New and Dangerous Opinions (English)

400 Years of New and Dangerous Opinions

Nearly four hundred years ago, the English preacher Roger Williams outraged many of his fellow New England colonists with opinions so radical they almost cost him his life. These dangerous ideas about personal liberty and religious freedom, expressed more than 100 years before the founding of the United States, would inform the Bill of Rights and the fundamental tenets of American democracy. Today, Williams’s ideas are still relevant, fueling the persistent debates necessary in an evolving, vibrant democracy. Consider how your role in a democratic society involves reconciling our core beliefs to a changing world.

 

Roger Williams carried a compass and sundial to help him find his way. This reproduction of Williams’s tool also serves as a symbol for his life’s path. During difficult times and on treacherous journeys, Williams always followed his own moral compass.

 

New and Dangerous Opinions

Civil Power

Civil Power Now

We the People. These first three words of the U.S. Constitution, written larger than anything else in the document, state the foundation of American democracy—the government derives its authority from the people. So then, what are the responsibilities of the government and the people to each other? What is your role in balancing the liberties, restrictions and responsibilities of democracy? How do we restrain the competing interests of security, power, financial gain, or religion which may threaten the primary civil authority of the people?

Civil Power Then

“. . . that a people may erect and establish what form of government seems to them most meet for their civil condition. It is evident that such governments as are by them erected and established, have no more power, nor for no longer time, than the civil power, or people consenting and agreeing, shall betrust them with.” — Roger Williams

Roger Williams's Point of View

Williams said that the people were the foundation of civil power. Providence’s civil compact, or founding document, did not mention God, and said officials could only make civil rules. In the 1600s, these were new and dangerous ideas. Most nations invoked God in their founding documents as the source of government authority. In New England’s Puritan communities only church members could vote. Government officials enforced both civil and religious laws. Only in Rhode Island were the people granted civil power.

 

Church and State

Church and State Now

Williams’s radical idea of the separation of church and state was promoted over a hundred years later by Washington, Jefferson, Madison and other architects of the new American nation. Williams protested the corrupting influence of government on religious practice. Today, many Americans want to shield civil matters from religious influence. Whose interpretation of God should be the deciding voice in the affairs of state? Does a person need religion to choose right from wrong?

Church and State Then

“God needeth not the help of a material sword of steel to assist the sword of the Spirit in the affairs of conscience.” — Roger Williams

Roger Williams's Point of View

In Williams’s time, the church and the state were one. In the colonies, Puritans and Separatists imposed their own religious authority on daily life. Dissent was not tolerated. Williams was a devoutly religious man who believed the state should not dictate personal spiritual practices and beliefs, and that government paired with religion corrupted both. Williams took the words of his mentor Sir Edward Coke, “Every man’s home is his castle,” one step further to affirm that every person’s soul is their own.

 

Civil Equality

Civil Equality Now

Civil equality provides equal opportunity, protection under the law, and a voice to all people. Across the history of America, we can trace the broadening of civil equality to encompass more and more people: nonlandowning men, women, African Americans, Native Americans, people who hold different beliefs, the LGBT community, non-citizens, and more. Who deserves to have civil equality in our country? Or perhaps the better question is: why should someone be denied civil equality?

Civil Equality Then

“…it is the will and command of God that (since the coming of his Son the Lord Jesus) a permission of the most paganish, Jewish, Turkish, or antichristian consciences and worships, be granted to all men in all nations and countries;” —Roger Williams

Roger Williams's Point of View

In Puritan settlements outside of Rhode Island, only landowning, male church members could vote. When Williams founded Providence, he extended civil equality to heads-of-households, men and women alike. A Providence man was brought to court for interfering with his wife’s religious freedom, a concept unheard of in other colonies. Quakers were given refuge, even though Williams strongly disagreed with them. His notion of equality was based in ideals, in liberty of conscience, and provided a refuge for those persecuted for their beliefs.

 

Liberty of Conscience

Liberty of Conscience Now

The source of Williams’s understanding of liberty was a spiritual one, but the idea of individual liberty doesn’t require religious belief. We can each exercise our liberty of conscience in our own ways; however, liberty and freedom can be frightening paths to follow when challenging the status quo. Conformity and peer pressure have shaped American history as much as diversity has. How do we each follow our own conscience rather than bend to the expectations of others?

Liberty of Conscience Then

“…the doctrine of persecution for cause of conscience is proved guilty of all the blood of the souls crying for vengeance under the altar.” — Roger Williams

Roger Williams's Point of View

Roger Williams described “liberty” in the modern sense, as the liberty of individuals to make their own choices. He believed people should follow their own liberty of conscience, because spiritual belief can’t be coerced. In contrast, the Puritans required colonists to be at liberty to comply with civil and religious rules. Williams accepted into Rhode Island those who practiced other religions, for each was following his or her own liberty of conscience, which God, not people, would judge.

