Why Did Baptists Support Jefferson’s Bid for President?

Thomas Jefferson was generally supported by Baptists and anti-federalists, but disfavored by Congregationalists, federalists, and others who believed in a stronger relationship between church and state. Jefferson and the Baptists worked closely in Virginia to disestablish the Anglican church and establish religious freedom for dissenters. Baptists supported Jefferson’s bid for president because of his commitment…

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Baptists, Cheshire Cheese, and Religious Liberty—WHAT!

On January 1, 1802, newly elected President Thomas Jefferson received an unusual gift of mammoth proportions.[1] It was delivered to him by John Leland (1754-1841), a Baptist preacher. The piece of cheese was more than four feet in diameter, thirteen feet in circumference, and seventeen inches in height. Once cured, it weighed in at 1,235…

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