Baptists in the United States

Baptists have been present in the part of North America that is now the United States since the early seventeenth century. The origins of the Baptist faith go back to the Reformation in England in the sixteenth century. Various dissenters, known as "Puritans", called for the Church of England to be stripped of its remaining Catholic influences and return to the simple faith of the New Testament Christians. These dissenters also called for strict accountability in their covenant with God. One of the prominent dissenters who arose in the seventeenth century was John Smyth. Smyth was a strong proponent of adult baptism and in 1609 went so far as to rebaptize himself and others. Smyth's action was a sign of the first English Baptist church. Smyth also introduced the Arminian view that God's grace is for everyone and not just predestined individuals.