This effort was carried on with varying degrees of success up to the beginning of the Revolutionary War. In 1701 under the leadership of Governor Walker, a movement was begun looking to the establishment of the Episcopal Church as the State Church. Their chief religious activity seems to have consisted in railing at the Dissenters, doing all in their power to impede their progress and persecuting them to the extent of their ability. Their greater wealth, superior culture and the official position of their leaders together with their greater pretentions, gave them an influence out of proportion to their numbers and Christian example. Among these earlier settlers, Church of England people composed the smallest body. The Baptists and Independents seem to have co-operated, and ultimately the Independents united with the Baptists. These Baptists, Quakers and Independents began to settle in the colony previous to 1660, probably some of them came before 1656. They came as refugees from persecution in the hope of finding absolute religious and civil liberties. Baptists and Quakers were among the earlier settlers in North Carolina.
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