To what extent were Baptists persecuted in Colonial America?
Baptists faced severe persecution in Colonial America. According to McBeth, “No
Baptist is known to have been executed for religion in America. However, many Baptists were
severely whipped, forced to pay taxes to support the state church, had property confiscated, paid
fines, and suffered lingering imprisonment.”1 Moreover, many Baptists were known to have
faced “public harassment, and were often mocked or disrupted by onlookers.”2
Within New England, Baptist faced harsh persecution. McBeth writes, “In 1679 when
members of the First Baptist Church of Boston sought to meet for the first time in their new
building, they found the doors nailed shut and a sign posted forbidding them to use the
building.”3 Baptist dissenters who refused to pay taxes were “cast into jail until they paid their
apportionment to support the official ministers.”4 After the exemption law passed, many Baptist
were still taxed, and when they were apply for exemption, the process could be long and
burdensome.
In Virginia, many Baptist faced harsh persecution. McBeth notes, “Beginning in the
1760s, Baptists in Virginia were whipped, fined, beaten by mobs, jailed, and/or exiled in an
attempt to control them. Between 1768 and 1777, at least thirty Baptist preachers in Virginia
were imprisoned, whipped, or stoned. Most of these were Separates.”5 Some Baptist preachers
were imprisoned for disturbing the peace, and were asked to not return to the area for a specific
length of time. According to McBeth, “Though arrested while preaching and for preaching, many
Baptists were imprisoned or fined for other offenses, such as disturbing the peace or creating a
public nuisance. Some parents were fined for parental cruelty in withholding their infants from
baptism.”6
Describe the contributions of Baptists in the fight for religious freedom. In what ways has
this legacy continued today?
Religious freedom is not a new concept for the Baptists people. Rather, Baptists have
fought for religious freedoms for themselves and others.7 McBeth writes, “Baptists were born in
1Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness (Nashville, TN: Broadman and
Holman, 1987).
2McBeth, 253.
3Ibid., 256.
4Ibid.,
5Ibid., 270.
6Ibid., 273.
7Ibid., 252.
travail for freedom to differ from a state church, and they have resisted every effort, whether
from civil or ecclesiastical authorities, to force them into religious conformity.”8 Thus, as a
whole, the Baptists people fought for religious freedom, and the freedom to worship as they so
desired.
There were a few people which standout, in the fight for religious freedom. According to
McBeth, “Many regard Isaac Backus as the greatest Baptist spokesman for religious liberty in
America. Backus applied many of the pioneer arguments of Roger Williams to the freedom
struggle in the late eighteenth century. He could quote Jonathan Edwards or John Locke with
equal ease, thus combining the strengths of awakening and Enlightenment views.”9 Backus
fought hard to see religious freedom come to the Baptists peoples. McBeth noted how Backus
used his position “as chairman of the Grievance Committee, his substantial but sometimes
unexciting sermons, and his extensive writings allowed him to advance, defend, and publicize
Baptists views.”10
Some Baptists congregations also took actions into their own hands. For example, some
Baptists made the decision to stop paying their church taxes, ignore certain obedience laws, and
had a philosophy of civil disobedience.11 This type of philosophy help to make progress toward
religious freedom.
Baptists help to pave the way to the Bill of Rights, which is clearly still being used in the
modern era. Because of the contributions of the Baptists peoples, every religion in the United
States has the freedom to worship Yahweh as they see fit. Moreover, every citizen is protected
from persecution from the local, state, and federal government.
Bibliography
McBeth, Leon. The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness. Nashville, TN:
Broadman and Holman, 1987.
8Ibid.,
9Ibid., 259.
10Ibid., 260.
11Ibid., 264.
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