The Founding Father of the American Founding Fathers!
Tidbits:
Stories, Quotes, and FAQs.
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ROGER WILLIAMS
Featured Story
Updated This Week
Live well.
Story
1654
Book: Christenings make not Christians
Roger Williams
The labels you carry shape the life you live. When a word reduces another person, it also trains your own mind toward judgment, distance, and harm. Learn to live with more care: see the person first, release the harmful label, and choose words that preserve dignity.
Featured QUOTE
History
Quote
“I am old and weak and bruised (with rupture and colic), and lameness on both feet.”
- Roger Williams
- May 6, 1682.
Roger Williams
The exact birth and death dates of Roger Williams has been lost to history…so far at least. We think he was born around 1602, give or take a few years. We know he passed in 1683, and by April 1st. We also know he was alive on January 15th. We also believe he was about 80 or 81 when he passed. It’s interesting how much is lost to time for even the famous just a few hundred years ago.
Featured FAQ
History
FAQ
Was Roger Williams a Separatist?
Separatist Term & Epistemology
If you use the modern definition of separatist that includes intolerance of others, then Roger Williams was not a separatist. Furthermore, he supported all people living, and working together in the same community for the common good. Sometimes people forget the context of the time and conflate his desire to separate from the Church of England run by the government with the separatist movement based on races. I think some with a desire to promote white supremacy do this on purpose.
Updated Tidbits
Critical Thinking
Story
Book: The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution
- The start of checks and balances.
Separation of Church and State
05 May 2026
(Updated 3 weeks ago)
05 May 2026
(Updated 3 weeks ago)
05 May 2026
(Updated 3 weeks ago)
Roger Williams
A Man Nearly 400 Years Ahead of His Time
Why Roger Williams?
“If you hope to contribute something scholarly to society, even in a personal and independent way, I think you should choose one historical figure and make that person part of your journey. I chose Roger Williams partly because he is my 10th great-grandfather, but even more because he belongs to an important lineage of ideas that shaped liberty of conscience, limited government, and the broader tradition of checks on power that later influenced the Founding Fathers. I see the Magna Carta as a proto-beginning the modern West. From there, Roger Williams advanced liberty of conscience, Locke articulated natural rights, and Montesquieu gave enduring form to separation of powers. Together, they shaped the intellectual world the Founding Fathers inherited.” –Michael Alan Prestwood, 2012.
Aricle Series
Multi-Part Reads
Roger Williams Himself
Bio, philosophy, & government.
Roger Williams: Family Info
The family of Roger Williams.
RW Through Winthrop
John Winthrop on Roger Williams.
Deep-Dive Articles
No Kings Has Deep Historical Roots
Recent protests reflect the timeless struggle to limit power and oppression using checks and balances.
Roger Williams was a 17th Century Separatist
Explore the use of this term over the centuries.
Roger Williams was a 17th Century Separatist
Explore the use of this term over the centuries.
Download or read PDF The Bloody Tenant of Persecution by Roger Williams
Roger Williams was an English Puritan who migrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1631. His book, “The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution,” was a passionate ...
Read Text of 1643 Patent for Providence Plantations
Roger Williams created the first democracy in America in 1643. The first TRUE democracy in #ColonialAmerica. From the Patent for Providence Plantations charter: "…full Power ...
Must-Reads
Live well.
Parable of the Ship by Roger Williams, 1655
Roger Williams’ 1655 Parable of the Ship is used as an illustration of separation of church and state, liberty, and the common good. In this ...
Live well.
Roger Williams Biography and Dedication to the Freedom of Conscience
My 10th great grandpa! There are plenty of articles and books on Roger Williams' accomplishments. In this article I went back and researched the earliest ...
Updated Articles
TST COLUMN
12 Feb 2022
Debut
History
Article
Download or read PDF The Bloody Tenant of Persecution by Roger Williams
Sat 12 Feb 2022
(4 years ago)
Updated 4 days ago.
TST COLUMN
10 Feb 2019
History
Article
Read Text of The 1663 Royal Charter of Rhode Island
Sun 10 Feb 2019
(7 years ago)
Updated 3 weeks ago.
TST COLUMN
01 Mar 2024
History
Article
Roger Williams was a 17th Century Separatist
Separatist Term & Epistemology
Fri 1 Mar 2024
(2 years ago)
Updated 3 weeks ago.
TST COLUMN
11 Oct 2025
Debut
History
Article
No Kings Has Deep Historical Roots
Checks & Balances
Sat 11 Oct 2025
(7 months ago)
Updated 2 months ago.