John Leland (Baptist)

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John Leland (pseudonym Jack Nips ; born May 14, 1754 in Grafton ; † January 14, 1841 in North Adams ) was an American Baptist pastor and revival preacher who campaigned, among other things, as a lobbyist and publicist for freedom of religion in the spirit of Thomas Jefferson . It was in part to Leland's influence that the future US president James Madison , the Constitution of the United States to a Bill of Rights was expanding.

Early life

Leland's parents were congregationalists who had their son baptized when they were three years old . From 1772 he felt an inner call to deal seriously with the Christian faith; and sermons by Baptists - especially the later universalist Elhanan Winchester - attracted him. In 1774 he was baptized by Noah Alden and joined his Baptist church in Bellingham . This congregation gave him the authority to preach in 1775. In the fall of 1776 he married Sally Devine and moved with her to Virginia .

Virginia (1776–1791)

Letter from Leland to James Madison (1789)

Revival preacher

After a failed start in Culpeper , the Leland family settled in Orange County in 1778 . In addition to many preaching trips, which led John Leland to South Carolina , among other places , he looked after the Baptist congregations in Orange ( Louisa ), Culpeper and Spotsylvania . He became one of Virginia's most popular preachers.

Leland also participated with great success in the second so-called Great Awakening , which began among the Baptists in the Piedmont region of Virginia around 1785. In the years 1787/1788 alone, he baptized around four hundred people.

Lobbyist at the Virginia General Assembly

In 1784 the Episcopal Church , which emerged from the Anglican state church of the colonial era , was the only religious community to receive corporate status. Following this, the church tax should be reintroduced and transferred to the taxpayer's religious community. Both Madison, who was to be elected fourth President of the United States in 1809, and the Baptists opposed these plans. Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance , which found 1,552 supporters, and a well-coordinated Baptist signature campaign stopped this bill. It can be assumed that Leland was involved in this action initiated by the Baptist General Committee. Following the signature campaign, Madison brought up Jefferson's statute for the establishment of religious freedom again . This became law in early 1786. According to Jefferson's statute , all religious groups should be treated equally. From a Baptist point of view, it was therefore an injustice that the Episcopal Church still had the assets of the former state church. These assets (including church buildings, sacred equipment, parish goods) were created through the taxation of all citizens and must therefore be returned to the general public. With this demand, the Baptists started a longer campaign, which did not lead to partial success until 1802. Every parish had to be sold at the next parish vacancy in the respective episcopal local parish in favor of public welfare. Leland was one of the lobbyists who promoted the cause of the campaign to the Virginia General Assembly between 1786 and 1790 .

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Ratification and the Bill of Rights

The US Constitution had to be ratified by the states. Much in Virginia depended on James Madison's defense of the Constitution in the ratification convention. But especially in his constituency Orange there was strong opposition - also from the numerous Baptists there. Although they were basically in favor of the constitution, the Baptists persisted because of the disadvantage in the colonial empire under a Bill of Rights; on the other hand, Madison had until then taken any call for an attempt to bring the Constitution down. Leland lived in Orange, and in 1788 he was the most influential Baptist in Virginia. While there is no indisputable evidence of the meeting, researchers believe Madison visited Leland in March 1788. The result: Madison was elected to the ratification convention and now saw that the Bill of Rights should follow after ratification. Even in Madison's election to the 1st Congress , where he then introduced the Bill of Rights, the Baptists Leland and George Eve ensured Madison's election, although Patrick Henry had deliberately let the constituency boundaries go to Madison's disadvantage.

New England (1790–1841)

In March 1790, he moved with his wife and their eight children from Virginia to New England . After a year in Connecticut , they moved to Massachusetts , and from February 1792 lived in Cheshire .

Pastor in Cheshire

In 1792 he became pastor of the Cheshire Baptist Church. After a preaching trip to Virginia from 1797–98, he resigned as pastor of that congregation, but continued to preach there. The reason was that, to the disappointment of some members, he had stopped celebrating the sacrament. His reasoning was that he had never seen anyone converted at the sacrament. He also went on numerous preaching trips.

publicist

Since the 1st additional article initially only applied at the federal level, the fight for freedom of religion had to be fought in each individual federal state. In Massachusetts and Connecticut, the Congregationalists represented the state church. Only other Protestants could exempt themselves from church taxes, and only under strict conditions.

