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How Did Roger Williams Believe In The Separation Of Church And State

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Roger Williams (First Paper)
The separation of church and state is nonetheless one of the central themes argued in colonial America. The puritans came to this country in belief that America was where Jesus would reveal himself again. Their leader, John Winthrop, established his sets of rules through his “Modell of Christian charity.” Along with these rules he also stated that the new home would be the city upon a hill. The puritans believed in predestination and also believed that the church needed to be purified. Among many famous leaders that came to this country in early America, there was one that believed we should all have freedom of religion. Roger Williams, was a puritan and believed in the same ideas, he himself was a minister, …show more content…

Williams’ believed in the separation of Church and state. “ His insistence on this premise, from which his followers never departed and which was ultimately written in the constitution.”(Stuart D. Goulding). This belief allowed man to exercise liberty of religious matters. Immigrants travel to this country in search of a new chance to seek their freedom and also seek the freedom to choose and worship any religion they choose to follow. Williams’ idea to create the freedom to choose a religion to follow, without any question, is an important idea that has stuck to society and this nation. His idea lives strong and well with the American Dream. Likewise, the idea formed another that includes how people could associate themselves with something they could hold to it as their own, instead of following others. “ He argued that an individual Christian would know when he was saved, but could not know about the salvation of other.”(U-Shistory.com). Puritans believed in the “elect”, those who were predestined to be saved from damnation, were chosen at berth to be saved. Williams’ did not believe in these truths by the Puritans. Ann Hutchinson, like Williams’, was exiled for not being allowed to express her freedoms. That is where invisibility is present. People are invisible because they are all alike. Whereas freedom of religion allows people to choose for themselves. This idea created visibility for many people, like Roger Williams, who wanted this freedom. “Under Williams’ influence, Rhode Island became a haven for those who suffered from religious persecution, including Jews and Quakers.”(U-Shistory.com). Politically Williams’ made his own political government revolving around

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In the year of 1630, a group of people known as the Puritans arrived to America and settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in Boston. The Puritans were similar to the Pilgrims in which they were Protestants from England who thought that their reforms of their church were “too Catholic” and needed to be changed further. The Puritans being unhappy with their reforms was the primary reason for leaving England and settling in America, while the Pilgrims stayed behind and were determined to change their reforms. When they came to America, they decided to keep some of their strict rules. For example, church was mandatory and if someone missed a day,

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Besides English settlers there were numerous other representatives of the European countries settling in the new land. And as the Puritans came to practice their own believes so did other nationalities, as explained in the study material. In my own interpretation America represents change and the believe system as well as the way religion was previously practiced was now changing. This change was greatly influenced by the intellectual movement called Enlightenment, which started in Europe and this influence had bearing on the Great Awakening. Besides Puritans now there were Catholics in Maryland, Quakers in Pennsylvania and the Episcopal Church in the southern states.

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John Winthrop was a Puritan who had every advantage in life. He was born into a wealthy family that was able to provide him with everything needed to succeed. His family was a part of the gentry class, which was the dominant force in English society during his time. He attended Trinity College at the age of 14 where he studied law. His faith was always apparent in his actions.

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Williams ideas would go on to change the way America and religion would work until present day

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Williams upset the General Court and before being able to be arrested he went off to Massachusetts, later negotiated with Narragansett setup Providence and promised separation of church and state and religious freedom (“The Americans” 52). This opinion was not widely accepted so other colonist considered Rhode Island trash. Either way his ideas on royal charter influenced other colonies like New Jersey and Carolina. If he didn't have such radical ideas today would be a lot different. For example, today policeman or an authority figure in the United States is forbidden to force or reject any religious belief.

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The New Englanders took religion seriously, making unitary laws according to Puritan standards. John Winthrop, later chosen as the first Massachusetts Bay Colony governor, was seeking religious freedom. Wishing to inspire the colonists to dwell in brotherly unity, he summoned them together to remind them “that if we [colonists] shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.” On the other hand, those in the Chesapeake region came for the wealth that America promised. They were there to become prosperous or die trying.

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Besides trying to form bonds with the natives, Williams also focused on promoting religious freedom within the colony, and as a result it became a religious sanctuary for those looking to freely practice in peace. Every religion from Baptist, Quakers, Jews, and every other religious minority lived peacefully in Rhode Island. Even other religious rebels such as the well-known Anne Hutchinson sought out sanctuary in his colony. Many saw this as a threat to the old ways, but that didn’t stop Williams from continuing to promote his beliefs. He was a born rebel, and no one could stop him from promoting his

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Roger Williams in the separation between the church and state, as he firmly believed that the government had a function in society to protect lives and property of people as well as maintain social order. Williams argued that the separation of church and state was to “preserve the church from worldly contamination” and that government would suffer if diverted from this function (Morgan 118). Further, if government “tried to save souls, it succeeded only in injuring bodies” meaning if the government were to delve into church dealings people would only get hurt (Morgan 120). Additionally, Williams may have despised Native American religion and found many of their customs barbarous; he thoroughly respected their form of government and found it

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Banishment of Anne Hutchinson Puritans were a group of Protestants who left England in 1630 and founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony in America. Religious belief is what motivated the Puritans to venture out and make this new establishment. During that time, all colonial establishments in America were surrounded my native people who potentially posed a threat to their survival. For this reason, unity within a colony was the key to survival, and anything that threatened this unity also threatened the colony’s existence as a whole. The Massachusetts Bay Colony quickly gained a solid foundation due to its common religious views and family oriented structure.

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The New England colonies were first founded in the last 16th to 17th century as a sanctuary for differing religious groups. New England was made up of the Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. New Hampshire, however, was formed for economic reasons instead of religious ones. The Chesapeake region, which is made up of the colonies of Maryland and Virginia, was founded by the British colonies for the purpose of farming. However, by the 1700’s, despite both being settled by Englishmen, New England and the Chesapeake region had developed differently.

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Religious freedom and toleration in the English North American colonies provided little room for those who did not practice the exact same form of government and religion. Although a similarity to America today is that the Puritan "court" provided a ruling to determine the punishment of an individual, however, the similarities stop there. When people came outright to declare their individual practices, such as Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, they were denounced and, in certain cases, sent into

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