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Roger Williams Impact On Shaping America

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Each and every day, people take monumental journeys that lead them to a position of learning, discovery, and impact. There are many people who have had an impact on shaping America to what it is today, and one of those people is Roger Williams. He had an impact because using both prose and poetry, he conducted ethnographic studies of Native American languages and translated them, and another good deed he did was being an advocate for church and state. (Moore et al., n.d.) According to “The Enduring Legacy of Roger Williams: Consulting America’s First Separationist on Today’s Pressing Church-State Controversies.” Journal of Church & State by Derek H. Davis, Roger Williams arrived in Massachusetts from England in 1631 to take up the position of a Puritan pastor. He was banished in 1635 as a result of criticism from the Massachusetts Bay Colony elites who had established a theocratic political order, because he opposed the imposition of religious requirements for holding public office, the requirement that all citizens take an oath to God, and that all citizens attend church on a regular basis. Roger Williams believed that the colony had misunderstood what the Bible had to say about the separate roles of church and state in society. (Davis 203) He was concerned about safeguarding …show more content…

He concentrated on translating Narragansett, a form of Native American language that was assimilated into modern English, using words like moose, squash, and quahog that are still in use today. Since William's "A Key into the Language of America" was a synthesis of poetry and prose, a historical document, an ethnographic analysis, and it is clear that he produced an unappreciated work of early American Literature. (Moore et al.,

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He instead formed a godly community, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, that was an example of reformers back home. Roger Williams was a political and religious leader who established Rhode Island in 1636. He encouraged the separation of the Church and the state in Colonial America. The way in which he viewed religious freedom matched his disapproval of the way in which Native Americans were being expropriated from their properties. His believes caused anger from his Church which in turn banished him from the

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He didn’t have the smallest connection with the Church of England. Williams rejected its teachings entirely and demanded complete dissociation between the Church of England and anyone who claimed to be living under God’s command. Winthrop responded by claiming that the people of England were just misled Christians that needed to be guided back into morality and for this reason, there was no need to completely detach from them. Winthrop’s response showed that even when dealing with opposers he displayed the characteristics of a good leader (Morgan 110-114). Instead of immediately shutting down Williams or ignoring his beliefs, Winthrop exhorted to “meet them with arguments and not merely authority (Morgan 110).

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Roger Williams used different keys in order to communicate with the native Indians. This key respects the native language of it, and happily may unlock some rarities concerning the natives themselves, not yet discovered (Williams 103). When he approached to the Native Indians, he had an agenda, which contained four main points that he wanted to cover during his visit (Williams 104). First, he wanted to understand the Native Indian’s names. He realized that the English gave those names like natives, salvages, Indians, wild men, pagans, barbarians, among others.

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George Washington Williams, an African American legislator, and Kande Kamara, an African colonial subject, both experienced some of the most brutal products of European Imperialism. Williams, in the late nineteenth century, toured the Belgian controlled Congo and witnessed the harsh measures King Leopold implemented to maintain absolute control and bleed the country of its resources. Kamara, on the other hand, bore witness to the end result of overzealous imperial ambitions when he was forced to fight for the allies in the trenches of WWI. These two men’s experiences, although considerably different, both shed light on Europe’s colonial philosophy of racism and ethnic superiority and its position of immense power during this period.

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Roger Williams might be well notorious for being the new founder of the state Rhode Island. When he first settled a colony in Narragansett, a settlement in Rhode Island, one of his many principles was that there should be a separation between church and state colonies. Many individuals made the decision to move to Rhode Island–– due to their religious freedom. Jews, Baptists, and even Quakers decided to join this movement. A good proportion of settlers confiscated lands, which belonged to Native Americans; however, Roger Williams made an impactful decision that no one should be allowed to confiscate them.

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The earliest forms of language were spoken around 250,000 years ago. Over the years, language has become more diverse. There have been more than 100,000 different languages spoken or written in our history. As you might expect, language is an essential part of our existence.

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Religion was an essential part of everyday life and it provided individuals with a purpose in life. John Winthrop’s goal was to expand the Protestant community (Puritans) and his main focus was to have a better relationship with God. Winthrop especially desired for all the settlers of New England

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Even though many had originally come to the New World to practice their own religion freely, not all of them were able to allow others to do the same. The Puritans thought that to ignore God's work was completely unthinkable and when “free-thinkers” such as Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams chose to speak their minds, conflict was inevitable (“Dissent in Massachusetts Bay”). The economic landscape of the colonies was small and isolated. Tension was inevitable because the colonists did not have much, if any, gold and silver.

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The man who plead guilty of the rape and murder of a 10 year old girl, Brian Dugan stood in front of the jurors, awaiting for his sentence. However, before standing in front of the court once again, Dr. Kent A. Kiehl, author of The Psychopath Whisperer: The Science Of Those Without Conscience, interviews Dugan at the request of a defense attorney. Within the interview, Dr. Kiehl asked Dugan the reason for his crime. Shockingly, Dugan responds with "I don't understand why. I wish I knew why I did a lot of things, but I don't" (Kiehl 244).

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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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In the 1600’s, when separating one’s self from the established church was a crime worthy of death, a single man dared to challenge centuries worth of beliefs. This man, born in 1603, was known as Roger Williams. Not only is he remembered as being America’s very first rebel, but he is also believed to be responsible for some of our countries founding elements that are still substantial in our current society. As a boy, Williams witnessed the brutality which stemmed from the religious war in Europe.

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To those living in British America in the 1700’s, religion was a central fixture of everyday life. One’s denomination was intrinsically tied up in one’s ethnic and social identity, and local churches in the mid-Atlantic depended upon the participation and donations of their parishioners to survive. However, as the 18th century progressed, poorer farmers and ministers across the diverse sects of colonial America came to resent the domination of church life by the upper class. In a parallel development, a split had grown between the rationalists, who were typically wealthy, educated and influential men who represented the status quo, and the evangelicals, who disdained the impersonal pretention of the rationalists and promoted a spiritual and

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The arrival of the first Europeans in the Americas is dramatically captured through the many writers who attempted to communicate what they saw, experienced and felt. What is more, the very purposes of their treacherous travel and colonization are clearly seen in their writings; whether it is poetry, history or sermons. Of the many literary pieces available today, William Bradford and John Winthrop’s writings, even though vary because the first is a historical account and the second is a sermon, stand out as presenting a clear trust in God, the rules that would govern them and the reason they have arrived in the Americas. First of all, William Bradford provides an in-depth look into the first moment when the Puritans arrived in the Americas. In fact, he chronicles the hardships they face on their way to Plymouth, yet he includes God’s provision every step of the way.

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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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In 1655, founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams documented his views on politics and religious affairs to make them clear to the public. This documentation of his morals and principals was called Letter to the Town of Providence. In his letter he addresses the people and tells them that he is making no mistake by voicing his opinion. Williams takes his position with an analogy. He describes society as a boat.

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