Religious Freedom and Freedom Research Paper

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Isaac Backus Role in Shaping of the Southern Baptist Religion in the Early American Colonies

Only a few Baptists were present in colonial America but their number was highest in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island because of the freedoms in those places. Baptists were greatly despised in nearly all regions but mainly in New England. Luckily for the Baptists present in America, they actually gained more from the Great Awakening compared to other denominations. Isaac Backus[footnoteRef:1], a young New Light Congregationalist minister, was among their very first converts from New England Congregationalism back in 1751. Over the eighteenth century, Baptists started to grow and thrive among the rich religious maltreatment and harassment which was still evident in the majority of the colonies- particularly Massachusetts. Through speeches, tracts, petitions, and protests, Isaac Backus (1724-1806) headed the quest of religious freedom during the chaotic era of the American Revolution.[footnoteRef:2] [1: Michael Williams. "Brief Basics for Texas Baptists." (2003. Accessed October 4, 2016),3] [2: Derek Davis "Baptists and the American Tradition of Religious liberty." PERSPECTIVES IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES 33, no. 1 (2006): 5]

Backus succeeded in the facilitation of the use of a particular organization for the provision of a cooperative approach in the struggle for religious freedom. A Massachusetts Baptist advocacy group, the Warren Association, called Backus in 1772 to be the head of its grievance committee in order to readdress injustices committed against Baptists present in New England. This committee's task was to collect and present well-proven cases of religious maltreatment to legislators and courts in an attempt to seek assistance. Additionally, Backus acted as their spokesperson before the Continental Congress that took place in Philadelphia in 1774.[footnoteRef:3] [3: Derek Davis, Religion and the Continental Congress, 1774-1789: Contributions to Original Intent (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 125-28.]

Provoked by the constant persecution of Baptists situated in New England, Isaac Backus was right at the forefront of the movement to found the Warren Association in New England to assist the local Baptist churches. He later led in the creation of a Grievance Committee which was accountable for promoting religious liberty and separation of state and church, at the start in New England and consequently all through the other colonies.

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By simply building upon the increasing sentiments that favored independence and freedom from Britain, Backus claimed that the principles which guided the American Revolution actually encouraged the need for religious freedom.[footnoteRef:4] [4: Michael Williams. ]

The Great Awakening in New England produced a New Light Calvinist movement; a response against the supposed Luke warmness and corruption of the founded Old Light churches. Approximately half of the resultant separate churches would within some years implement the baptism of believers through immersion, and by the 1760s a rejuvenated Baptist movement, recommitted to Calvinism, was strongly founded in the Puritan colonies. Separatists were not acknowledged as a new denomination by magistrates who still continued to levy taxes on them. As a result, during this consequent phase of the Baptists' fight, a fresh breed of leaders particularly Isaac Backus surfaced to fight for the exemption of taxes and also to start an institution building program. Despite that, the authorities still continued to impose taxes on Separate Baptists, disrespect their property, and even jail them.[footnoteRef:5] [5: Richard Carwardine. "Baptists and the Shaping of America." (Accessed October 4, 2016. http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/bq/35-4_158.pdf) 160-161]

Backus resorted to turn to great civil disobedience back in 1773 as a scheme, aiming to fill the prisons with Baptists who would appeal to a superior law in their denial to comply with the tax laws. In reality, that campaign was surpassed by the greater fight for American political independence. The Revolution assumed a millennial significance for the Baptists: Natural rights, property protection provided the setting for the reception, social contract, distribution, and the expansion of the Grace of God.[footnoteRef:6] [6: Richard, 161]

Backus' struggle for religious freedom was mainly conducted with his pen. He is known by a lot as the historian of the early New England Baptists. Backus was convinced that the production of a written history would actually be useful to his main purpose in life; advocating for freedom of….....

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