Roger Williams

Roger Williams National M e m o r i a l Rhode Island National Park Service U.S. D e p a r t m e n t of t h e Interior "...that no civil magistrate, no King, nor Caesar, have any power over the souls or consciences of their subjects, in the matters of God and the crown of Jesus." n t-o hi \ f, i ' C —The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution Cy i "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting' the free exercise thereof." ' '\ —First Amendment, * U.S. • Jl Constitution _ Brown University r 3ritish Library Through word and act Roger Williams fought for the idea that religion must not be subject to regulation by the state—that it should be a matter of individual conscience. Americans take this for granted today, but most people of his time condemned such thoughts as naive and dangerous, believing that religious freedom and civil order could not coexist. Williams extended his defense of the individual conscience to American Indians, respecting their rights and condemning imposed Christianity. As founder of Rhode Island, he put his beliefs into practice, giving "shelter for persons distressed of conscience." Providence City Hali Archives W i t h this d e e d t h e N a r r a g a n s e t t s t r a n s ferred t o Roger Williams the land on which Providence was founded. Williams's beliefs a b o u t f r e e d o m of c o n s c i e n c e w e r e s t a t e d in his t r a c t , The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution. His Christenings make not Christians decried mass conversions of Indians t o C h r i s t i a n i t y as a " p r o p h a n a t i o n o f t h e h o l y n a m e of G o d . " Defender of Conscience Bom in London in 1603, Roger Williams's academic promise drew the attention of eminent jurist Edward Coke, who helped him acquire an excellent education. He was trained as an Anglican clergyman but grew increasingly sympathetic with Puritans, who believed the Church of England had not made a clean enough break with Catholicism. The options for Puritans were to risk jail, or worse, by attempting reform in England or to move to a more tolerant Holland. In 1629 a third choice arose: A group of Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony and elected John Winthrop governor. They sailed the following year, founding Boston and several other settlements. Rejecting the Middle Way Roger and his wife Mary sailed with another group in 1631. On his arrival he was noted by Winthrop as "a godly minister," but it did not take long for the two to clash. Williams soon became a separatist, a Puritan who wanted to leave the Anglican Church. He felt that not separating from the established church was "middle walking" and "halting between Christ and antichrist." But the colony refused so radical a step. Other issues set Williams at odds with the Puritans: He rejected civil jurisdiction over "First Table" laws (the first four of the Ten Commandments), which were matters of individual conscience; he questioned the right of English charters to take land from American Indians; and he denounced "hireling" ministers paid for by taxation and civil oaths taken in God's name. Massachusetts Bay finally sentenced the troublesome minister to deportation; he fled the colony to avoid arrest (see map below). The Narragansetts deeded Williams land in 1636 for a colony at the headwaters of the Narragansett Bay—a place he named Providence after "God's merciful Providence unto me in my distress." After he was joined there by family and a few friends, the settlers formally agreed to "hold forth Liberty of Conscience," making laws "only in civill things." But he had to divide his energies between the new colony—soon called Rhode Island—and other developments. Though he remained an outcast, he was valuable to Massachusetts as a negotiator. When rumors spread that the Narragansetts would ally themselves with the Pequots against the English, Governor Winthrop asked Williams to meet with the Narragansetts to prevent the alliance. Williams succeeded, even persuading them to help the English. The ensuing war of 1637-38 greatly reduced the Pequot population. In the following decades Williams would repeatedly be asked to negotiate with Indians on behalf of the colony that had expelled him. Williams remained busy, establishing a trading post south of Providence around 1637 and cofounding the first Baptist church in North America in 1638. By 1643 the towns of Portsmouth, Newport, and Warwick had also been established in the area by fellow dissenters. That year Williams returned to England to secure a charter for the colony, and in 1651, trying to hold Rhode Island together, he traveled to