With a series of leaflets, Leland campaigned for the equation of all religious communities. Probably still in Connecticut, The Rights of Conscience Inalienable was written , which presented arguments from Jefferson's reflections on the state of Virginia in an appealing way. In particular, Leland says that everyone should be free to worship one god, three gods, no god, or twenty gods depending on their beliefs.

Using the pseudonym Jack Nips , he attacked the Declaration of Rights in The Yankee Spy , according to which Protestant religion teachers should be financed by tax revenues. Leland wanted Gentiles, Jews, Muslims, and Christians of all denominations to be treated equally. He also contradicted the charge that complete religious freedom would lead to anarchy.

Cheshire responded and elected Leland to General Court in May 1811, following a court order questioning the authority to preach for dissenter pastors . In 1833 he was allowed to experience the abolition of the state church in Massachusetts.

The mammoth cheese

Leland supported Jefferson's Democratic Republican Party and won over almost all voters in Cheshire. The fact that the Republicans won the gubernatorial election of 1806 "only" by 191 votes to 3 in Cheshire was even a bad result for the period 1800–1808.

On New Years Day, 1802, Leland was at the White House to give President Jefferson a gift from the Cheshire Republican Dairy Farmers' wives: a giant cheese wheel that had weighed 558 kg when made. On the way to Washington, many onlookers had come to see these mammoth cheeses ; Leland said he preached all the way there and back. During Leland's brief stay in Washington, Jefferson wrote the letter to the Danbury Baptists , which took up Roger Williams ' metaphor of a wall between church and state and played a key role in some of the fundamental decisions of the Supreme Court in the 20th century. For some federalists, however, Leland was an uneducated clown.

Last years

In Virginia the Baptists had learned to assert themselves politically. Back then it was about freedom of religion for all, and Leland was one of its most successful activists. Later, however, the Baptists and other Protestants wanted to legislate their cultural values ​​for all Americans - and this time Leland was against it. He condemned the emerging missionary societies because from his point of view it was too much about money and too little about simple faith. He later argued against the suspension of the postal service on Sundays. For him, government support was more harmful to Christianity than persecution.

In Virginia he was a determined abolitionist and wrote a dramatic appeal for the abolition of slavery. In Virginia, African-Americans were welcome to Baptist services - even if Leland thought they were bad preachers. Even if he remained an abolitionist: in his later years he took a much milder form and sought a consensus solution.

Works

  • The rights of conscience inalienable, and therefore religious opinions not cognizable by law . Or, the high-flying church-man, stript of his legal robe, appears a Yaho. T. Green & Son, New-London 1791, LCCN  03-005611 ( classicliberal.tripod.com [accessed November 17, 2015]).
  • A circular letter of valediction, on leaving Virginia . 1791 ( quod.lib.umich.edu [accessed November 17, 2015]).
  • Jack Nips: The Yankee spy . Calculated for the religious meridian of Massachusetts, but will answer for New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Vermont, without any material alterations. John Asplund, Boston 1794, LCCN  09-020795 ( name.umdl.umich.edu [accessed November 15, 2015]).
  • Van Tromp lowering his peak with a broadside . Containing a plea for the Baptists of Connecticut. Stiles Nichols, Danbury 1806 ( Not in Greene's "The writings of the late Elder John Leland"; available from Readex as "Shaw & Shoemaker 10715").
  • LF Greene (Ed.): The writings of the late Elder John Leland . Including some events in his life written by himself with additional sketches, & c. GW Wood, New York 1845, LCCN  unk83-029614 ( archive.org [PDF; 39.4 MB ; accessed on November 15, 2015]).

