Northwood Professor Explores the Roots of the American Revolution in New Essay
Dr. Glenn Moots examines the religious, political and constitutional ideas that shaped American independence in American Reformer piece
As the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Northwood University Professor Dr. Glenn Moots is helping readers think more deeply about one of the central questions behind America’s founding: How radical was the American Revolution?
Moots, professor and department chair of political science and philosophy at Northwood, recently authored “How Radical Was the American Revolution?” for American Reformer, an online journal and organization dedicated to promoting a vigorous Christian approach to the cultural challenges of our day, rooted in the rich tradition of Protestant social and political thought. Dr. Moots’ essay examines the intellectual, religious and constitutional roots of American independence, challenging readers to consider whether the Revolution represented a dramatic break from the past or reflected long-standing traditions of liberty, law and resistance to tyranny.
For Northwood University, the essay offers a timely example of faculty scholarship that brings historical depth to contemporary reflection. As America marks its semi quincentennial, Moots’ work reminds readers that the nation’s founding was not merely a political event. It was also an argument about authority, virtue, law, liberty and the proper limits of government.
At the center of Moots’ essay is Rev. Jonathan Mayhew, an 18th-century Boston minister whose 1750 sermon, “A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers,” helped shape revolutionary thinking well before the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord.
Mayhew’s sermon argued that civil authority is not unlimited. Government exists for the good of society, and when rulers violate that purpose, obedience is not automatically owed. As Moots explains, this argument was not a sudden invention of Enlightenment radicalism. Rather, it drew from older Protestant, natural law and constitutional traditions that had long wrestled with questions of obedience, resistance and the rule of law.
That distinction is central to Moots’ essay. Modern interpretations often frame the American Revolution as a radical departure from inherited tradition. Moots complicates that view by showing how colonial Americans drew upon a rich intellectual inheritance that included Scripture, reason, British constitutionalism and centuries of political theology.
The result is a more layered understanding of American independence.
Moots argues that the Revolution cannot be properly understood by separating religious conviction from political reasoning, or faith from the defense of liberty. For many Americans of the founding era, these ideas worked together. Their defense of constitutional government, limited authority and resistance to arbitrary power was rooted in a tradition that understood liberty as both a political and moral good.
That message resonates strongly with The Northwood Idea, Northwood University’s foundational philosophy, which affirms the dignity of the individual, limited government, personal responsibility, free enterprise and the moral character necessary for a free society to flourish.
At Northwood, students are challenged to study not only what freedom makes possible, but also what freedom requires. Moots’ essay offers an important reminder that America’s founding principles were not accidental. They were argued for, defended and shaped by people who believed that government must be constrained by higher truths, constitutional limits and the rights of the people.
Moots brings significant expertise to the topic. He has taught at Northwood since 1993 and is the author of “Politics Reformed: The Anglo-American Legacy of Covenant Theology” and co-editor of “Justifying Revolution: Law, Virtue, and Violence in the American War of Independence.” His scholarship frequently explores the relationship between religion, politics, liberty and constitutional order.
His American Reformer essay arrives during a meaningful moment for Northwood and the nation. Through Freedom Lights the Future, Northwood’s yearlong celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, the university is rallying students, alumni, employees, and community members to reflect on the enduring importance of the Declaration of Independence.
Moots’ essay adds to that effort by inviting readers to look beneath familiar narratives and consider the deeper convictions that gave rise to American independence.
The American Revolution was not simply a rejection of British rule. It was a defense of ordered liberty, constitutional government and the belief that power must serve the good of the people. Those ideas remain essential to understanding the American experiment — and to preserving it.
As America prepares to celebrate 250 years of independence, Moots’ work offers a timely reminder that freedom is sustained not only by patriotic memory, but by serious study. To understand the Revolution is to understand the moral, religious and constitutional traditions that helped make American liberty possible.
And to pass that liberty on, each generation must be willing to examine those traditions anew.