England again to defend the charter against another grant that threatened to split the colony. In his last years Williams's health deteriorated. In 1676 he reported that he was "near destitute," the result of a lifetime of c o m mitment to the colony without trying to accumulate land or to build up a fortune—the first order of business for many prominent colonists. He had sold his trading post—his one dependable source of income—to finance his 1651 trip to London to defend the colony. Williams died in 1683, his wife Mary having died several years before. T h e D r e a m R e a l i z e d In his final year Williams wrote a letter to the citizens of Rhode Island, pleading with them to put away "heats and hatreds" and "Submit to Government." He also expressed contentment with the colony's charter, which, more than any other, set into law what he had always sought—freedom for the "Souls of Men." For Williams such a goal was selfevident, a truth he had spent his life trying to make others see. Forty years earlier he had written that "a man may clearly discern with his eye, and as it were touch with his finger, that according to the verity of holy scripture...men's consciences ought in no sort to be violated, urged, or constrained." These ideas were specifically addressed, though not so vividly, more than a century later in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Through that document this complex man's abiding passion—freedom of conscience—found protection in the law of the land. Religious Conflict in England England in the 16th century demanded religious conformity, forbidding "unlawful assemblies...under color or pretense of any exercise of religions, contrary to her majesty's said laws." Catholics and radical Puritans who refused to at least outwardly conform suffered all the persecutions the age dealt to dissenters—public humiliation, torture, and sometimes death. The Stuart monarchs of the early 17th century were no more receptive to unorthodoxy. This period, however, coincided with the early migrations to the new world. Crown and Parliament allowed more latitude in these matters in the colonies; many Puritans chose to emigrate. In 1642 conflicts between the Stuarts and Parliament came to a head in the English Civil War, in which Puritans took up the parliamentary cause. Roger Williams's views, however, remained too extreme for both sides. While on a visit to London in 1644 he published The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution, calling for religious freedom for all: "Paganish, Jewish, Turkish, or Antichristian." Parliament ordered all copies burned. By 1653 the country was under the rule of Oliver Cromwell, an Independent Puritan. Independents believed each congregation should order its affairs without interference from an outside body. Williams invoked England's example when urging Massachusetts to allow its churches more freedom. After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Anglicanism was again the national religion; one style of conformity was replaced with another. But dissent was less threatening across the Atlantic. In 1663 Charles II granted Rhode Island a charter confirming that no one would be "molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for difference in opinion in matters of religion." England's 1689 Act of Toleration took a step in that direction, allowing all forms of Protestant worship that recognized the Holy Trinity. Public worship by Catholics and members of other religious groups was still banned. to o> CO 0) LU ® JO o © < I <u c o s «c CQ o £ c s? w o o D i s s e n t e r s like K o g e r W i l l i a m s w n o p u D i i s n e a t h e i r beliefs r i s k e d having t h e i r w o r k s b u r n e d — a t t h e least. E o The Course of Wis Journey February 1631 Williams arrives in Boston. April 1631 Williams declines an offer of a ministry in Boston; he accepts a position as assistant minister in Salem, whose church shares Williams's separatist beliefs. August 1631 Salem is persuaded by the Massachusetts Bay Colony to withdraw its offer. Williams accepts a similar position in Plymouth. Gov. William Bradford describes Williams as a "man godly and zealous, having many precious parts," but the relationship sours. Again Williams's beliefs and his uncomproIsing defense of them lead to a falling out. goes too far, losing the support of his own congregation. Due to Williams's "new and dangerous opinions," Massachusetts Bay convicts him and plans to deport him to England. Barely avoiding arrest, Williams flees the colony in February 1636. Spring 1636 After spending the winter with the Wampanoags, Williams makes his way to the headwaters of Narragansett Bay. There he founds Providence on land deeded to him by the Narragansetts. Roger Williams's portable compass and sundial. By 1633 Williams is back in Salem; he continues to denounce the New England church's connection to the compromising Anglicans and its insistence on the duty of the state to control its citizens' spiritual lives. When Williams urges Salem's church to separate itself from others in Massachusetts Bay, he National Park Service Roger Williams ...in considerationf&f many kindnesses and services he hath continually^donej^or us...we do freely give unto him all that land-front those rivers reaching to Pautexet River." 