1a.
Isaac Backus (1724 – 1806) was an essential figure in England Church and served as an American Baptist leader. Isaac Backus was born to Puritan parents in 1724 and became part of the first family to settle in Norwich, Connecticut. His father died when Backus was sixteen years old , leaving behind a home which incorporated an iron foundry that turned out to be, later, an irreplaceable wellspring of weapons for the American Revolution. Backus grew up amid the Great Awakening; his experience o n the quest of "rebirth" at 17 years old prompted him to leave Congregationalism for the New Light Separatists (Morrill, 2017). In 1746, he gave his first sermon and recognized his exceptional calling to the service. In mid-1748 he progressed toward becoming the minister of the First Baptist Church of Middleborough, Massachusetts, a post he held until his demise. Backus efforts to help the Church fall into several categories that are , efforts on growing the church, theological work, and politics involving the church and the state with a view of separating them. He undertook several visits all over New England and also to the South. Through this, he was able to understand the shortcomings and dangers involving congregation autonomy (Morrill, 2017). He supported Warren Association which was a tool for airing concerns as well as the counsel for the New England’s Baptist Churches. Backus efforts helped the successors to persuade Americans on Church voluntarism and to understand the ideals of gaining freedom. Throughout his long profession, he contributed substantially to the Baptist development and the compromise of Calvin's convictions in human degeneracy and fate with the Enlightenment's confidence in choice and self-assurance.
His profession uncovered his organizational gifts and extensive knowledge (Morrill, 2017). The document presents the efforts by Isaac Backus against establishing a Congregational Church in Massachusetts. He praised them for developing the freedom of conscience more than it was before. He accuses the government of forcing the Baptists to pay taxes to support the Congregational Church which he viewed as depriving God’s people the religious liberty. According to the king charter, he claims that all Protestants had a privilege to equal freedom of conscience. He objects the difference between the Congregational Church and the Baptists, yet there were to have equal rights of liberty of religion.
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1b.
Isaac Backus work Appeal to the Public (1773) is a source of in-depth knowledge on the democratic society present at the time. The political theory shows sanction rights and otherworldly rights essential to Backus' contention at th at phase of his reasoning (Backus, 2016). Regular privileges of a Lockean kind he had not yet accommodated his perspective of human degeneracy got from John Calvin. It sheds light on the issues of church-state relations that so crucially intrigued Backus and the Baptists. His work shows the commitment to the gospel of love, hope for the millennium, and intuitional confidence. Politically, his work was a focus on freeing the Baptists from unnecessary taxation by the state for the Congregationalist establishment. (Backus, 2016) By referring to the Bible, revolution experience and John Locke, he was able to formulate valid reasons for separating the state and the church. The efforts of Warren Association Grievance Committee on the petition to General Assembly in 1774 concerning the tax suits were a great effort towards relieving the Baptist Church (Patrick & Long, 1999). His work also reflects the struggle for church establishments and civil coercion.
2a.
Brock was born in 1920 at Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Although he descended from a military family, he dismissed this tradition. While learning at Exeter College, Oxford, Brock came under the influence of radical thoughts, especially those of Bart de Ligt . During the Second World War, he was proclaimed an outspoken opponent and was put under detention where he spent the remaining section of the war working in a hospital (Backus, 2016) . After the war, Brock worked with a Quaker relief mission to Germany and Poland, starting his enthusiasm for Eastern Europe. After the task came to an end , Brock took graduate studies at Jagiellonian University, getting a doctorate in history in 1950. Later, broke moved to Canada and started working at the University of Toronto. The investigation in Eastern Europe population included studies on history and culture of the Poles, Czechs, and Ukrainians. Brock was able to learn the dialects to understand materials in these dialects. (Patrick & Long, 1999) As a committed historian, Peter did not give the need for learning a new language a chance to hinder him from utilizing essential resources on a theme that intrigued him. Brock's work on “A peace Sect Wrestles with the Problem of Hiring a Substitute” was as a result of the annual meeting which took place in 1780 and 1781 at Pennyslavia. The burdening issue that faced the convention, according to the Peter was the question of a brother being justified to hire a substitute to perform a military function in place of himself or a son (Brock, 2001). The document further outlines the refusal by some individuals to support the war, and this included the Quakers who were against it resulting to their property being taken away forcefully and later being auctioned to enable the government fund the war. Peter presents the primary concern of the Quakers (Brethrens): That it was sinful for them to pay taxes directly to satisfy the process of recruiting military personnel who would take part in blood-shedding. Even though their authorities received direct orders to inform their brethren to collect money, with a threat of being fined for failure, they were not ready to fulfill the command since their conscience would not allow. The reason for this was to present the idea of conscientious objection and its effect on modern consciousness which was due to Vietnam War, forced military services, beliefs that associate with pacifists, and American reconciliation with politics. Pacifists were against any form of violence that was not compatible with Christianity. (Countryman, 2013) Broke describes a period from the late 1650s to the end of the Civil War as one with numerous North Americans rejecting military based on their conscience. The Quakers characterize this era of the war and even further grouping to form Friends’ Ambulance Unit with an objective of stopping the fight. It brings out some of the militia objectors who include William Lloyd Garrison, and the non-sectarians objectors who were in jail. It also brings out the effects of civil war in America
2b.
