Baptists in the southern colonies experienced explosive growth during the First Great Awakening. They also began to experience increased persecution from the Anglican (state) Church in the decades before the American Revolution — persecution which convinced many Baptists of the importance of religious liberty and the fight for American independence.
In Maryland, Baptists were attacked and held under water in mock baptisms. In South Carolina, one Baptist was tried and whipped by Congregationalists, and Baptists were treated as second-class Christians. In Georgia, Daniel Marshall was arrested while in prayer during a service in 1771.
‘Beaten, shot, poisoned’
That same year, North Carolina Baptists, including members of the Sandy Creek Baptist Church, began fleeing the colony after the Battle of Alamance. This followed unfounded accusations by their governor that they were a part of an armed insurrection, which the governor described as “Baptists and Quakers trying to overthrow the Church of England.” The Sandy Creek Church was soon reduced from more than 600 members to 24.
The severest persecution occurred in Virginia, where the Baptist struggle for religious liberty would have its greatest impact on shaping future church-state legislation.
A book published in 1938, “Imprisoned Preachers and Religious Liberty in Virginia,” by Lewis Peyton Little, recorded 72 individuals who suffered persecution in colonial Virginia between 1763 and 1775.
They were beaten, shot, poisoned, pelted with stones and apples, dunked, harassed, urinated upon, and terrorized by mobs. Worship services were interrupted and preachers were arrested, including one occasion on the charges of “allowing a man to pray.” Forty-three were jailed, some for months, and congregations terrorized.
In 1768, John Waller was dragged from a pulpit by his hair. On another occasion, while praying during worship, a local Anglican clergyman rode onto the platform and thrust the end of a horse whip into Waller’s mouth. Then Waller was dragged from the pulpit and given 20 lashes by the local sheriff. After the attack, while still bloodied, Waller “preached an extraordinary sermon, thereby showing that beaten oil is best for the sanctuary,” according to contemporary Baptist historian Morgan Edwards (1722–1792).
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was written by Charles Jones and originally published by The Christian Index.
