A Baptist Page Article
Baptist Persecution An Anthology

How "Swearing John" Became a New Man - "Swearing John Waller," a man once known to his rowdy friends as opposed to all forms of religion, be-came a new man. Instead of opposing religion, he became a Baptist preacher in Virginia at a time when Baptist preachers were persecuted by the state. Waller's life was changed after he served as a member of a grand jury bearing charges against Lewis Craig, a Baptist preacher. The grand jury indicted Craig for preaching the Baptist gospel and holding unlawful worship services without per-mission of the state-supported church of Virginia.

Following the hearing, the grand jury retired to a tavern. There Craig boldly faced his accusers. "When I was in all kinds of folly and vice," Craig told the men, the courts took no notice of me. But now that I have forsaken all those vices and am warning men to forsake and repent of their sins, you bring me to the bar as a common criminal. How do you explain all this?" The grand jury could not answer the Baptist preacher's counter charges. And Waller could not get away from Craig's boldness. For eight months he pondered the difference between his life and that of Lewis Craig. He began to attend church and to listen to other Baptist preachers. At last he made a profession of faith, was baptized, and began preaching the Baptist gospel that he once persecuted.

Twenty-eight Baptists Arrested for Refusal to Pay Tax - Twenty-eight Baptists were arrested and imprisoned in Massachusetts prior to the Revolutionary War for refusal to pay a clergy tax for the support of ministers of the state church.

Massachusetts townships levied a tax on all inhabitants and estates within the township for the support of "orthodox ministers." Many Baptists were arrested and otherwise persecuted in Massachusetts for refusal to pay the tax. Four tax assessors also were imprisoned for failure to include the clergy tax in their assessments. Even these public officials regarded the tax as unjust. The tax "for the support and settlement" of ministers of the state-supported church was general throughout colonial Massachusetts, except in Boston. Bostonians were exempt through the influence of Cotton Mather, a powerful leader of the established church who saw in the tax a threat to his position.

Connecticut Passed Laws to Keep Out Evangelists - In order to prevent the spread of the free church in the state Connecticut passed laws-before the American Revolution-prohibiting traveling evangelists from preaching there and fining members of the state church for attending their services. Because traveling evangelists were winning many converts away from the state church in Connecticut, the established church succeeded in having a law passed with the following penalties:

No evangelist was allowed to preach in the parish of an established church without permission. Penalty was imprisonment until payment of a one hundred pound bond, to be forfeited in the event of further violation. A nonresident evangelist who preached in Connecticut with out permission was arrested and deported as a vagrant.

No recognized ,minister in Connecticut could preach in the parish of another minister without the latter's consent.

Any person who withdrew from an established church to attend worship outside his congregation was fined ten shillings.

One Connecticut pastor who visited a Baptist church to preach was arrested for disorderly conduct. When he asked his accusers how be was disorderly in preaching to a congregation at the invitation of their pastor, he was told that the Baptists were not an orderly society but a "disorderly company."

The state-supported church in Connecticut particularly objected to the doctrine of individual regeneration and profession of faith as preached by the traveling evangelists.

Lawyer Preached Gospel in Defiance of Law - When Connecticut passed a law during pre-Revolutionary War days that hindered the free exercise of religion, a lawyer decided it was time to take the law into his own hands. Elisha Paine, then one of the leading lawyers in Connecticut, took down his shingle, left the courts, and set out to preach the gospel himself in defiance of a law that he knew to be unjust. The law prohibited traveling evangelists from preaching with-out permission of the state church of Connecticut and fined members of the state church who listened to them.

The lawyer-turned-preacher soon ran afoul of the law. He was twice arrested as an itinerant preacher and charged with "mocking or mimicking" a minister of the gospel. When four Connecticut ministers certified that Paine was qualified to preach, the trumped-up charges were dropped.

While he was imprisoned, Paine paid his jailer for the freedom of the jail grounds. There he preached to such large crowds that authorities decided he was less a threat to the state church while free than while in jail. Following his release, Paine embarked on a five-month tour of New England during which lie preached 244 "illegal" sermons.

