Chapter V
In the American Colonies
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Because the Baptist people have had their fullest and most typical development in America, we devote our remaining chapters to a consideration of questions which concern the American Baptist people. In this chapter we trace the early beginnings of the Baptist people in the New World.
I. Early Colonization It was more than a hundred years after Columbus discovered America, in 1492, before the real beginnings of colonization were made. Spain had sent out the expedition led by Columbus and, according to the canons of the day, Spain had by reason of this discovery prior claims upon the lands of America. But Spain was a decadent nation, and did not in her government or her people possess the resources needful for the conquest and settlement of a new continent. Spain did indeed make feeble and partially successful efforts to plant a colony in Florida and the Trans-Mississippi country. But after prolonged struggle, Spain was clearly unable to maintain herself in the New World, and her possessions ultimately passed to the control of the United States.
II. The Struggle Between France and England For a century and a half there was a running conflict between France and England for the possession and mastery of North America. France made extensive claims on the basis of discovery, and gradually formed a line of military posts up the St. Lawrence, around the Great Lakes, down the Ohio River and along tht Mississippi
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to its mouth. Meantime the English had made settlements along the Atlantic seaboard, and were looking with wistful eyes toward the great unexplored stretches of the continent. Two astute and resourceful nations were playing for a vast prize. Issues so great as to quicken the imagination were at stake. There were claims and counter claims. There was always the pretence at diplomacy. France put forward her right of discovery; her countrymen were the first white men to find and claim the long lines which they sought to hold. England, with a characteristic assurance, calmly asserted her claims with an air of confidence which did not seem to admit of debate.
With all the outward semblance of justice and show of diplomacy, each nation was beyond doubt determined to win the prize, which was easily the greatest for which nations had contended in modern times. In the long and bloody wars which resulted, both nations sought alliance with the Indians, armed them, trained them and sought to use them for their own ends. It is a long story of bitter and tragic struggle. The whole bloody business was at length brought to an end when the British, under Wolfe, defeated the French, under Montcalm, on the Plains of Abraham just out of Quebec. That battle virtually decided the question which up to that time had been open, as to whether North America was to be French or English.
The methods pursued by the two nations were characteristic of the French and English peoples. France planted a line of forts, and sought to maintain herself by a military occupation. England sent out colonists, farmers, artisans, carpenters, hardy men and women bent on subduing the land and founding homes. These new settlers cut down the forests, tilled the soil, and began the building of a civilization. Moreover, they constantly pressed out, taking in more of the forests and the wilderness and extending the lines of settlement. As we look back now, it is not difficult to see that the colonizing
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methods of the English were bound in the end to succeed. Against the thin lines of the French, the British resources of the homeland were supplemented by daring and hardy frontiersmen in increasing numbers, who saw that the safety and sanctity of their homes demanded that the French be beaten.
Surely we must reckon on the Providence which, as Europe and the countries of the Old World had filled up, was reserving this rich New World for beneficent purposes. We may safely say that it was not the will of God that Spain, with its decadent and corrupted civilization, should possess this glorious America. No more was Romanism to extend its sway over this continent. Through countless ages God in his infinite wisdom had reserved this land with its marvelous resources and its matchless wealth for good purposes of his own. It is not presumptuous to declare our conviction that his holy purpose included the making of the New World an arena for freedom and a medium of blessing for all the nations of the earth.
III. The Coming of the Pilgrim Fathers Severe persecutions in England in the early part of the seventeenth century, in part at least, caused the "Pilgrim Fathers," now immortalized in American history, to seek freedom in America. Sailing, as they supposed, for the Virginia settlements, they found themselves through some miscalculation off the more northern coast of what is now the state of Massachusetts. In spite of the inhospitable climate and the bleak, forbidding countryside, these brave men landed and began the task of subduing the land and establishing homes. Their trials and sufferings were only exceeded by their courage and hardihood. All the world knows and praises their wonderful achievements. Having suffered in their native land for conscience' sake, it would seem that they would have extended the freedom which they sought for themselves to those who differed with them. It was
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not to be so. With relentless fury they punished and banished those who dissented from their views, being not a whit behind Archbishop Laud and the Church of England in their persecuting zeal.
IV. The Ministry of Roger Williams So long as lesser and weaker men were to be dealt with, these persecutions attracted little attention, and conditions in the colony were comparatively quiet. But driven by the intolerance prevailing in England, there came (1630) a man of strong convictions and rare force, Roger Williams, by name. On his arrival in Boston, he is described as "a godly minister," but he was destined to cause the ruling authorities vast concern. He rebelled especially against the effort to control by law through civil magistrates the consciences of men. When he was arraigned for trial, the chief charge alleged against him was that he declared and taught that "the magistrate ought not to punish the breach of the first table," those commandments which enjoined the worship of God. Sentence of banishment was passed upon him, a sentence whose harshness can hardly be now fully realized. It involved expulsion from society and exclusion from the church. Even more, since the colony was an isolated settlement, surrounded by heavy forests and savage Indians, it meant sending him away into privation and peril. Williams accepted the hard sentence, and in the dead of winter, went to live among the Narragansett Indians.
With the Indians he had great influence, due to his just dealing and innate strength of character. Speedily occasion arose in which Williams was able to requite the hard treatment of his persecutors with inestimable kindness. The very next summer the neighboring Indians, fierce and resentful, planned a wholesale slaughter of their white neighbors. By an extended combination of their tribes, it was easily within the range of possibility for them to wipe out the small scattered settlements
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which comprised no more than 5,000 white men. Roger Williams sensed the danger, and with rare tact quieted the Narragansett Indians and dissuaded them from entering the plot. Thus he defeated the purpose of the Indians and returned good for evil.
