As of 2014, about 15.3% of Americans identified as Baptist, making Baptists the second-largest religious group in the United States, after Roman Catholics. By 2020, Baptists had become the third-largest religious group in the United States, with the rise of nondenominational Protestantism. Most modern Baptists generally adhere to a congregational church polity, so local congregations are independent and ultimately autonomous, meaning that their broadly Christian religious beliefs can—and do—vary. Baptists account for about one-third of all Protestants in the United States: some mainline, many evangelical. Divisions have resulted in numerous Baptist bodies, some with historical lineage and others more modernly organized. Many Baptists operate independently or practice their faith in entirely independent congregations.
English Baptists migrated to the American colonies during the seventeenth century. Baptist theological reflection informed how the colonists understood their presence in the New World, especially in Rhode Island through the preaching of Roger Williams, John Clarke, and others. During the 18th century, the Great Awakening resulted in the conversion of many slaves to Baptist churches, although they were often segregated and relegated to lower status within Baptist churches. Although Baptists opposed slavery during this period, many later Baptists in the South remained slave holders and still others considered it a political decision and not a moral issue.
