Primary Source: printed documents- books
(Image courtesy of Cary Memorial Library) 
Jonas Clarke, the politically radical minister who preached resistance to oppression and sheltered outlawed patriots, is the best known of Lexington's little-known revolutionaries. His connections to the famous Hancock family, his published sermons, and his central place as the moral and political conscience of Lexington assured him more acclaim than his more humble townsmen. As a result, there is a large body of documentary evidence for Clarke, including works from his own pen, such as his sermons. Theodore Gilman, President of the New York Society of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, produced in 1911 an excellent review of Clarke's political justifications for rebellion.
Jonas Clarke played a central role in shaping the political and theological mindset of everyday Lexingtonians as they approached the crisis of 1775. The book featured here is "The Fate of Blood-thirsty Oppressors, and GOD'S tender Care of his distressed People. A Sermon Preached at Lexington April 19, 1776." It is a printed document,and like many of Clarke's sermons, shows that he did indeed preach that resistance to British oppression was a moral, civic, and religious duty of America's faithful remnant.
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