Purchasing lands from the Indians and conciliating them by kind treatment, he established a new colony, which in recognition of divine leading he called Providence. From the beginning, the settlers in this colony made it clear that the right of individual judgment in religious affairs was to be sacredly guarded. In their earliest compact they summed up their agreements and declared plainly that these were to be binding "only in civil things." The charter which they sought and received at the hands of Charles II in 1663, and which continued to be the bond of government until 1843, called for full religious liberty. "Our royal will and pleasure is, that no person within the said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be in any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any differences of opinion in matters of religion, and do not actually disturb the civil peace of the said colony."V. Organization of Baptist Churches 1. Williams' Church Thus, Roger Williams established the first government the world had ever known in which was complete separation of church and state, and which offered men the full privilege of worshiping God according to the dictates of their own consciences. Gradually he came to apprehend the basal Baptist principles, the absolute Lordship of Christ and the complete competency of the human soul. Accordingly, he publicly avowed himself a Baptist, and in 1639, established in Providence an organization which has generally been regarded as the first Baptist church on the New Continent.
A little later, Dr. John Clarke, more stable in religious and theological affairs than Roger Williams, established
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a Baptist church in Newport (1644). A modern historian declares of Clarke that he was the most eminent Baptist of his time in New England, and that his name deserves to be held in the highest honor. With his judgment the verdict of history heartily concurs.
The methods pursued by Williams in the constitution of this church betoken the times and are worthy of mention here. There was no Baptist church on this side of the ocean, the nearest being therefore so far away as to involve for the round trip a journey of many weeks. So far as Roger Williams knew, there was no Baptist minister available who, by reason of his ordination and ministerial office, was in position to administer the ordinances and lead in the organization of a church. Under these conditions, Williams had one Ezekiel Holliman to baptize him, and he in turn baptized ten others, and thus a church with twelve members came into being. The course pursued was of course irregular, and was traceable to the primitive and isolated conditions under which Roger Williams labored. These facts have led many to insist that the First Baptist Church in Newport, rather than the First Baptist Church of Providence, merits the honor of being called the first Baptist church in the New World. In view of the early history of the Providence church the claims for the Newport church seem well based.
2. Swansea, Massachusetts The first Baptist church in Massachusetts had a very different origin. A Baptist church over in Wales was struggling against repression and persecution. After prolonged conferences, and with a natural hesitation, the members agreed and covenanted together along with their pastor, John Myles, to come to America. After various vicissitudes, this group, bringing with them their church records and traveling in a body, found a home in Swansea, Massachusetts, just across the line from Providence, the colony founded by Roger Williams.
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3. Churches from Other Communions In yet another way Baptist churches came into being in the colonies. Occasionally a group of believers in other communions, or an entire church community would, out of a study of the Scriptures, become convinced of the justness of the Baptist position and embrace Baptist views, and would thus feel led to seek baptism and constitute Baptist churches. In this way many Congregational churches, especially during and after the "Great Awakening" in the eighteenth century, became Baptist churches.
4. The Usual Way No one of these methods of establishing Baptist churches was typical. The usual custom was for a local group of like-minded Baptist people to ask a Baptist preacher, perhaps along with a council of ministers, to organize them into a church. If other churches were adjacent, such churches were asked to send representatives to act in an advisory capacity, and they were later asked formally to recognize the new church and welcome her into the sisterhood of churches.
During the very earliest years of colonization, the Baptists were naturally mingled as individuals with other peoples. In practically all of the colonies, they were forbidden by law to form churches or even to hold separate meetings for worship. Gradually as they grew in numbers and in confidence, and as the rigorous laws against them relaxed, they were emboldened to form churches.
An examination of the list of the earliest churches is suggestive. It reveals the fact that the American Baptists had their earliest beginnings in New England. It shows by what slow development the Baptist churches came. The first eleven churches were in Rhode Island and the neighboring sections of Massachusetts. According to Professor Vedder, there were forty-seven Baptist churches in the country at the time of the Great Awakening
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(about 1734), of which only seven were south of the Mason and Dixon line.
VI. The Growth of the Baptists The growth of the Baptist people in the United States during the past one hundred and forty years may be seen in the following statement:
In 1792, 1 Baptist to every 56 inhabitants. In 1812, 1 Baptist to every 38 inhabitants. In 1854, 1 Baptist to every 30 inhabitants. In 1900, 1 Baptist to every 17 inhabitants. In 1930, 1 Baptist to every 13 inhabitants.
It will be borne in mind that in the above table only actual members are taken into account. If we should take into consideration all of the people who hold Baptist principles, the proportion would of course be much larger. For the first time in Christian history, people holding the Baptist faith had in America enjoyed the full rights of liberty and opportunity for unimpeded growth. ____________
Teaching Suggestions Question-Answer Study
Tell of the conflict between France and England for the possession of North America. Describe persecutions on the part of the "Pilgrim Fathers." Relate the story of the banishment of Roger Williams. Trace the founding of the two first Baptist churches in America. How, generally, were Baptist churches constituted? Indicate the growth of the Baptist people in America. Blackboard - Outline Discussion
I. Early Colonization
II. The Struggle Between France and England
III. The Coming of the Pilgrim Fathers
IV. The Ministry of Roger Williams Conversion Banishment Establishes Providence
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V. Organization of Baptist Churches 1. Williams' church 2. Swansea, Massachusetts 3. Churches from other communions 4. The usual way
VI. The Growth of the Baptists ============ [From P. E. Burroughs, The Baptist People, SSB of SBC, 1934. This document provided by Pastor Tom Byrd. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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