Church Leaders Arrested For Worship in Connecticut - Several preachers and members of their independent church were imprisoned and their property confiscated in 1748 for daring to oppose the authority of the state-supported church in Connecticut.

The trouble arose following a split in the established church of Canterbury, Connecticut. Several members of the church with. drew and formed an independent church, calling Thomas Marsh as their pastor. Before Marsh could be ordained, he was seized and imprisoned "for preaching without permission of parish ministers." When Marsh was released six months later, the independent church went ahead with his ordination and free worship.

Incensed by this defiance, a convocation of the established church ordered leaders of the independent church to appear before them to answer charges. When the independents refused to appear, four were arrested and jailed for periods ranging from a fortnight to eleven months.

Flag Raised Beyond Jail Wall Made Unusual "Call to Worship" - No congregation ever had a more unusual "call to worship than that used by a group of Virginia Baptists in 1773.

The preacher, John Weatherford, was in Chesterfield County jail. He had been placed there, as many Baptist preachers of that (lay were jailed, for preaching without a license from the state church of Virginia.

Despite prison bars, Weatherford continued to preach to large crowds that gathered outside his cell window. Weatherford preached so effectively that authorities erected a crude stone wall some ten or twelve feet high - not to keep prisoners inside the jail but to keep free men away from Weatherford's window. Jagged bits of glass were stuck on top of the wall to prevent Weatherford's hearers from climbing over. The "call to worship" was a piece of cloth tied to a stick. When the Baptist preacher in his cell saw that flag raised above the wall, he knew that a crowd had gathered on the outside. It was his signal to begin preaching.

Nine converts of Weatherford's prison cell preaching were baptized at one time under cover of darkness, for fear the state-supported church might attempt to disrupt the service. Of course, the imprisoned Weatherford was unable to perform the baptism himself. For this service he called on another Baptist who had also braved persecution by the state church. Weatherford was freed at last when Patrick Henry, that invaluable friend of oppressed Baptists, came to his defense. Weatherford attempted to pay Henry for his services by sending him five pounds in gold, carefully wrapped in a kerchief. But Henry returned the gold, still wrapped in the kerchief.

Colonel Turned Preacher Found Military Experience Invaluable - A Baptist preacher who was a former colonel in the Virginia militia found his military experience invaluable as lie fought for religious freedom in Virginia shortly before the out-break of the war for independence.

The minister, Samuel Harriss, encountered most of his opposition in Culpeper County, Virginia. The state-supported church of Virginia angrily persecuted any opposition on in that area. Harriss was the victim of violence on more than one occasion in Culpeper. Once as Harriss attempted to preach, he was told by the leader of a gang that he could not hold a meet-ing. When the congregation objected to this interruption, a fight broke out. Fearing that Harriss might be injured in the melee, his friends spirited him away to a house and posted a guard at the door. Supporters of the state church followed, however, battered down the door, and would have beaten the Baptist preacher if he had not been rescued.

On another occasion when Harriss was conducting a meeting, a mob appeared carrying sticks, whips, and clubs. To avoid a brawl with state church followers, Harriss moved his meeting to another place. Harriss was opposed by both the lawless and the law for preaching the Baptist gospel in Virginia. He was arrested for disturbing the peace and was charged with being "a vagabond, a heretic, a schismatic, and a mover of sedition everywhere." "Disturbing the peace" was the usual charge made against Baptist preachers in Virginia for preaching without a license from the state church.

Prison Bars Could Not Silence Baptists Who Preached Gospel - Five Baptists who were arrested for preaching the gospel were released several weeks later when authorities found that prison bars could not silence their witness.

Long ignored as bothersome but insignificant, Baptists were persecuted in Virginia when they came to be regarded as a threat to the state church. While there was no law in colonial Virginia against preaching the Baptist gospel, ministers were required to be licensed by the state-supported church.

The five Baptists, four preachers and a layman, were ar-rested and charged with being "great disturbers of the peace." The prosecuting attorney accused the five of the crime of not approaching a man on the road without trying to "ram a text of Scripture down his throat." The accused were promised freedom if they would pledge not to preach again for a year and a day. When they promptly refused, they were ordered jailed indefinitely.