 

Living One's Beliefs

Living One's Beliefs Now

How often do each of us live according to our beliefs? On social media, we can express our beliefs quickly, without necessarily having to back up our words. Yet, the rights that we enjoy also come with responsibilities. Opportunities exist to move past our fear and discomfort—from sharing a lunch table to protesting an injustice. Are you willing to risk embarrassment, your reputation, livelihood, or life to live according to your ethical or religious philosophy?

Living One's Beliefs Then

“ . . . the civil state is bound before God to take off that bond and yoke of soul oppression, and to proclaim free and impartial liberty to all the people . . . to choose and maintain what worship and ministry their souls and consciences are persuaded of. . .” — Roger Williams

Roger Williams's Point of View

Roger Williams lived his beliefs. Arriving in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he challenged civil and religious authorities at the risk of his life. He then founded Providence as a “livelie experiment” in the dangerous opinions described in this exhibit. Williams lived the promise of a new way of life. He had followers, but spurned power. His home lot size was equal to others’. He served briefly as Rhode Island’s chief officer and did not seek a more exalted position.

 

Mural—Roger Williams’s Lively Experiment

Innovator or Instigator?

From our vantage point 400 years later, we can hail Roger Williams as an innovative, revolutionary thinker and a man of integrity. But in Puritan New England, Williams was viewed as a dangerous instigator for urging soul freedom and the separation of church and state. Williams’s deep spiritual beliefs guided his ideas about the role of religion in society. Not only did he try to live his beliefs, he wrote widely, publishing political pamphlets and his confrontational book The Bloudy Tenent. Since Williams resisted the vanity of portraiture we have no image or even descriptions of his appearance made during his lifetime.

Living Their Beliefs

This map illustrates how the people of Providence established a community reflecting their beliefs. Following a 1636 land deal with the Narragansett, they partitioned plots of equal size (although, not equal value). Two of the original nine lot owners were women, an uncommon occurrence. Because there was no official authorized church, Providence was not designed around a central church or meeting house, like typical Puritan towns. People worshipped outside or in each other’s homes.

Immigrant or . . . ?

Williams fled to the colonies to escape religious persecution and imprisonment. Along with other Puritans, his goal was to practice a Christian worship more “pure” than the Church of England’s. The Puritans settled land gifted by the King, even though Native people had lived there for thousands of years. Williams asserted that the Native people should be compensated for their land while many Puritans believed that the deaths of Native people from European diseases

indicated God’s favor toward Christian settlements.

Idealist or . . . ?

From his 1631 arrival in Boston, Williams infuriated local leaders with his dissent. They eventually exiled him for his dangerous ideas. He believed government lacked authority to enforce the first four of the Ten Commandments, the ones between an individual and God. His 1635 exile to England would likely have meant imprisonment or death. Williams escaped into the harsh New England winter and, only with the help of the Native people, survived to the spring.

Founder or . . . ?

In 1636, after striking a land deal with the Narragansett, Williams and a small group of followers settled Providence. The Royal Charter of 1663, granted by King Charles II, declared the entire colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations a “livelie experiment” where no person could be punished for what he or she believed. Settlers enjoyed freedoms and rights unknown in other colonies, making Rhode Island the most democratic and free community in the English colonies and possibly the world.

Friend or. . . ?

Williams’s relationship with the Narragansett and Wampanoag was more respectful than that of most other colonists. His Key into the Language of America, the first book of Native American language and culture, expressed common humanity among people. It disputed typical biases that Native people were “savages” and Europeans inherently superior. Yet, in the end, Williams was still an Englishman. After the devastating King Philip’s War of 1675–76, he presided over the sale of captured Natives into slavery in the Caribbean.

Failure or Success?

Roger Williams questioned whether his experiment was a success, but history has proven the durability of his ideas. His ideas of civil equality, government by the people, and separation of church and state influenced the United States Constitution and particularly the Bill of Rights. In the United States, the government derives its authority from the people. The inalienable right to liberty is guaranteed by the Constitution as each person is free to follow his or her own conscience, regardless of religious belief.

 

Let's Trade!

Anaqushento!

One of the ways Roger Williams and the Native people learned about each other was by trading. Some of the items that the English, Narragansett, and Wampanoag people traded were cooking pots, blankets and toys. What makes one item more valuable than another? Which of your personal possessions would you be willing to trade?

 

Interactive Exhibit

Who Has a Voice?

The commitment to civil equality in Rhode Island was more than just an idea. Civil equality granted a voice—through civil rights, power, and access to justice—to more people than was available in other English colonies. See who had a voice in Rhode Island compared to Puritan Massachusetts.