Peter Broke work reflects on military and religious history that focu s on numerous impacts, challenging, and funny scenes on the lives of faithful dissidents of the time. The source brings out the possible solution to the American Religion and military undergoing. A standout amongst the fascinating idea from these reports is the fundamental part of religion (Brock, 2002). It is evident from the source that all who had declined military administration in this period were motivated by religious feelings, with Quakers being among the most ardent protesters. The challenges these people were going through led to the formation of Religious Society of Friends and, therefore, a fight for the promotion of equal rights, the abolition of slavery and maintaining peace. The significant events as a result of these were the imprisonment of George Fox which amounted to persecution. The parliament made it difficult for the Quakers to operate by passing the Quaker Act of 1662 which prohibited anybody from holding private meetings without taking an oath of allegiance to the crown. Also, the Conventicle Act of 1664 which made it a criminal act to the hold without taking the oath. After a long fight, the movement was successful, and in 1689, the Toleration Act gave freedom of conscience preventing anyone from disturbing worshippers. Before the war, the conservative range extended to incorporate nonsectarian, for example, the well-known abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, author of the New England Non-Resistance Society (Brock, 2015 ). The source reflects the emotional, capable representation of early American pacifism which characterizes human life as very valuable , Liberty and Conscience presents not just the idea and routine with regards to the dissidents themselves, yet additionally the reaction of the experts and the overall population (Brock, 2002). The source brings out the religious liberty in Pennyslavia and the indelibility of Quakers peace testimonies, the restoration policies. Also, the unavailability of Quaker services in the military comes out clearly that the implementation of religious liberty relied on the ability of institutions to adjust their thoughts, which include: consideration of the rights of the religious minority and majority, churches rights, clergy privileges, and the relationship among various denominations.
3.
The two primary sources relate regarding the challenges that were facing people during the colonial era. Isaac Backus advocates for religious liberty. He also complains of the injustices that the Baptists had to go through, being forced to pay taxes to the Congregational church which outlines the lack of genuine religious liberty in Massachusetts. The injustice focuses on deprivation of liberty of conscience. These acts relate to those that Peter Broke presents which include forcing the Quakers to pay taxes against their conscience that did not allow them to pay taxes with the aim of causing bloodshed which was being made possible through military recruitment. Their struggles led to the abolition of these oppressions through the Quaker movement (Religious Society of Friends). Both sources had a focus on creating a better society, free of injustices and oppression. They both had a firm belief in equality among all people and more so, the respect to one’s conscience.
References
B ackus , I. (2016). Church history of New England, from 1620 to 1804 . [S.l.]: Forgotten Books.
Brock, P. (2002). Liberty and conscience (pp. 68 - 69 ). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Countryman, E. (2013). The American Revolution . New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Morrill, J. (2017). The English Revolution as a civil war. Historical Research , 90 (250), 726-741. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-2281.12200
Patrick, J., & Long, G. (1999). Constitutional Debates on Freedom of Religion (pp. 24-27). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