Authorities were forewarned of events to come when the prisoners sang hymns as they were led to jail. The willingness of the Baptists to suffer for their convictions made a deep impression on bystanders. When one of the five was released four weeks later, he appealed to the governor or Virginia in behalf of his fellow prisoners. He was granted an audience with the deputy governor and won him completely to the Baptist cause.

"You may not molest these conscientious people so long as they behave themselves in a manner becoming pious Christians and in obedience to the law," the deputy governor wrote the prosecuting attorney. Besides, he added, "persecuting dissenters only increases their numbers." The deputy governor was a prophet. Before the Baptists were released, they preached to crowds outside the prison. While some tried to shout them down, others listened and were converted.

Baptist Property Seized to Build State Church - Almost four hundred acres of land belonging to Baptists, and valued at more than three hundred pounds, was confiscated in Massachusetts (1770) in order to build a meeting--house for the state church. Even a Baptist cemetery was included in the property seized. "They have also sold a dwelling place and an orchard, pulled up our apple trees, thrown down our fences, and made our fields waste places." the Baptists charged as they petitioned the Massachusetts General Court for release from oppression by the state-supported church.

Several years after a Baptist church was organized in Huntstown, Massachusetts, the state church settled a minister there and planned erection of a meeting-house. Baptists, including their minister, were taxed for support of the state church. When Baptists claimed exemption from the tax as the first organized church in the community, the established order simply had the town incorporated under a new name. If "perpetual exemption to all Baptists and their congregations" from such persecution was not granted immediately, the Baptists threatened "to send to the British courts for help if it cannot be had in America."

Jailed for Preaching, Baptist Survived Two Attempts on Life - Of all the cases of religious persecution in colonial Virginia, none was more violent than that involving James Ireland, a Baptist preacher.

While Ireland, a fearless crusader against the state church of Virginia, was held for five months in jail, two attempts were made on his life. Once his cell was blown tip with gun powder. On another occasion the jailer attempted to poison the Baptist. Both times Ireland escaped unharmed.

While Ireland was in Culpeper County jail, crowds gathered outside his cell window to hear the Baptist gospel. Once, authori-ties rode horses into the crowd, trampling, beating, and threatening Ireland's listeners. Ireland was arrested by sheriff's deputies while preaching from a tabletop in an outdoor service. The meeting was being held at the home of a Baptist layman, who warned Ireland that authorities might try to break up the meeting. To protect the layman Ireland asked to be shown his property line. There Ireland set up a table straddling the property line and preached from the tabletop, so that he was no more on the layman's property than anyone else's. "Before the service," Ireland said later, "I sat down and counted the cost of liberty or prison. Having ventured all on Christ, I determined to suffer all for him."

Ireland was accused of preaching without authority from the state church of Virginia. He was released after a lawyer pointed out that he was charged with violating laws that had been repealed seventy years before. In spite of torture, abuse, and insults during his unlawful imprisonment, Ireland's spirit was unbroken. In addition to preaching from his cell window, he wrote letters of encouragement to friends addressed "From My Palace in Culppeper."

Wealthy Preacher Risked His Fortune for Gospel - Even two hundred years ago money "talked," and at least one Baptist preacher enjoyed some of the benefits money offered. Eleazer Clay, a Baptist preacher in Virginia, accumulated a fortune before entering the ministry. He was believed to be worth $100,000 - quite a sum in that day - and was one of the wealthiest ministers in the colonies. His gifts helped to build the church where he was pastor.

Clay's stand showed unusual courage. Baptists of that day were bitterly persecuted in Virginia. For preaching the Baptist gospel, Clay risked his wealth, influence, and position. Probably because of his wealth and prestige, Clay escaped persecution by either the state church or civil authorities. Many Baptist preachers in Virginia were less fortunate.

Clay was threatened on one occasion when a man rode up to the house where he was preaching and announced that he had come to horsewhip the minister. Immediately a friend of Clay's rushed into the house to warn him of danger. "I am the son of Charles Clay and fear no man," the preacher declared. "If I have to go out after the man, I will give him one of the worst whippings lie ever had in his life." When he saw that Clay could not be intimidated, the caller left. Clay was not afraid of a fight. As a boy of fourteen, he had joined British troops in fighting the French anti Indians.

