Williams, Roger (ca. 1603-1683)

Williams, Roger (ca. 1603-1683)

Englishborn New England Protestant clergyman, known for his individualistic views on religion, politics, and democracy in political and ecclesiastical government. Progressing in belief from the Anglicans through the Separatists and Baptists to the Seekers, he was expelled from Massachusetts for establishing a democratic organization in his church at Salem, and founded the colony of Rhode Island. He was a friend of both Milton and Cromwell in England, took part in the English Civil War, and engaged in a vigorous pamphlet controversy with the Puritan John Cotton. His works include A Key into the Language of America ( 1643), a study of Indian languages; Queries of Highest Consideration ( 1643), a plea addressed to the English Parliament against the establishment of a national church; Mr. Cotton Letter Lately Printed, Examined, and Answered ( 1644); The Bloody Tenent of Persecution ( 1644), his most famous work; The Bloody Tenent Yet More Bloody ( 1652); The Hireling Ministry None of Christ's ( 1652); George Foxe Digged Out of His Burrows ( 1676).

Williams befriended the Indians and established a democratic government in Rhode Island, permitting complete religious toleration, although he did attack the views of the Quakers and engaged in a bitter dispute with them. He is considered one of the most important crusaders for democratic rights in the American colonies in the period before the Revolution.