Portal:Rhode Island/Selected article/15

Roger Williams (c. 21 December 1603 – between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was a Puritan, an English Reformed theologian, and later a Reformed Baptist. He was expelled by the Puritan leaders from the colony of Massachusetts because they thought that he was spreading "new and dangerous ideas" to his congregants. He eventually was forced to flee the Massachusetts colony under the threat of impending arrest and being shipped across the Atlantic to an English prison, walking more than 50 miles in deep snow. He purchased land from several Indian tribes and began the settlement of Providence Plantation in 1636 as a refuge offering freedom of conscience. Providence Plantation eventually merged with several other colonies to become the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and eventually the State of Rhode Island. Williams was also a student of Native American languages, an early advocate for fair dealings with American Indians, and one of the first abolitionists in North America, organizing the first attempt to prohibit slavery in any of the British American colonies. He is best remembered as the originator of the principle of separation of church and state.