Four Put on Bread and Water For Refusal to Quit Preaching - After forty-six days in jail, (during which they were at times on bread and water, four Baptist preachers of colonial Virginia were at last released because they could not be silenced. The Baptists were arrested for preaching without a license from the state church of Virginia.

When their followers heard that the imprisoned preachers had been placed on bread and water, they promptly responded to the need. The dank and flea-infested cells of the prisoners were soon so full of provisions that the preachers gave the surplus to the needy of the community.

The preachers were at first held in close confinement but later were given the freedom of the prison grounds. There they preached to large crowds. Spurred by the state-supported church, mobs attempted to break up the meetings by scattering the crowds and banging loudly on a drum.

The preachers were arrested in a raid on a Baptist meeting led by two sheriffs and a parson of the state church. Two Baptist laymen also were arrested in the raid but were released after one was beaten and warned to leave the county. At their trial the preachers were told that they would be released if they posted bond of seventy-five pounds each and promised not to preach in the county. This the Baptists refused to do, on the grounds that they "ought to obey God rather than men." At the time of their arrest, the Baptists told magistrates that they had authority "from above" to preach the gospel. This was not good enough for the magistrates, who recognized only the license of the state church.

During their confinement, one of the preachers became critically ill. Thinking that he was dying, the others petitioned authorities to release him so that he might be attended by friends. The request was ignored.

Mob Dipped Dogs to Ridicule Baptists - A mob attempted repeatedly to break up a Baptist meeting in Massachusetts during die time of the American Revolution. The mob was no doubt inspired by the state church of Massachusetts. The state church persecuted Baptists for years and tried to stamp out freedom of worship in Massachusetts.

The Baptist congregation met in an open field near a river for worship and a baptismal service. During worship the mob arrived and attempted to break up the meeting. In ridiculing the Baptist stand on immersion, a dog was taken to the river and dipped while the mob roared approval. The Baptists moved to another location and attempted to proceed with their services. The mob followed, however, and again mocked Baptist immersion by dipping dogs and one another. A third time the Baptist congregation moved to escape the mob. Six candidates were baptized before the mob arrived and again broke up the meeting.

Law enforcement officers finally appeared, but instead of arresting mob leaders for hindering a worship service, they warned the Baptist preachers that they should leave town "for their own safety." Law enforcement officers and leaders of the state church often joined forces in persecuting Baptists in Massachusetts

Prison Bars Gave Way to Culpepper Church - For preaching the gospel, Nathaniel Saunders, a Baptist was imprisoned in Culpepper County jail (1773). Baptists were frequently imprisoned at that time for preaching without authority of the state church of Virginia.

At the time of his imprisonment, Saunders was pastor of the Mountponey Baptist Church. One hundred years later, the name of Saunders' church had been changed to Culpepper Baptist Church. A church was erected on the site of the jail where Saunders had been imprisoned!

Saunders was not the only Baptist preacher to be imprisoned in Culpepper jail. Culpepper held more Baptist preachers who dared to preach in defiance of the state-supported church than any other jail in Virginia. Among those who suffered for the cause of Christ in Culpepper were James Ireland, Elijah Craig, William McClannahan, John Corley, Thomas Ammon, Anthony Moffett, John Picket, Adam Banks, Thomas Maxfield, and John Dulany.

Although a church still stands on the site of the old Culpepper County jail, Culpepper Baptist Church had to move to larger quarters - proof that Nathaniel Saunders and his followers laid a firm foundation more than two hundred years ago.

Baptists Threatened to Go to King in Fight To Secure Religious Freedom - Baptists in colonial Massachusetts had a ready answer when they were accused of disloyalty for threatening to take their grievances to King George. They pointed out that for the British Parliament to levy taxes on America was no more contrary to civil freedom than the Massachusetts clergy tax was contrary to religious freedom.

A persecuted minority, Baptists were fighting for survival in Massachusetts at the time. They opposed the state church, the tax levied for support of the state church clergy, and persecution of Baptists. They threatened to appeal to the British crown only as a last resort.

