In this short video, learn about Roger Williams’s contentious views on religious freedom and his challenges to the authority of the Massachusetts Bay government. Examine Roger Williams’s legacy as a defender of religious liberty and his lasting influence on the development of American society. Click here for a 13-minute podcast posted on Well ain’t that interesting? on January 28, 2025.

Learn about the founding of Massachusetts Bay Colony and dive into the early years of the Colony and the religious and social principles that shaped its community.

Learn how education and literacy were valued in Puritan New England, while strict rules goverened Sunday behavior. Williams was welcomed at first but soon began espousing radical ideas such as the separation of church and state and the purchase of Indigenous land.

Williams was exiled from Massachusetts in January, 1636 and made his way first to the Pokanoket Massasoit Ousamequin in Sowams and then across the Seekonk River to establish the colony of Rhode Island, a refuge for religious and political freedom.