My Counter Cultural Figure
Roger Williams as the Counter Cultural Figure
Roger Williams was born in 1603 and died in 1684. He was born a Puritan in London, England. After graduating from Cambridge, he became chaplain to a rich family. He was founder of Rhode Island. He believed religious freedom. He denied the authority of the Massachusetts charter. He challenged the Puritans to acknowledge they had separated from the Church of England. He also refused a call to the prestigious First Church of Boston, and the General Court sent him away in 1635.
William’s apparent toleration of personal religious differences seems to contradict his radical and extreme Puritanism. Williams became the founder of Rhode Island. In 1647, the colony on Rhode Island was united with Providence under a single government, and liberty of conscience was again declared. The area became a safe haven for people who were persecuted for their beliefs: Baptists, Quakers, Jews, and others went there to follow their consciences in peace and safety. Rhode Island passed the first law in North America that was to make slavery illegal. On his return in 1654, Williams was elected president of the colony and served three terms. Williams was a Christian, but he disassociated himself to go to churches. He supported the Puritanism and left the country to the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1631. He even said that the civil judges had no power over matters of conscience. Williams died in early 1684 and was buried on his own property.