New Englanders were shocked when Baptists placed notices in local newspapers, calling on members of their group to present evidence of religious persecution. The announcement added that grievances would be presented to "another quarter than that to which repeated application has been made unsuccessfully and where complaints have been treated with indifference."

Baptists in Massachusetts protest persecution. - In protesting the state church in Massachusetts, Baptists set forth these principles:

The civil power does not have the right to set one religious group over another.

The civil authority has assumed powers which rightly belong to the churches.

By favoring one church and persecuting another, the govern-ment is interfering with freedom of choice in religious matters.

Layman Suffered Persecution For Religious Convictions - Thomas Waford, a layman in colonial Virginia, was not an ordained minister But he had his own method of spreading the gospel. A forerunner like John the Baptist, Waford went ahead of traveling preachers in Virginia to prepare the way for their coming. Waford first went into a community to arrange for a meeting. Then lie publicized the news that a Baptist preacher was coming to hold worship services. by the time the preacher arrived, most of the community was prepared for his coming.

Like many Baptist preachers of his clay, Waford suffered persecution because of his faith. The state supported church in Virginia persecuted ministers who preached without a license from the state church. The state church also was responsible for the clergy tax for the support of ministers, and other abuses.

On one occasion after Waford had done his effective work as "advance man" for the coming Baptist evangelist, a mob arrived to break tip the fleeting. The mob was led by two deputies and a parson of the state church. Such gangs, either led by or spurred on by the state church, often broke up Baptist worship services in Virginia. During the mob violence that followed, Waford was se-verely beaten and warned to leave the county immediately or face imprisonment.

Church Was No "Sunday Night Place" for Baptists in Colonial Virginia

- Baptist preachers of today who sometimes look in vain for their congregations on Sunday night must marvel at the zeal of Virginia Baptists of two centuries ago. They petitioned the Virginia House of Burgesses to protest a bill that would prohibit them from worshiping at night. The bill to which Baptists objected also prohibited them from fastening the doors of their meeting-houses, admitting slaves to their services, or baptizing slaves without permission of their masters.

Baptists also were prohibited by the bill from conducting worship services anywhere except at registered meeting-houses. These approved places of worship were limited to one per county. James Madison, who frequently aided Baptists in their fight for religious freedom, observed "that liberal, catholic and equi-table way of thinking, as to the rights of conscience, which is one of the characteristics of a free people . . is but little known among the zealous adherents of our hierarchy. . . , Besides, the clergy are a numerous and powerful body, have great influence at home by reason of their connection with and dependence on the Bishops and Crown, and will naturally employ all their art and interest to depress their rising adversaries."

South Carolina Baptists Repaid Debt To New England Brethren - When Baptists in New England suffered persecution at the hands of the state-supported church and civil authorities two hundred years ago, their brethren in South Carolina had opportunity to repay a debt.

New England Baptists, particularly those in Massachusetts, were jailed their property seized, and their lands and crops laid waste, and they were taxed for the support of the state church. When they appealed to other Baptists for financial aid, the Baptists of South Carolina were quick to respond. The Carolinians had a close kinship with their northern brethren for almost one hundred years before American independence. A congregation from Maine established the first Baptist church in South Carolina. Baptists made a brave attempt to establish a church in Kittery, Maine, in the late 1600’s. They faced relentless persecution from the state-supported church and finally were driven out. William Screven pastor of the Kittery congregation was arrested repeatedly for preaching the Baptist gospel and members of his Congregation were fined and otherwise persecuted for attending Baptist services. The pastor was threatened with banishment.

Screven and the First Baptist Church of Kittery finally left Maine as a body and settled in South Carolina in the 1680’s. Although the New Englanders found life hard in the South Carolina wilderness, they discovered religious freedom worth any sacrifice. The church flourished, and in 1751, the Charleston Association was formed by four Baptist churches. The association pioneered in evangelism and education.

