Online Library of Liberty

Person

Portrait of Ebenezer Radcliffe

Ebenezer Radcliffe

1732–1809

Nonconformist minister and political writer who championed individual liberty.

Educated at the Dissenting Academy in Northampton, he became a "Rational Dissenter," and fought for religious freedom, petitioning Parliament to end laws forcing conformity to the 39 Articles of the Anglican confession. A supporter of the Americans, he aligned with Joseph Priestley, arguing that British tyranny abroad threatened liberty at home.