Immigrant Founders Who Shaped America | Jersey News

Jersey City News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Jul 1, 2026 · 1m

As America prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, this episode dives into the lives of two pivotal immigrant figures who helped shape the nation: John Witherspoon, the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence and Princeton’s founding president, and William Maxwell, the Irish-born “Scotch Willie” who switched allegiances to fight for the Patriots and rose to become a Continental Army brigadier general. Both men embodied the complexities of early American identity—driven by faith, conviction, and sacrifice—while also grappling with contradictions like slavery and military…