Introduction to our forthcoming book - An Anthology of the Early Baptists in Rhode Island

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the Union, . . . but its impact on America— and one could say throughout the world—for religious liberty has been tremendous. That impact came mainly through the influence of four key individuals: the Congregational-Separatist Roger Williams and his Baptist contemporary John Clarke in the seventeenth century, and in the following century through Baptist leaders James Manning and Isaac Backus. . . In this second volume of our Anthology Series, we’ll retrace through some of the earliest Baptist histories written on Rhode Island how Baptist principles came to be settled in the region. --Terry Wolever