John Leland: A Jeffersonian Baptist in Early America

John Leland (1754-1841) was one of the most influential and entertaining religious figures in early America. As an itinerant revivalist, he demonstrated an uncanny ability to connect with a popular audience, and contributed to the rise of a "democratized" Christianity in America. A tireless activist for the rights of conscience, Leland also waged a decades-long war for disestablishment, first in Virginia and then in New England. Leland advocated for full religious freedom for all-not merely Baptists and Protestants-and reportedly negotiated a deal with James Madison to include a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. Leland developed a reputation for being "mad for politics" in early America, delivering political orations, publishing tracts, and mobilizing New England's Baptists on behalf of the Jeffersonian Republicans. He crowned his political activity by famously delivering a 1,200-pound cheese to Thomas Jefferson's White House. Leland also stood among eighteenth-century Virginia's most powerful anti-slavery advocates, and convinced one wealthy planter to emancipate over 400 of his slaves. Though among the most popular Baptists in America, Leland's fierce individualism and personal eccentricity often placed him at odds with other Baptist leaders. He refused ordination, abstained from the Lord's Supper, and violently opposed the rise of Baptist denominationalism. In the first-ever biography of Leland, Eric C. Smith recounts the story of this pivotal figure from American Religious History, whose long and eventful life provides a unique window into the remarkable transformations that swept American society from 1760 to 1840.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: "The Cheesemonger" 1. "High-Flying, Separate New Light:" The Forging of an Individualist 2. "Young and Roving:" Itinerating in Virginia 3. "Religion is a Matter between God and Individuals:" The Rights of Conscience 4. "A Bow Too Great for My Stiff Neck:" Resisting the Baptist Church 5. "I Dare Not Pull Up Stakes:" The Persistence of Populist Calvinism 6. "A Very Prince Among Democrats:" Baptist Preacher, Party Whip 7. "Consistent with the Principles of Good Policy:" A Long Journey with Slavery 8. "In the Tub of Diogenes:" Evangelical Contrarian 9. "Awakened in a New World:" A Baptist Rip Van Winkle Bibliography

About the Author :
Eric C. Smith is the Senior Pastor of Sharon Baptist Church in Savannah, Tennessee, and a historian of American Baptists and early American religion. He is also the author of Oliver Hart and the Rise of Baptist America (OUP, 2020) and Order & Ardor: The Revival Spirituality of Oliver Hart and the Regular Baptists of Eighteenth-Century South Carolina (USC Press, 2018). He and his wife, Candace, have three children.

Review :
I am thankful for Eric Smith writing this book on Leland and giving modern Baptists a resource that will serve us well. At long last the biography that John Leland deserves! Smith relies on extensive research and sound judgment to dissolve the myths and misunderstandings that have long obscured the real story of Leland's life. The real story nevertheless reads like a tall tale. It is a remarkable achievement. Smith has opened an expansive window into American life and religion in the formative decades of our national experience. There are few more colorful, eccentric, or consequential preachers in American history than the Baptist evangelist and ardent advocate of religious liberty Elder John Leland. In John Leland: A Jeffersonian Baptist in Early America, pastor, historian, and gifted storyteller Eric C. Smith vividly chronicles Leland's life and theology, reminding modern readers of the mark Leland made on the religious and political cultures of the new nation. Baptist evangelist John Leland was one of the most influential religious and political figures in Revolutionary America, yet he has been strangely neglected by historians. Eric Smith has admirably rectified that neglect with thisauthoritative and engaging biography. This biography is much richer than space allows here is sufficient to communicate. It is copiously researched and documented. This is must reading for anyone interested in religious freedom and the Baptist heritage. My thanks to Eric Smith for this much needed resource. This is an excellent biographical study....Smith's monograph is enormously helpful in understanding why Baptists have flourished in America.