Isaac Backus

Isaac Backus (January 9, 1724November 20, 1806) was a leading Baptist minister during the era of the American Revolution who campaigned against state-established churches in New England. Little is known of his childhood. In "An account of the life of Isaac Backus" (completed to 1756), he provides genealogical information and a chronicle of events leading to his religious conversion.

Born in the village of Yantic, now part of the town of Norwich, Connecticut, Backus was influenced by the Great Awakening and the works of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. He was converted in 1741. For five years, he was a member of a Separatist Congregationalist church. In 1746, he became a preacher. He was ordained in 1748. Backus became a Baptist in 1751 when he became pastor of the Middleborough Baptist Church in Middleborough, Massachusetts.

In response to preaching of the Great Awakening, in 1741 Backus joined the Standing church in Norwich. The Norwich minister was distressed that the converts caused too much agitation and after a few years refused to invite itinerant New Lights, so in 1746 Backus and several other church members withdrew and formed a New Light church. In 1748 Backus became minister of a New Light church in Middleborough, Massachusetts; he continued his association with the New Lights until 1756, when he withdrew because of his opposition to infant baptism. He organized a Separate Baptist church in Middleborough and remained as minister there until his death.

In 1764, Isaac Backus joined John Brown, Nicholas Brown, William Ellery, Stephen Hopkins, James Manning, Ezra Stiles, Samuel Stillman, Morgan Edwards and several others as an original fellow or trustee for the chartering of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (the original name for Brown University), the first Baptist school of higher learning.

Backus published a large number of tracts and a 3-volume history of the Baptist denomination. His two major concerns are reflected in these works: unification of the Separate Baptists and the struggle against religious taxation as part of efforts to achieve religious freedom. Throughout his professional career Backus travelled extensively in New England, helping to organize churches and settle disputes among various Baptist groups. The Warren Baptist Association was established in 1767; Backus was a member of the Grievance Committee formed to work toward elimination of persecution by civil authorities. As an agent of the Committee he worked to keep the issue of separation of church and state before the general public; and in 1774 he travelled to Philadelphia with other Baptists to seek assistance from the First Continental Congress.

In his later years, Backus continued to be a spokesman for Baptists. He argued for ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1790, convinced that in effect it stood for separation of church and state by prohibiting any religious test for officeholders. In 1796 he published the third volume of his History, and in 1803 an Abridgement. Backus died in Middleborough, November 20, 1806. Provided by Wikipedia