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DDH - The Expulsion of Roger Williams · Plausibly Live - The Dave Bowman Show Podcast

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  History is strange, it's alien, and it won't give us what we
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  would like to have. Welcome back to Dave Does
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  History. Today we talk about a story of
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  rebellion, religious freedom, and the founding of America's
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  most unique colony. It's the story of 1 Roger
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  Williams, banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony on
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  October 9th, 1635 for spreading what was considered to be new
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  and dangerous ideas. But these dangerous ideas, like
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  the separation of church and state of state and freedom of
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  religion, are at the core of what we now hold dear in this
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  country. So how does a devout Christian
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  like Mr. Williams become Public Enemy number one for the
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  Puritans? Why does he go on to become the
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  founder of the colony of Rhode Island, a place of religious
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  tolerance? What's the legacy of this man
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  who refused to conform to the status quo?
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  Well, let's start at the beginning Now.
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  To understand Rodger Williams's story, you need to know a little
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  bit about the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
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  In the early 1630's, the Puritans were fleeing England to
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  establish what they hoped would be a shining example for
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  Christian Commonwealth. They didn't just want to escape
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  religious persecution, they wanted to build a society that
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  was entirely based on their religious beliefs, as they
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  called it. A city on the hill sounds noble.
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  But here's the problem. The vision did not include
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  freedom of religion. You either followed their
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  version of Christianity or you were a problem.
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  If you thought outside the box, or worse, you preached outside
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  the box, you were seen as a threat to the entire community.
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  And that, of course, brings us to Rodger Williams.
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  So who was this troublemaker? Well, Rodger Williams was an
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  English born Puritan minister. He arrived in Massachusetts in
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  1631, a few years after the colony had really begun to take
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  shape. Now, he wasn't some radical
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  trying to dismantle religion. He was a devout Christian,
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  deeply committed to his faith. But, and it's a pretty big but,
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  his views on that faith clashed with the colony's leadership in
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  a very big way. Williams believed in something
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  that would later become one of the core principles of America,
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  the separation of church and state.
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  He believed that it was wrong, morally and biblically, for the
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  government to interfere in matters of faith.
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  He argued that people should be free to follow their own
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  conscience when it came to religion without fear of
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  punishment by the state. In Puritan Massachusetts, this
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  idea was, well, heresy. Now, it wasn't just the
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  separationist church and state that got him into trouble.
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  He also had another bombshell view.
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  He believed that the land that the Puritans were living on
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  wasn't rightfully theirs. He criticized the colonial
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  charters that gave them claim to the land, arguing that they
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  should have probably properly compensated the Native
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  Americans. He went so far to say that the
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  King of England had no right to grant land that didn't belong to
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  him in the first place. Naturally, this did not go over
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  well with colonies leaders. Puritans saw their charters as
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  divinely ordained. Here was Roger Williams saying,
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  Nope, you're wrong and you need to make amends with the native
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  people. Needless to say, that made him
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  pretty unpopular. Governor John Withthrop and
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  other leaders started to see Williams as a major threat, not
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  just to their authority, but to the colony's very survival.
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  After all, if word got back to England that the colony was
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  questioning royal authority, well, they'd have a whole other
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  set of problems on their hands. By 1635, the conflict had come
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  to a head. The courts of the colony
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  formally charged Williams with spreading new and dangerous
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  ideas. When we say dangerous, we're
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  talking about ideas that could tear apart the very fabric of
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  their community, at least in their minds.
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  They summoned him to court, and after a series of heated
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  discussions, they made their decision.
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  Banishment. Now, here's the thing.
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  Williams didn't get just kicked out with a handshake.
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  And they, you know, good luck. See you later.
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  He was ordered to leave the colony in the middle of winter.
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  Pretty much a death sentence in New England if you didn't have
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  the right connections or resources.
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  Williams was a pretty sharp guy and he'd gotten word ahead of
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  time of what was going to happen.
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  So before the court could toss him out, he slipped away into
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  the wilderness, was helped by his friends amongst the local
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  Native American tribes, and this is where the next chapter of his
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  life begins. Williams wasn't done, in fact,
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  his most famous work was just beginning.
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  He fled to an area that would become modern day Rhode Island
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  and in 1636 he founded the settlement of Providence.
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  Now what made Providence different?
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  It was built on the very principles that got him
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  banished. Complete religious freedom and a
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  strict separation of church and state.
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  Anyone who wanted to practice their faith, whatever it was,
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  could do so in Providence without fear of persecution.
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  Catholics, Jews, Quakers, Baptists, everyone was welcome.
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  Was in fact a very radical idea. The time when religious
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  conformity was the rule just about everywhere else.
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  Williams also maintained strong relations with the Native
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  Americans, particularly the local tribes.
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  He learned their language, treated them as equals, and
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  bought land from them fairly, which was unheard of at the
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  time, and it cemented his legacy as one of the most forward
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  thinking men of his day. Now Williams ideas may have been
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  seen as radical in 1635, but today they formed the backbone
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  of what we consider to be American values, separation of
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  church and state. You can thank Rodger Williams
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  for that. Religious freedom again,
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  Williams one of the first people in America to truly advocate for
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  it, not just Christians, but for all people.
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  His little settlement in Rhode Island became a haven for
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  religious dissenters from all over the colonies.
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  It was one of the few places in the early Americas where people
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  of different faiths could live together in relative harmony.
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  As time went on, his influence grew.
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  His writings on religious liberty would later inspire the
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  framers of the Constitution and particularly the 1st Amendment.
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  Might wonder if any of the candidates running for president
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  now have ever heard of him or read any of his writings.
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  The idea that the government should have no role in religion.
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  That was Williams years before it became mainstream.
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  Rodger Williams was a man ahead of his time.
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  Banished for daring to believe that faith should be free and
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  that the state had no business in the church.
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  He turned his exile into opportunity.
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  He created something new, place where liberty, religious Freedom
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  and Justice could thrive. And in doing so, he left a
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  legacy that resonates to this day, not just in Rhode Island,
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  but across the entire United States.
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  Next time you hear about the 1st Amendment religious freedom,
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  remember Rodger Williams, the rebel Puritan who refused to
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  back down and who changed the course of American history?
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  Thanks for listening. Be sure to join us next time
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  when we take a trip to France. We'll look at one of the most
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  significant battles in history, one that shaped the world we
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  live in today. Check out more stories from
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  history@davedoeshistory.org.