Baptist Patriots and the American Revolution
By William Cathcart
The Baptists of colonial America were men of iron, purified in the forge of adversity, and formed on the anvil of persecution. Thus, when the greatest danger threatened the nation, they sprang into action. Colonel Joab Houghton received news at Sunday worship of the British attack on Concord and Lexington. After the service, he addressed the people of Hopewell Baptist Church outside as they were about to disperse. Having told of the cowardly murder at Lexington by royal troops and the heroic counterattack that followed, he paused, then spoke with gravity: "Men of New Jersey, the red coats are murdering our brethren of New England! Who follows me to Boston?" At once, every man present shouted "I!" and stepped out into line! That quiet Sabbath bore witness that there was not a single coward or traitor among the Baptist men of Hopewell.
This book, originally published in 1876, tells how Baptists gave feet to their zeal for civil and religious liberty. Read about Baptist statesman John Hart, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, who risked life, family, and property for the cause of freedom. Once, while running from the redcoats, he spent a cold night in a doghouse, with its owner! Discover how pre- Revolutionary Baptists withstood great persecutions, including imprisonments and losses of life and property, to win religious liberty; how Rhode Island, due to its Baptist origins, was the freest colony in America; how Baptists and their fighting men and chaplains won highest praise from Washington and Jefferson; how that, through their moral influence upon statesmen from Virginia, Baptists won the vital provision for religious freedom in the Bill of Rights.
Early American Baptists supply some of the highest examples of unselfish patriotism and love of neighbor, because they fought hard to obtain for others liberties that had often been denied to them by means of oppressive laws enacted by fellow countrymen. This astounding record of true bravery will enliven and captivate the heart of every American who rightly esteems the high price paid for his liberties. You will read this book with delight and a renewed pride in your rich heritage.
108 pages; Paperback
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