Baptists in America: A History

by Thomas S. Kidd

The Baptist vision for religious liberty had won out on the national level; it would be confirmed by Jefferson’s election in 1800 and the “wall of separation” letter, which made explicit his alliance with the Baptists. In Virginia, and in most of the states outside of New England, momentum was growing for robust endorsements of religious liberty, especially through disestablishment of state churches. When Kentucky, the new home of so many Baptists, became the fifteenth state in the union in 1792, its constitution echoed Virginia’s commitment to religious liberty. “All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences,” it said, and “no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent.” The state also affirmed that “no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious societies or modes of worship.” The Baptist view of religious liberty was becoming America’s, too. Soon the Baptists’ gospel would enter a similar era of ascendancy, in the lonely reaches of the American backcountry.43