Prospectus HIUS 530
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Arts Humanities
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Apr 3, 2024
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RESEARCH PROSPECTUS Candace Hollingsworth American Christian Heritage HIUS 530 Spring 2021 April 7, 2021
Hollingsworth 1 My choice of research for this class is Baptist influence on the debate of separation of church and state and its effects on religious liberty and freedoms. I am choosing this topic because in my reading, I discovered the Baptist denomination was significantly involved in political affairs, when it came to state involvement and church. In a society that is once again focusing on how religion affects our daily lives and decisions, this ever important issue in America is one that should be studied, researched and understood. My thesis is that the Baptist population had a tremendous impact on how church and state relationships would be formed, outlined, and overseen in America. The involvement of the Baptist denomination, both on the religious and political front is significant and worthy of research and understanding. In my research, I will not only outline how Baptist’s were involved, but I will identify who within the Baptist community was active in the pursuit on what they felt was an appropriate church and state relationship. I would also like to identify why this was done. Exploring the underlining belief system and reasoning behind their actions will give more meaning for their actions. My research will focus on several Baptist leaders during the Enlightenment and Great Awakening. It will include ministers, politicians, and citizens, who felt their religious freedoms were important enough to be vocal and creative in the ways they wanted to preserve them. There were Baptists that took their existing roles as ministers, and turned their beliefs into a political mission. They not only spread the gospel through
Hollingsworth 2 their sermons, but also had major influences on the likes of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. They preached, they wrote, and they advocated for religious liberty. There was another minister that spread the idea of religious freedoms, but stayed away from the political movement. His story includes that he was the forst to introduce the concept of church and state separation. Other Baptists did things like write The Danbury Letter to Thomas Jefferson, requesting support for their religious liberties showed how a group of people with the same vision took a very bold step in an effort to remain religiously free. Jefferson did not give them the support they were looking for, but the Baptists made their impression, as their letter became significant in terms of America’s First Amendment. Baptists were fierce in their belief in religious freedoms, and there are stories of those who were jailed for attending unauthorized worship services and those who went to the press to tell their stories. Baptists had a clear ideal of what the new country, America should look like, and act like. There were expectations, and they most often came from the Bible, which was quoted often in their arguments. I will be utilizing primary and secondary sources from the Jerry Falwell Library online as well as JSTOR online for my research. There have been many books and articles written about separation of church and state. What may be challenging is to decipher true meaning behind the actions of the Baptists. Their impact on the time period will be focused on, as well as the sacrifices they made in support of the cause. It is my desire to have a better understanding of why, in an effort to earn more respect for all Baptists sacrificed for what they felt was the betterment of the country at its birth.
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Hollingsworth 3 BIBLIOGRAPHY Browne, C. A. 1944. "Elder John Leland and the Mammoth Cheshire Cheese."
Agricultural History 18, no. 4: 145-53. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3739328
. Web. 21 March 2021. Daniel, Wallace L. 2007. "Editorial: Leadership and Recent Controversies over Religious Liberty."
Journal of Church and State 49, no. 4: 649-62. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23922298
. Web. 21 Mar 2021. Dreisbach, Daniel L. 2017. Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers
. New York: Oxford University Press. Oxford Scholarship Online. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199987931.001.0001. Web 20 Mar 2021. Dreisbach, Daniel L. 2002. Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State
. NYU Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qgd9h
. Web. April 7, 2021. Hall, Mark David, and Daniel L. Dreisbach, eds. 2014. Faith and the Founders of the American Republic
. New York: Oxford University Press. Oxford Scholarship Online. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199843336.001.0001. Web. 20 Mar 2021. Hamburger, Philip. Separation of Church and State. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004. ProQuest Ebook Central. Web. 6 April 2021. Hutson, James H., and Thomas Jefferson. 1999. "Thomas Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists: A Controversy Rejoined."
The William and Mary Quarterly 56, no. 4: 775-90. doi:10.2307/2674235. Web. 21 March 2021. McLoughlin, William G. 1968. "Isaac Backus and the Separation of Church and State in America."
The American Historical Review 73, no. 5: 1392-413. doi:10.2307/1851375. Web. 20 March 2021. Miller, Nicholas P. The Religious Roots of the First Amendment: Dissenting Protestants and the Separation of Church and State
. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Oxford Scholarship Online, 2012. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199858361.001.0001. Web. 6 April 2021. Semple, Robert Baylor. A history of the rise and progress of the Baptists in Virginia
. Richmond [Va.]; (Richmond): R.B. Semple; (J.O. Lynch), 1810. Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926
(accessed April 6, 2021). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CY0102480363/SABN?u=vic_liberty&sid=SABN&
xid=1df6cd70&pg=1
. Web. 6 April 2021.