Touch Who Has a Voice and then select a person to see how civil equality affects people’s rights in Rhode Island compared to Puritan Massachusetts.

Touch How They Live then select a detail in town to learn more about life in 17th-century Providence.

 

[Media Script: Who Has a Voice Character Hot Spots]

Woman

Audio first-person statement:

As a woman, I have very few rights in the Massachusetts Bay colony. I am my husband’s property. But in Providence, when my husband beat me for my religious beliefs, the town brought him to court. The magistrates in my Massachusetts town would not have allowed that.

Audio and on-screen text interpretation:

A woman in Rhode Island may own land and participate in town decisions. While she still has fewer rights than a man, any participation by women is unheard of elsewhere in the colonies. In Puritan Massachusetts, she has none of these rights, except to seek civil justice in certain circumstances.

Quaker Woman

Audio first-person statement:

I had to flee Puritan Massachusetts for my life! They hang Quakers because they claim our religious beliefs and ways of prayer are disruptive to their ordered community. I am filled with gratitude for the safe haven granted me here in Rhode Island.

Audio and on-screen text interpretation:

A Quaker woman was hanged in Massachusetts Bay Colony for her beliefs. In Rhode Island, she could freely practice her religion and seek justice in court.

 

A Man

Audio first-person statement:

In Massachusetts, I am a land owner but, because I do not belong to the church, I have no voice in this community. I do not believe that church membership makes one man’s opinion better than that of another.

Audio and on-screen text interpretation:

A man in Massachusetts cannot participate in important civil and religious community decisions if he is not a land owner and a church member. In Rhode Island, a man has a voice in community decisions simply by owning land and does not have to belong to the church.

A Native American man

Audio first-person statement:

In Puritan Massachusetts, these English think they are better than us, murder and rob us, and take our land. At least those English in Rhode Island treat us as neighbors, talk to us and make deals with us. Their Williams said we are all one blood, as good as any English.

Audio and on-screen text interpretation:

A Native American man has limited rights in the colonies, although he does have a right to a court trial. In Puritan Massachusetts, he is seen as inferior and might have his land taken to pay debts. In Rhode Island, the Narragansett man is a subject of the king, and English residents consider him a neighbor, trading and transacting land deals with him.

A magistrate

Audio first-person statement:

My election as a magistrate in Massachusetts Bay shows that the Lord favors me, that He has selected me. And so, as an official, I carry both the burden and the power of man’s laws but, more importantly, of God’s laws. God’s will is expressed through me.

Audio and on-screen text interpretation:

A magistrate is a civil, elected official. In Massachusetts, he enforces a code based on Biblical laws. He is extremely powerful, attempts to force confessions and insists that transgressors repent their sins. In Rhode Island, where church and state are separate, his power would be limited to ruling on civil laws only.

 

[Media Script: Who Has a Voice "How They Lived" Hot Spots]

The Spring

The spring is the town’s water source, held in common by all. Townspeople fetch water daily, and travelers stop to rest and share news from afar. As the informal heart of the community, the spring is where town news is shared, politics debated and decisions made.

Stone Ender

This stone ender is a common type of timber-frame house, made of local materials and unique to Rhode Island. One to two stories, they have one room per floor, with a large stone chimney and fireplace at one end—hence the name. Stone Enders provide substantial protection from the harsh New England winters.

Garden

The English colonists build raised-bed gardens beside their homes. Plants are cultivated for food, seasoning and medicine. These beds include root vegetables and leafy vegetables, sage, nasturtium, violets and mint. Narrow enough to be tended from either side, these gardens are valued for their usefulness rather than their beauty.

Animals

Colonists have close relationships with their domesticated animals and, because they rarely hunt, also depend on them for food. Dogs are raised for protection and war. Chickens and pigs are kept near the home, while cattle often graze in fields on the other side of the river. If you do not have a dog, a goose serves as a suitable burglar alarm.

Clothing

English clothes of wool, linen and canvas are worn in several layers, and colored with bright natural dyes of reds, greens, yellows and browns. While these materials are perfectly suited for the English climate, the New England summers are far hotter and the winters far colder than those in England. Summer heat and winter cold can take their toll on both comfort and health.

Social Roles

In the social roles of this period, the husband is in charge, the wife manages the household, and the children and servants are labor. In a settlement like Providence, these roles can be flexible. If the husband is away for long, the wife assumes the duties of the head of household. Some households only have a woman in charge. Most importantly, any head of household, man or woman, can vote.

Street

Providence is a thoroughfare town, where both English settlers and Native Americans travel along this main street. Unlike Boston or Plymouth, there’s no wall built around Providence. This street was originally a Native American highway running from the Massachusetts Bay to Manhattan, long before the English settled here.