Virginians Reborn

About this book

"Virginians Reborn examines the intricate processes by which the Baptists were able to take root, expand, and successfully compete for converts in the colonial period. By 1790, Virginia was the most Baptist state in America, as well as the point of origin of a massive early nineteenth-century western migration that helped spread the faith across the country." "Based primarily on church records, ministers' writings, local records, imperial correspondence, and newspaper accounts, this study looks at the geographical patterns of Baptist expansion, the techniques dissenters used to gain adherents, and the distinctiveness of Baptist worship and its cultural resonances in Virginia. The book traces how the American Revolution created a new context favorable to Baptists, and how the rise of this faith echoed and reinforced the development of a distinctive, pro slavery form of republicanism. As Virginians embraced new political forms and sought to reconcile them with slavery and household patriarchy, the book argues, they could find instructive models in the particulars of Baptist fellowship." "Ultimately, the book chronicles a dual process of rebirth as Virginians simultaneously formed a republic and became evangelical Christians."--BOOK JACKET.