You Will Rot in Jail, Judge Threatened Minister - A Baptist preacher who was told by the presiding judge at his trial, "You shall lie in jail until you rot!" was released after being ably defended by Patrick Henry. The minister, Jeremiah Moore, was arrested for preaching without authority from the state church of Virginia. During his stirring defense of Moore, Henry cried, "Great God, gentlemen, a man in prison for preaching the gospel of the Son of God!" Henry was not only a champion of liberty, but a defender of imprisoned and persecuted Baptists in colonial Virginia.

State Church Confiscated Baptist Deacon's Property - Three tons of hay and several bushels of rye were confiscated from the farm of an aged Baptist deacon in Massachusetts in 1799 The grain was sold and the money given for the support of a minister of the established church of the state. The deacon, Abner Chase, had never been a member of the state supported church.

For years Baptists of Massachusetts fought the oppression and unjust taxation of the established church. In 1795 six Baptists were arrested for refusal to pay the tax for the support of ministers of the state church. Considerable property of Baptists also was confiscated at that time.

When Baptists were instrumental in bringing about the adoption in 1789 of the First Amendment to the Constitution, they hoped that their long struggle for religious freedom in America was at an end. The amendment states that: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting die free exercise thereof." Ten years later that freedom was not yet secured in Massachusetts.

Woman Aided Preacher In Flight from Catholics - Aided by a brave woman in his congregation, a Baptist preacher escaped exile to Mexico when Mississippi was under control of Spanish Catholics.

Because the Catholic hierarchy regarded the Baptists in Mississippi as a menace, they were ordered to "desist from their heretical psalm-singing, praying and preaching in public or they would be subjected to sundry pains and penalties." In 1795, the Spanish military commandant at Natchez issued the ultimatum that "if nine persons were found worshipping together except according to the forms of the Roman Catholic Church, they should stiffer imprisonment."

The Baptist preacher, Richard Curtis, and other Baptists chose to ignore the warning. Curtis was arrested, and the commandant warned him that, unless he quit preaching, he and his followers would be exiled to Mexico. After that, the Baptists worshipped only at night with a lookout on guard against intrusion. When a posse arrived to break up one of these meetings, Curtis realized that he must flee Mississippi or face exile. He and some of his followers decided to go to South Carolina.

Because any who aided Curtis and the others would also face exile, friends were reluctant to give the fugitives provisions for their flight. When no one volunteered help for Curtis, Chloe Holt came to his aid. "If the men are so faint hearted that not one of them will take provisions to Dick Curtis and his companions in order that they might escape the clutches of the gospel-hating Catholics," she said, "then give me a good horse with a man's saddle and I will go in spite of the Spaniards, and they can catch me if they can."

New England Baptists Moved South with Gospel - Sixteen hardy New England pioneers, led by their pastor Shubal Stearns, took the Baptist gospel to the South when they formed the Sandy Creek Baptist Church in the North Carolina wilderness in 1755.

Stearns and his Congregation took with them the religion of regeneration and soul liberty so peculiarly suited to frontier people, but so bitterly persecuted by the established church in New England. Closely associated with Stearns in his work was his brother-in-law, Daniel Marshall.

Stearns was perhaps typical of the Baptist evangelists of his day. Small in stature and of limited education, he was a man of unusual natural gifts. He made effective use of piercing eyes and a voice that was melodious and powerful. As he preached, congregations were sometimes reduced to weeping and trembling. Marshall was as zealous as Stearns. Although not an ordained minister, he served as a missionary to the Indians before going to North Carolina. Following his conversion, he had given away practically all of his possessions before he had begun preaching to the Indians.

Those who clung to the form and ritual of English and European churches were appalled that illiterate men such as Stearns and Marshall preached, that women prayed in public, and that Baptist services were sometimes a confusion of the wails of the convicted and the shouts of the converted. Yet this simple gospel, with its emphasis on the right of the individual to make his own peace with God, had a strong appeal to the freedom-loving people of the frontier.

Baptists Won Right to Perform Marriages - While American troops were fighting the British in the war for American independence, the Baptists were scoring victories in their fight against the state-supported church.

A major victory for Baptists was won in Virginia with the passage of a law recognizing the validity of marriages performed by Baptist preachers. Prior to that time, marriages in Virginia were not legal unless they were performed "according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England," which was the Virginia state church.

