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Memoir of Roger Williams, the Founder of the State of Rhode-Island cover

Memoir of Roger Williams, the Founder of the State of Rhode-Island

Chapter 1: MEMOIR OF ROGER WILLIAMS, THE FOUNDER OF THE STATE OF RHODE-ISLAND.
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About This Book

The biography traces Roger Williams from dissenting convictions through clashes with colonial authorities, banishment, and the founding of a colony that reflected his commitments to religious liberty and separation of church and state. It examines his theological and political writings, relations with Indigenous peoples and fellow settlers, and the controversies that affected his reputation. The narrative relies on unpublished letters, a facsimile of his handwriting, and other contemporary documents to reconcile conflicting accounts. The author seeks to reassess misconceptions about his character and to emphasize his sustained advocacy for freedom of conscience amid the turbulence of early New England settlement.

MEMOIR
OF
ROGER WILLIAMS.

FAC SIMILE OF THE HANDWRITING OF ROGER WILLIAMS.

Copied from a Document written in 1677.

MEMOIR
OF
ROGER WILLIAMS,
THE
FOUNDER OF THE STATE
OF
RHODE-ISLAND.

BY JAMES D. KNOWLES,
PROFESSOR OF PASTORAL DUTIES IN THE NEWTON THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION.

“Roger Williams justly claims the honor of having been the first legislator in the world, in its latter ages, that fully and effectually provided for and established a full, free and absolute liberty of conscience.”

Governor Hopkins.
BOSTON:
LINCOLN, EDMANDS AND CO.
1834.
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1833,
BY JAMES D. KNOWLES,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.
Lewis & Penniman, Printers.
Bromfield-street.
TO THE
Citizens of Rhode-Island,
THIS VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY
THE AUTHOR.