American Baptist Historical Society

Dec. 6, 1776 The Virginia Assembly, led by Thomas Jefferson, passed a law denying funds for the Episcopal Church. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was written into the state's law and disestablished the Church of England in Virginia and guaranteed freedom of religion to people of all religious faiths, including Christians of all denominations, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus. The statute was a notable precursor of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Virginia Assembly dates from the establishment of the House of Burgesses at Jamestown in 1619. It became the General Assembly in 1776 with the ratification of the Virginia Constitution. ABHS has books and pamphlets on the struggle for religious freedom in colonial times.

Dec. 2 1630 Roger Williams and his wife, Mary, were aboard the ship Lyon sailing to the New World. Williams had come to a position as a separatist, believing the Church of England to be corrupt and false. He believed that "soul liberty" or freedom of conscience is a gift from God, and thought freedom of religion a natural right which demanded that church and state be separated. This also put him opposed to the rule of the Congregationalists in Massachusetts. In the spring of 1636, Williams and a number of his followers from Salem began a new settlement on land that Williams had bought from Massasoit in present-day Rumford, Rhode Island. ABHS has many books about Roger Williams and several items written by him including "Christenings Make Not Christians," written in 1645.

#GivingTuesday 2020: Please support the work of ABHS. https://forms.ministryforms.net/viewForm.aspx

December 1, 1845. With the absence of the southern churches, the Triennial Convention moved to adopt a new constitution and a new name. They became incorporated under the State of Massachusetts as the Baptist Missionary Union. ABHS has the handwritten minutes of this meeting and bound volumes of printed minutes of the BMU.

Nov. 29, 1908: Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was born in New Haven, CT. A preacher and congressman, he is also known for his civil rights work. Powell was the first person of African-American descent to be elected from New York to Congress and the fourth in the 20th century. He grew up in the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem where his father was the pastor, and graduated from Colgate University in 1930. ABHS has Powell’s autobiography and other of his writings as well as many books and magazine articles about him.