Patrick Henry, long a friend of Baptists, had urged Baptist ministers to perform marriages without approval of the law. He believed that the best way to have the unjust law repealed was to ignore it. Some Baptists did not approve this strategy of "doing evil that good might come."

Baptists also led the fight for repeal of the tax to support ministers of the state church. The Virginia General Assembly ruled that "it is contrary to the principles of reason and justice that any should be compelled to contribute to the maintenance of a Church with which their conscience will not permit them to join, and from which they can therefore receive no benefit." The General Assembly further decreed "that all dissenters of whatever denomination . . . shall . . be totally free and exempt from all levies, taxes and impositions whatever towards supporting and maintaining said Church as it now is . . . established, and its ministers."

Baptists and State Church Were Foes During War for Independence - Baptists and the state supported church, foes from the beginning in the colonies, again found themselves on opposite sides in the fight for American independence.

It was inevitable that the state church would side with the crown in the Revolutionary War. The British government hat! supported the state church and paid the salaries of the clergy by taxing the colonists, including Baptists. Baptists, on the other hand, saw in the war for independence a fight for religious freedom as well. They were convinced that there could be no religious freedom as long as church and state were linked.

The state church fought bitterly to defend its favored position in the colonies. Ministers preached loyalty to the King from their pulpits and accused some in their congregation of treason.

Baptist Patriot Sacrificed Much in Fight for Freedom - In a denomination which, probably more than any other religious body fought for American independence, few men suffered more than John Hart, a Baptist layman.

A champion of religious freedom and individual rights Hart was elected to the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence, was elected vice-president of the New Jersey Congress, and was unanimously selected as speaker of the assembly under the new constitution of New Jersey.

Before the Revolutionary War, Hart owned a valuable farm and interest in a number of mills. His property was in the path of the armies of England and the colonies. During the fighting, his crops were consumed, his stock driven away, and his farm and mils laid waste.

Hart's large family was scattered by the war, and the legislator was hunted as a traitor by British troops. For weeks he was a fugitive, hunted from house to house, spending the nights wherever he could find shelter, and often sleeping with farm animals. The hardest blow of the war came when Hart's wife broke under the strain of the fighting. He was forced to flee from her bedside to escape capture, and she died during his absence.

Hart served in the New Jersey Assembly for ten years where he militantly defended popular rights. He opposed the Stamp Act, favored an address to the king which declared that the right to tax belonged only to the colonies, and led opposition against providing for British troops in America. He gave the land for the Baptist church in New Jersey where he and his family worshiped faithfully for many years.

Baptists Opposed Tax to Support All Churches - Having successfully led a fight to repeal taxation for the support of the state church, Virginia Baptists of 1785 fought a proposed tax to support all churches. The tax would affect all citizens who would be allowed to designate the church or minister to whom the assessment would be paid.

Declaring the bill "repugnant to the spirit of the Gospel," the General Committee of Virginia Baptists called on Baptists throughout the state to petition the General Assembly against the bill. "No human laws ought to be established for this purpose, the Baptists resolved, "but every person ought to be left entirely free in respect to matters of religion. The Gospel wants not the feeble arm of man for its support." "Should the Legislature assume the right of taxing the people for the support of the Gospel," Baptists declared, "it will be destructive to religious liberty."

Baptists were aided in their fight by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Mason, leading Virginia statesmen of that day and courageous fighters for civil and religious freedom.

Give Us More Freedom, Baptists Told Constitution Framers - While many colonists were excited about the proposed new Constitution and the prospect of freedom from England, Baptists generally found tile Constitution lacking.

Although the Constitution proposed to "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity," Baptists believed that the new document did not offer enough liberty. The General Committee of Virginia Baptists agreed unanimously that the proposed Constitution did not make "sufficient provision for the secure enjoyment of religious liberty.'

Religious liberty was the primary concern of colonial Baptists. They had suffered religious persecution throughout the colonies for a hundred years. In criticizing the Constitution, Baptists pointed out that it made no provision whatsoever for religious liberty and contained only one incidental reference to religion.

