jay is consistently snubbed in books and presentations about the American Revolution. Here are some current snubs: In a new book "Of Arms and Artists" John Jay's picture is cut out of the Signing of the Treaty of Paris


In the otherwise great work "John Adams" on HBO, Jefferson gets the spotlight in Paris and there is not a peep on John Jay. Since Franklin was ill and Adams was in Holland, Jay did a lot of the negotiating and drafting the Treaty.

In the recent "Turn" series on AMC, Jay is also not mentioned. However, if you go on the CIA website, you will see that the three most influential spymasters of the American Revolution were Washington, Franklin and Jay.

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/the-founding-fathers-of-american-intelligence/art-1.html

If you look at the evidence, Jay was the director of the Committee for Discovering Conspiracies. In the period coming up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, John Jay's committee sniffed out a conspiracy to kidnap and kill Washington. Consider if Jay had not sniffed out the plot to kidnap and kill Washington. What would have happened to the American Revolution and the signers of the Declaration of Independence if Washington had been killed.

When I went to Fraunces Tavern in 2015, there was nothing showing the work that Jay did to establish trade with many nations as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs 1784 to 1789 and the first Secretary of State from April 30, 1789 until May 1790. Nations from Asia, Africa and Europe started their contact with the United States trough John Jay. When I brought this to the attention of Fraunces Tavern, I told them that I wrote about and appeared in character as John Jay. "John Jay is not feeling the love, man." The attendant smiled in agreement.

John Jay will have his day. He is just the Founding Father that our times needs. As the second governor of New York, he outlawed slavery. He helped start a Free African School in New York City. Jay was a good friend of William Wilberforce in England.

You can see my books on Amazon. The newest book 1787 FAITH is dedicated to John Jay.

https://www.amazon.com/Phil-Webster/e/B003UDJQCM/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Recommendations for John Jay portrayal by Phil Webster

I had the privilege of presenting Ben Franklin's views and values to an audience in Annapolis, MD recently. By my side was Phil Webster, the perfect John Jay for that or any evening. Phil's John Jay was totally believable, bringing Jay's views to life with much more detail and historical accuracy than I'm sure the audience expected. Phil's awareness of Jay and the historical context in which he lived and worked is enormous. Additionally, Phil is a generous and modest fellow, and altogether a pleasure to work with.

Chris Lowell (www.benfranklinlive.com)