Roger Williams believed, as all Puritans did, that other European religions were wrong. He thought the spiritual traditions of the Native Americans were wrong, too. But he did not believe in trying to force others to agree with him. He thought that it was a sin to punish or kill anyone in the name of Christianity. And he thought that only members of the church should have to pay to support the church.
Roger Williams began speaking and writing about his ideas. He wrote a book arguing that it was wrong to punish people for having different beliefs. Then he declared that the European settlers were stealing land that belonged to the Indians. He said the king of England had no right to let people settle on land that was not his.
The Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony forced Roger Williams to leave the colony in sixteen thirty-six. He traveled south. He bought land from local Indians and started a city, Providence. The English Parliament gave him permission to establish a new colony, Rhode Island, with Providence as its capital. As a colony, Rhode Island accepted people of all religious beliefs, including Catholics, Quakers, Jews and even people who did not believe in God.
Roger Williams also believed that governments should have no connection to a church. This idea of separating church and state was new. Later it would become one of the most important of all the governing principles of American democracy.
Other colonies were started by people who left Massachusetts to seek land. One of those colonies was Connecticut. A group led by a Puritan minister named Thomas Hooker left Boston in sixteen thirty-six. They moved inland and settled near the Connecticut River. Others soon joined them.
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2013-11-25
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2013-11-25
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2013-11-25