RIAMCO

Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections Online

For Participating Institutions

Isaac Backus papers (Ms.Backus)

Brown University Library

Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146


Biographical/Historical note

Isaac Backus was born on Thursday, January 9, 1724, in Norwich, Connecticut, to Samuel and Elizabeth (Tracy) Backus. In 1740, Samuel Backus died, leaving Elizabeth to raise their eleven children, the youngest of whom was just six weeks of age, by herself.

Backus resided at the family homestead in Norwich until "called forth to preach the Gospel" on September 27, 1746. He was ordained a minister in Middleborough, Massachusetts, two years later, and became a minister of the Congregational "New Light" church when Middleborough's original congregation split in a dispute over doctrine. Over the next eight years, Backus gradually separated from Congregationalism altogether. In 1756, he finally converted to Baptist principles, and helped to organize the First Baptist Church in Middleborough, of which he then became Pastor.

Over the years, Backus evolved into an important advocate of the separation of Church and State - an issue of which he became keenly aware as a Baptist in New England, where Congregationalism was the established religion and Congregational churches received state support. In 1774, Backus was sent to the Continental Congress as agent of the Warren Association of Baptist Churches to lay claim for the Baptists to the same rights that were accorded to Congregational and other established churches. He set out his position in a letter printed in the Boston Chronicle on December 2, 1779, in which he argued against a proposal in the new state constitution for Massachusetts to provide public tax revenues to the Congregational Church. In 1788, Backus was a delegate to the federal Constitutional Convention, where he spoke in favor of its provisions for freedom of religion.

Backus was an assiduous writer and an astute speaker with a keen eye for using historical evidence. His An appeal to the public for religious liberty is considered one of the most important political sermons of the founding era of the United States. Between 1777 and 1796, Backus also wrote a well-regarded three volume work entitled A history of New England, with particular reference to the denomination of Christians called Baptists. In 1765, he became a trustee of Rhode Island College (now Brown University), a position he retained until 1799. In 1797, he was awarded an honorary A.M. by the College.

Backus died in 1806 at his home in Middleborough, Massachusetts.