44 Roger Williams retained close ties with the Narragansett sachems who deeded land to him in 1636. Seven years later Miantonomo, one of the chiefs, was murdered by an enemy * tribe in conspiracy with the English. Williams and the other chief, Canonicus, remained lifelong friends. As payment for the land, Canonicus was over the years allowed to take what he wished from Williams's trading post. Shell bead strings, shown here, were used ceremonially and as a medium of exchange. Peabody Essex Museum To Know a People The Algonquian-speaking tribes that Roger Williams c a m e to k n o w s o w e l l h a d l o n g p r o s p e r e d in s o u t h e a s t e r n N e w E n g l a n d . B y t h e t i m e t h e first P u r i t a n s a r r i v e d in t h e i r h o m e l a n d , t h e s e t r i b e s h a d a l r e a d y e n c o u n t e r e d a n u m b e r of E u r o p e a n s , f r o m B a s q u e f i s h e r m e n t o t r a d e r s a n d e x p l o r e r s like V e r r a z a n o . T h e y were ready to deal with the English settlers o n equal t e r m s . T h e t r i b e s of t h e r e g i o n — P e q u o t , W a m p a n o a g , N a r r a g a n s e t t — w e r e migratory people whose e c o n o m y w a s based on a combination of a g r i c u l t u r e a n d h u n t i n g a n d g a t h e r i n g . T h e y m o v e d w i t h t h e y e a r l y c y c l e s , m a k i n g t h e r o u n d of e s t a b l i s h e d p l a c e s w h e r e t h e y c o u l d b e s t e x p l o i t t h e r e s o u r c e s o f t h e s e a s o n s . In s p r i n g t h e y s e t t l e d in d i s p e r s e d g r o u p s in c o a s t a l a r e a s , a l w a y s n e a r a w a t e r w a y , living in c i r c u l a r w i g w a m s m a d e o f b e n t s a p l i n g s c o v ered with w o v e n reed mats, hides, or bark. They harvested fish and shellfish, t r a p p e d d u c k s and geese, h u n t e d , a n d gathered a v a r i e t y of p l a n t f o o d s . P e r i o d i c b u r n i n g s o f large a r e a s c r e a t e d g r a z i n g m e a d o w s t o d r a w deer, a s t a p l e g a m e a n i m a l , a n d o p e n e d u p fields for planting maize, beans, a n d s q u a s h . The r e m a i n i n g f i r e - r e s i s t a n t t r e e s p r o d u c e d a h a r v e s t of n u t s in t h e fall. T h o u g h t h e y n e v e r l i v e d in s e t t l e m e n t s large e n o u g h t o b e c a l l e d " v i l l a g e s , " in w i n t e r t h e y m o v e d i n l a n d t o c o n v e r g e in s h e l t e r e d v a l l e y s . T h e r e s e v e r a l f a m i l i e s l i v e d in l o n g h o u s e s o f t h e same construction as w i g w a m s . During the cold m o n t h s they relied o n f r e s h s h e l l f i s h , s t o r e d f o o d , a n d h u n t i n g t o m a k e it t h r o u g h lean times. A F r a g i l e B o n d Roger Williams spent a lifetime trying t o forge closer ties w i t h the W a m p a n o a g a n d Narragansett tribes— e s p e c i a l l y t h e latter. T h e N a r r a g a n s e t t s d e e d e d h i m t h e l a n d f o r P r o v i d e n c e a n d , w i t h t h e W a m p a n o a g s , h e l p e d t h e s e t t l e r s in t h e c o l o n y ' s early m o n t h s . T h e r e a f t e r W i l l i a m s m a i n t a i n e d a c o m p l e x relationship with the Indians, defending their rights, studying t h e m as an anthropologist, a n d dealing w i t h t h e m as a d i p l o m a t . In 1 6 4 3 W i l l i a m s p u b l i s h e d A Key into the Language of America, w h i c h a l t e r n a t e d t r a n s l a t i o n s of N a r r a g a n s e t t w o r d s w i t h r e l a t e d o b s e r v a t i o n s o n t h e t r i b e ' s c u l t u r e . For e x a m p l e , uppaquontup (the h e a d ) a n d wesheck (hair) p r e c e d e d t h e o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t " s o m e c u t t h e i r haire r o u n d , a n d s o m e a s l o w a n d a s s h o r t a s t h e s o b e r E n g l i s h . " W i l l i a m s ' s religious t r a c t , Christenings make not Christians, w a s a p o w e r f u l c o n d e m n a t i o n of m a s s