Episode 417: Roger Williams, Rogue Puritan

When we think of early American champions of religious liberty, one name often rises above the rest: Roger Williams.

Williams is widely remembered as the founder of Rhode Island and a strong advocate for the separation of church and state. But what kind of man turns down a prestigious ministerial position in Boston, only to be banished– and then builds an entirely new colony grounded in radical ideas?

Today, we attempt to answer that question by investigating the life and legacy of Roger Williams, a nonconformist among religious nonconformists.

To help guide us on our investigation of Williams’ life, we’re joined by three co-editors of the documentary collection Reading Roger Williams: Rogue Puritans, Indigenous Nations, and the Founding of America: Linford Fisher, an Associate Professor of History at Brown University, Sheila McIntyre, a Professor of History at the State University of New York, Potsdam, and Julie Fisher, a scholar of Native American history.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Episode Summary

This episode features three guests:
Linford Fisher is an Associate Professor of History at Brown University and the author of The Indian Great Awakening: Religion and the Shaping of Native Culture in Early America.

Sheila McIntyre is a Professor of History at the State University of New York, Potsdam, and the editor of The Correspondence of John Cotton, Jr., 1640-1699.

Julie Fisher is a scholar of early America and Native American History, and the co-author of Ninigret, Sachem of the Niantics and Narragansetts.

Together, they have co-edited Reading Roger Williams: Rogue Puritans, Indigenous Nations, and the Founding of America, a one-volume work of Roger Williams’ writings.

During our exploration, Lin, Sheila, and Julie reveal the religious convictions that drove Roger Williams to migrate to and then break away from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Roger Williams’ collaborations and relationships with Indigenous leaders. And, details about the founding of Rhode Island, a colony where church and state were formally separated and religious liberty was extended farther than anywhere else in early North America.

What You’ll Discover

Overview of Roger Williams
The English minority among a Native majority
The importance of including Native voices
Roger Williams’ migration to the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Puritanism and its nonconformity with Anglicanism
Williams’ arrival in Boston in 1631
Why Roger Williams declined a job at First Church of Boston
Roger Williams’ wife, Mary Barnard
Roger Williams’ theology
Religious landscape of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Roger Williams’ banishment from Massachusetts
Roger Williams, “friend to Native peoples”
Williams’ religious intentions toward Indigenous peoples
Williams’ agreement with the Narragansett to settle at Providence
The establishment of the colony of Rhode Island
Roger Williams’ views on Quakers
The Pequot War
Metacom’s War/King Philip’s War
Roger Williams’ legacy

Links to People, Places, and Publications

1776 in Context Question

In your opinion, what impact do you think Roger Williams and his work and life had on shaping the Revolution’s ideas about religious freedom and its pursuit? Sheila, would you like to start?

Complementary Episodes

🎧 Episode 118: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island
🎧 Episode 290: The World of the Wampanoag, Part 1
🎧 Episode 291: The World of the Wampanoag, Part 2
🎧 Episode 356: The Moravian Church in North America
🎧 Episode 373: The Gaspee Affair
🎧 Episode 392: Religion and Race in Early America

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