literature

  • Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155-242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; 25.7 MB ; accessed on November 11, 2015]).
  • Mark S. Scarberry: John Leland and James Madison: Religious influence on the ratification of the Constitution and on the proposal of the Bill of Rights . In: Penn State Law Review . tape 113 , 3, Winter, 2009, ISSN  1545-7877 , pp. 733-800 ( pennstatelawreview.org [PDF; accessed November 12, 2015]).
  • Rosalie Beck: John Leland: the consistent separationist . In: Baptist History and Heritage . tape 47 , no. September 3 , 2012, ISSN  0005-5719 ( thefreelibrary.com [accessed November 16, 2015]).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heading on page 167 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  2. ↑ Erich Geldbach: Free Churches . Heritage, Shape and Effect (=  Bensheimer Hefte . Volume 70 ). 2nd Edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-525-87157-0 , p. 80 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 11, 2015]).
  3. ↑ page 63 in William H. Brackney: The History of the Baptists in North America . In: Andrea Strübind and Martin Rothkegel (eds.): Baptism . History and present. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-55009-0 , p. 47–67 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 11, 2015]).
  4. ↑ Page 66 in Thomas Maissen : Facets of the non-denominational . Comparative reflections on Switzerland and the USA. In: Alexander Heit and Georg Pfleiderer (eds.): Religions-Politik II . On the pluralistic religious culture in Europe (=  religion - economy - politics ). tape 7 . Nomos-Verlag, Baden-Baden, ISBN 978-3-8329-7730-6 , pp. 55–77 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 11, 2015]).
  5. ↑ a b c pages 323-324 in Paul Finkelman: James Madison and the Bill of Rights . A reluctant paternity. In: The Supreme Court Review . tape 1990 . The University of Chicago Press, 1990, ISSN  0081-9557 , pp. 301-347 , JSTOR : 3109663 .
  6. ↑ Page 174 in William B. Sprague: Annals of the American Baptist pulpit . Or commemorative notices of distinguished clergymen of the Baptist denomination in the United States, from the early settlement of the country the close of the year eighteen hundred and fifty-five. Robert Carter & Brothers, New York 1860, LCCN  03-017724 ( full text in Google Book Search [accessed November 14, 2015]).
  7. ↑ Pages 160–162 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  8. ↑ Pages 167-168 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  9. ↑ Pages 13-15 in Mark A. Beliles: The Christian communities, religious revivals, and political culture of the central Virginia Piedmont, 1737-1813 . In: Gareth Ward Sheldon and Daniel L. Dreisbach (Eds.): Religion and Political Culture in Jefferson's Virginia . Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham (Maryland) 2000, ISBN 978-0-7425-0774-6 , chap. 1 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed May 4, 2015]).
  10. ^ Page 36 in Thomas E. Buckley: Evangelicals Triumphant: The Baptists' Assault on the Virginia Glebes, 1786-1801 . In: The William and Mary Quarterly . tape 45 , no. 1 , January 1988, ISSN  0043-5597 , pp. 33-69 , doi : 10.2307 / 1922213 .
  11. ↑ James Madison : Memorial and Remonstrance against religious assessments (June 20, 1785). In: Founders Online: Madison papers. National Historical Publications & Records Commission, accessed November 14, 2015 .
  12. ↑ a b pages 23–24 in Mark A. Beliles: The Christian communities, religious revivals, and political culture of the central Virginia Piedmont, 1737–1813 . In: Gareth Ward Sheldon and Daniel L. Dreisbach (Eds.): Religion and Political Culture in Jefferson''s Virginia . Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham (Maryland) 2000, ISBN 978-0-7425-0774-6 , chap. 1 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 14, 2015]).
  13. ^ Thomas E. Buckley, Evangelicals Triumphant: The Baptists' Assault on the Virginia Glebes, 1786-1801 . In: The William and Mary Quarterly . tape 45 , no. 1 , January 1988, ISSN  0043-5597 , pp. 33-69 , doi : 10.2307 / 1922213 .
  14. ^ Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242, here pp. 167–179 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  15. ^ Page 154 in Michael I. Meyerson: Endowed by our creator . The birth of religious freedom in America. Yale University Press, New Haven (Connecticut) 2012, ISBN 978-0-300-16632-3 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 15, 2015]).
  16. ↑ Pages 188-190 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  17. ↑ Pages 766-768 in Mark S. Scarberry: John Leland and James Madison: Religious influence on the ratification of the Constitution and on the proposal of the Bill of Rights . In: Penn State Law Review . tape 113 , 3, Winter, 2009, ISSN  1545-7877 , pp. 733-800 ( pennstatelawreview.org [PDF; accessed November 15, 2015]).