Indian conversions, b a s e d o n the a s s u m p t i o n that the c o n s c i e n c e of an Indian s h o u l d b e as inviolate as that of a European. H e p r e a c h e d t h e g o s p e l a n d l i v e d t h e C h r i s t i a n life a s a n e x a m ple t o t h e m , but always believed they h a d the right t o w o r s h i p as they wished. A s m u c h as Williams a d m i r e d the Indians, he never romanticized t h e m . To h i m t h e y c o u l d b e b o t h n o b l e a n d " i n s o l e n t . " A n d h e w a s f i r s t of all E n g l i s h : H e h e a d e d a m i l i t i a d u r i n g K i n g P h i l i p ' s War, t h e n p r e s i d e d o v e r t h e s a l e of I n d i a n s l a v e s t o raise m o n e y for English families w h o h a d l o s t t h e i r h o m e s in t h e w a r . N e v e r theless, Williams had a deep respect for tribal rights that w a s extraordinary f o r his t i m e . W h e n s e t t l e r s s e i z e d I n d i a n land, Williams asserted that the Indian h a d a s s t r o n g a s e n s e of l a n d o w n e r s h i p a s t h e E n g l i s h . W h e n o t h e r s , in t h e Indian d e e d t o R h o d e Island, c h o s e t o interpret the granting of grazing rights a l o n g a river b a n k t o m e a n r i g h t s t o t h e e n t i r e r e g i o n , W i l l i a m s i n s i s t e d o n a literal i n t e r p r e t a t i o n . P e r h a p s t h e b e s t indicator of Williams's relationship with t h e I n d i a n s is t h e d y i n g r e q u e s t of t h e Williams wrote the first Narragansett sachem Canonicus, the extensive lexicon of an grantor of that d e e d a n d a m a n t o American Indian language w h o m Williams attributed "infinite w i s Brown University d o m a n d m e r i t s . " C a n o n i c u s a s k e d t h a t W i l l i a m s a t t e n d his f u n e r a l a n d t h a t h e b e b u r i e d in c l o t h g i v e n t o h i m b y W i l l i a m s . W i l l i a m s k n e w C a n o n i c u s a n d his p e o p l e a s d i d f e w o t h e r s . B u t u n l i k e his f i g h t f o r r e l i g i o u s f r e e d o m , his c h a m p i o n i n g o f I n d i a n r i g h t s b o r e little f r u i t . T h e r i c h , c o m p l e x c u l t u r e s o f 1 6 2 0 w e r e b y 1 6 7 6 r e e l i n g f r o m w a r a n d d i s e a s e . In t h e e n d E u r o p e a n s t o o k v i r t u a l l y all o f t h e i r l a n d s . R o g e r W i l l i a m s , t h o u g h , p l a y e d a l e a d i n g role in h e l p i n g t h e s e E u r o p e a n s u n d e r s t a n d t h e first s e t t l e r s of North A m e r i c a . ft GPO:2001—472470/00420 Printed on recycled paper. From The History and Antiquities of New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsyivania, 1842. In 1675 King Philip's War erupted, with Wampanoags and Narragansetts in league against the English. After a year of the bloodiest fighting yet between Indians and colonists, the latter prevailed; Indian military and political power were broken in southeastern New England. When the English attacked a palisaded fort in the Great Swamp (above), hundreds of Narragansett men, women, and children died in the "Great Swamp Massacre." (Below) Tobacco pipe used by New England Indians. Library of Congress Rhode Island Historical Society The Rev. John Eliot's 1663 translation of the Bible into an Algonquian dialect was the first of its kind. Williams made Brown University phonetic transcriptions in the margins of his copy (left). The Wampanoag sachem Metacom—called "King Philip" by the English — was angered by the loss of tribal lands. There are no 17th-century images of Metacom; this drawing is a later artist's conjecture. Rhode Island: Refuge for Belief R h o d e Island lived up t o its charter, t o l e r a t ing all f o r m s of w o r s h i p a n d s h e l t e r i n g s u c h religious f u g i t i v e s as A n n e H u t c h i n s o n , a f e l l o w exile f r o m M a s s a c h u s e t t s . J e w i s h s e t tlers w h o s e a n c e s t o r s w e r e e x p e l l e d f r o m Spain a n d P o r t u g a l in t h e 15th c e n t u r y c a m e t o R h o d e Island in s e a r c h of religious t o l e r ation. When some colonists questioned the J e w s ' right t o b e c o m e c i t i z e n s , t h e General A s s e m b l y a n s w e r e d : " t h e y m a y e x p e c t as g o o d p r o t e c t i o n here as a n y s t r a n g e r r e s i d ing a m o n g u s . " B a p t i s t s , b a r r e d f r o m M a s s a c h u s e t t s , w e r e also w e l c o m e in R h o d e Island. W i l l i a m s h i m s e l f f o u n d e d t h e f i r s t B a p t i s t c h u r c h in N o r t h A m e r i c a . He s t a y e d w i t h t h e g r o u p only briefly, however, c o