Patrick Henry, an old friend of Baptists, supported them in their stand against the new Constitution and added that he thought the document "squinted at monarchy." Baptists were to continue their fight until they secured adoption of the Bill of Rights with its First Amendment declaring that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Baptist Dream of Religious Freedom Realized at Last in Bill of Rights - That part of the United States Constitution known as the "Bill of Rights" and which begins, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," was a major victory for Baptists.

It was a victory for Roger Williams, banished from Massachusetts into a frozen wilderness because of his "dangerous" religious convictions, 150 years before the Bill of Rights was passed.

It was a victory for Obadiah Holmes, given thirty lashes in a public whipping in Boston for conducting illegal Baptist worship services a century before the republic was born.

It was a victory for scores of Baptists from Georgia to New England, who suffered fines, imprisonment, beatings, insults, loss of property, and bodily harm because of their religious convictions.

More directly, the First Amendment to the Constitution represented a victory for Virginia Baptists. They had petitioned President Washington, shortly before the Bill of Rights was presented to the First Congress, asking him to correct what they regarded as a fundamental weakness in the Constitution. For Baptists, the civil liberties guaranteed in the Constitution meant little without the religious liberty guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Preacher Played Key Role In Adoption of Constitution - A simple Baptist preacher played a role in the adoption of the new United States Constitution in 1789. The preacher, John Leland, never held public office. Neither was he a delegate to a constitutional convention. Yet, he was one of the most popular preachers in Virginia and a Baptist spokesman for religious liberty.

When the Constitution was first submitted to the states for ratification, two leading Virginia statesmen - both staunch friends of Baptist were on opposing sides. Patrick Henry opposed the Constitution, charging that it "squinted toward monarchy" and failed to insure individual rights. James Madi-son supported it, fearing that if it were not adopted, hopes for a unified republic would be lost. County delegates were to he sent to a Virginia convention that would either adopt or reject the Constitution. Both Leland and Madison were candidates from Orange County Virginia. Friends of Leland had persuaded him to run opposing the Constitution on grounds that it failed to assure religious liberty.

While Madison was in Philadelphia on business, Leland's campaign gained momentum. By the time the statesman returned home, Leland's election as a convention delegate seemed assured. Madison went to Leland and presented his case for adoption of the Constitution. Leland withdrew from the race, and Madison was elected.

At the Virginia Constitutional Convention, Patrick Henry's flaming oratory would have consumed all hopes for ratification had it not been for Madison's powerful influence. Virginia favored the Constitution in a close vote. Had Leland rather than Madison attended the convention, Virginia's decisive vote almost certainly would have gone against the Constitution.

Musket in Hand, seventy-Year-Old Pastor Was Ready to Fight - In colonial America, Baptist preachers had to be fighters And John Courtney, pastor of the Richmond, Virginia, Baptist Church for thirty-six years, was a fighter.

He fought for religious freedom against the Virginia state church. He served in the Continental Army during the Revolution. And during the War of 1812, the Baptist pastor, then over seventy, appeared in the public square, musket in hand, when it was thought Richmond was threatened.

Courtney did not receive a stipulated salary from his church but supported his family by working as a carpenter. A "hat collection" was taken at the close of each Lord's Day service, and the money was put in a handkerchief and taken by the chief deacon to the pastor's house where it was placed in a bowl.

The Courtneys lived in a house which the pastor rented for $25 a year, and the women of the church gave the family clothing. When a deed to the house and lot where the Courtneys lived was given to the pastor, he immediately disposed of the deed. Courtney did not want to run the risk of being identified with ministers of the established church of Virginia, whose hand-some salaries were paid by taxes.

The Richmond pastor labored among all classes, including blacks, prisoners, soldiers, and others. He served as a home missionary on the Virginia frontier. After he was too feeble to preach, Courtney continued to visit among his people. He would ride from house to house on his horse, call members of his flock to the door, and, stilt mounted, counsel with them and pray for them.

The source of this anthology is unknown. If you have its source, please forward that information to us at The Baptist Page.

Baptist Page Articles are offered as a service to the readers of The Baptist Page. You are given permission to reprint this in any form available. We only ask that this paragraph remain with the article.

©1997-2001 The Baptist Page - www.baptistpage.com

Return to Church/State Page