  18. ^ Section IV in Mark S. Scarberry: John Leland and James Madison: Religious influence on the ratification of the Constitution and on the proposal of the Bill of Rights . In: Penn State Law Review . tape 113 , 3, Winter, 2009, ISSN  1545-7877 , pp. 733-800 ( pennstatelawreview.org [PDF; accessed November 15, 2015]).
  19. ↑ Pages 196–197 and 202 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  20. ↑ Pages 202 and 205-206 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  21. ^ P. 100 in Nathan O. Hatch: The Democratization of American Christianity . Yale University Press, New Haven (Connecticut) 1989, ISBN 0-300-04470-4 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 15, 2015]).
  22. ↑ Pages 164-167 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  23. ↑ Pages 748-749 in Mark S. Scarberry: John Leland and James Madison: Religious influence on the ratification of the Constitution and on the proposal of the Bill of Rights . In: Penn State Law Review . tape 113 , 3, Winter, 2009, ISSN  1545-7877 , pp. 733-800 ( pennstatelawreview.org [PDF; accessed November 15, 2015]).
  24. ^ Page 197 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  25. ↑ Thomas Jefferson : Considerations on the State of Virginia . Ed .: Hartmut Wasser (=  Manesse Library of World History ). Manesse, Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-7175-8158-9 (English: Notes on the State of Virginia . Paris 1785.).
  26. ↑ Pages 197-199 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  27. ↑ Denise A. Spellberg: Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an . Islam and the Founders. ISBN 978-0-307-26822-8 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 15, 2015]).
  28. ↑ Pages 209–210 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  29. ^ Gabriela Stukenborg: Church asylum in the United States of America . The sanctuary movement in factual and normative terms (=  Staatskirchenrechtliche Abhandlungen . Volume 31 ). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-428-09399-2 , pp. 155 ( limited preview in the Google book search [accessed on November 12, 2015] At the same time dissertation, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, 1997).
  30. ↑ Pages 212-214 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  31. ↑ Pages 215-216 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  32. ^ Thomas Jefferson: Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association (January 1, 1802). In: Founders Online: Jefferson papers. National Historical Publications & Records Commission, accessed November 16, 2015 .
  33. ↑ Pages 219-229 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  34. ↑ Page 113 in Thomas E. Buckley: Establishing religious freedom . Jefferson's statute in Virginia. University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville 2013, ISBN 978-0-8139-3503-4 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 16, 2015]).
  35. ↑ Pages 233-240 in Lyman Henry Butterfield: Elder John Leland, Jeffersonian itinerant . In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society . tape 62 , no. October 2 , 1952, ISSN  0044-751X , LCCN  a53-005224 , p. 155–242 ( americanantiquarian.org [PDF; accessed November 14, 2015]).
  36. ↑ Pages 58-59 in Andrew Koppelman: Defending American Religious Neutrality . Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 2013, ISBN 978-0-674-06646-5 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 16, 2015]).
  37. ↑ Michael I. Meyerson: Endowed by our creator . The birth of religious freedom in America. Yale University Press, New Haven (Connecticut) 2012, ISBN 978-0-300-16632-3 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed May 28, 2015]).
  38. ↑ Page 89 in Pamela R. Durso: Silenced or heard . The voices of Baptist women during colonial America. In: Andrea Strübind and Martin Rothkegel (eds.): Baptism . History and present. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-55009-0 , p. 69–93 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 14, 2015]).
  39. ↑ Bruce Gourley: John Leland: evolving views of slavery, 1789-1839 . In: Baptist History and Heritage . tape 40 , no. January 1 , 2005, ISSN  0005-5719 ( thefreelibrary.com [accessed November 16, 2015]).
personal data
SURNAME Leland, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nips, Jack (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Baptist Pastor
DATE OF BIRTH May 14, 1754
PLACE OF BIRTH Grafton, Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH January 14, 1841
Place of death North Adams, Massachusetts