m i n g t o believe t h a t n o earthly c h u r c h c o u l d ever fit t h e " f i r s t a n d a n c i e n t p a t t e r n " of t h e N e w Testament, at least until t h e r e t u r n of C h r i s t . Yet Roger Williams's belief in religious f r e e d o m s h o u l d n o t be c o n f u s e d w i t h a c a s u a l a c c e p t a n c e of all f a i t h s . W h e n he w a s 69, Williams r o w e d 30 m i l e s f r o m P r o v i d e n c e t o Newport for a spirited debate with Quakers. He m i s t r u s t e d a r e l i g i o n t h a t relied m o r e o n " i n n e r l i g h t " t h a n o n t h e N e w T e s t a m e n t . His passionate opposition to the Quakers m a k e s it all t h e m o r e s i g n i f i c a n t t h a t n o Q u a k e r in R h o d e Island w a s ever p u n i s h e d f o r his or her religious beliefs or p r a c t i c e s — this during a period when Massachusetts b a r r e d Q u a k e r s , h a n g i n g f o u r of t h e m f o r repeatedly returning to the colony after being expelled. The first charter for Rhode Island s t a t e d t h a t as l o n g as t h e y o b e y e d t h e civil l a w s , all its c i t i z e n s w e r e f r e e t o " w a l k as t h e i r c o n s c i e n c e s p e r s u a d e t h e m . " W i l l i a m s l i k e n e d R h o d e Island t o " m a n y a H u n d r e d S o u l s in o n e s h i p . " T h e c a p t a i n should punish those w h o "refuse to obey the c o m m o n l a w s a n d o r d e r s of t h e s h i p , " b u t " n o n e of t h e P a p i s t s , P r o t e s t a n t s , J e w s , o r T u r k s [ s h o u l d ] be f o r c e d t o c o m e t o t h e Ship's Prayers or W o r s h i p ; nor, s e c o n d l y , c o m p e l l e d f r o m t h e i r o w n p a r t i c u l a r Prayers or W o r s h i p , if t h e y p r a c t i c e any." This c o m p e l l i n g i m a g e d e f i n i n g t h e role of t h e s t a t e set t h e p a t t e r n f o r a n a t i o n . u c 5~ C£ CD Q. £' I The First Baptist Meeting House, near Roger Williams National Memorial, represents one of many active faiths in Providence. Visiting Roger Williams National Memorial Roger Williams National M e m o r i a l , o n 4.5 a c r e s , is o p e n seven days a week, 9 a.m. t o 4:30 p.m., except T h a n k s giving, D e c e m b e r 25, a n d J a n u a r y 1 . Free parking is available, and t h e p a r k is wheelchair accessible. G r o u p s n e e d t o make arrangements in advance. B e r n o n Grove c o m m e m o rates Gabriel Bernon, a 17th-century H u g u e n o t w h o fled persecution in France a n d s e t t l e d in P r o v i d e n c e . He is b u r i e d a c r o s s t h e s t r e e t in St. J o h n ' s Cathedral, w h i c h he h e l p e d f o u n d (as K i n g ' s Church). The Hahn M e m o r i a l (right) w a s built on land d o n a t e d in t h e n a m e of t h e first J e w i s h c i t i zen of Providence t o hold elected office. In t h e visitor c e n t e r is a s m a l l e x h i b i t o n t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e of Roger Williams's life a n d ideas. For M o r e I n f o r m a tion: write Superintendent, Roger Williams National M e m o r i a l , 282 N. Main Street, Provid e n c e , Rl 02903; call 401-521-7266; visit www.nps.gov/rowi o n t h e Internet. Directions: From 1-95 North, Exit 23, State Offices; left at light t o e n d of O r m s St.; a t l i g h t , r i g h t o n t o C h a r l e s St.; continue straight t h r o u g h o n e light, t h e n q u i c k left i n t o m e m o r i a l lot. From 1-95 South, Exit 23, Charles St.; first left, continue through three lights; after t h i r d light, q u i c k left i n t o m e m o r i a l lot. Related Sites: The First Baptist M e e t i n g H o u s e , built in 1775, is t h e p l a c e of w o r ship for the Baptist congregation organized by Williams a n d o t h e r s in 1638. On Prospect Terr a c e , a large s t a t u e of W i l l i a m s m a r k s w h e r e his r e m a i n s a n d t h o s e of his wife Mary were reint e r r e d in 1939. T h e t e r r a c e also o f f e r s a n e x c e l l e n t v i e w of t h e city. T h e R h o d e Island S t a t e H o u s e h a s i n s c r i b e d over its p o r t i c o t h e s e words from the colo n y ' s 1663 r o y a l charter: "To hold f o r t h a lively e x p e r i ment that a most f l o u r i s h i n g civil s t a t e may stand and best be m a i n t a i n e d w i t h f u l l l i b e r t y in r e l i g ious c o n c e r n m e n t s . " .c o. ra o o £ « 111 Q. !••••Memorials •.! •••'.!.i •!•symbolic •.'... •!.! well fA.. marks the loca- z The I!l Hahn tion of a 17th-century spring. Discovered by Roger Williams, this source of fresh water sustained the new settlement on the bank of the saltwater cove.