The Untold Story of The Establishment Clause of The U.S. Constitution

How a group of Virginia Baptists fought for religious liberty for people of all faiths or no faith.

The Formative Years

John Leland was born in Grafton, Massachusetts, on May 14, 1754. Leland’s first experience with religious subjugation happened when he was only three years old. Leland’s father desired to see his son baptized and sent for a minister to baptize him as well as several of Leland’s other siblings. Leland found out that the minister was coming to their home to baptize him and the idea of baptism terrified him. He said:

“I was greatly terrified, and betook myself to flight. As I was running down a little Hill, I fell upon my nose, which made the blood flow freely. My flight was in vain; I was pursued, overtaken, picked up and had the blood scrubbed off my face, and so was prepared for the baptismal water.

All the merit of this transaction, I must give to the maid who caught me, my father and the minister; for I was not a voluntary candidate, but a reluctant subject, forced against my will.”

Leland penned this account later in life. It illustrates that from an early age he felt the impact of having a religious idea imposed on him against his will and by those in authority. While he was only three years old when the event occurred, he remembered it for the rest of his life. The forced baptism helped to create in Leland a mindset that valued the will of the individual in…