Roger Williams and His World

Roger Williams, a 17th-century English immigrant to New England, was famously banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 for his “new and dangerous opinions” on religious freedom, the separation of church and state, and Indigenous land rights. Following his banishment, Williams settled the town of Providence with the permission of the Narragansett Sachems, creating a colony that was arguably the freest in the western world. This collection draws together a wide range of primary sources by and about Williams in order to make this history accessible to a broad audience.

“Roger Williams and His World is a book we have needed for a long time. With clarity and humanity, Charlotte Carrington-Farmer brings us back into that world, explaining how many peoples inhabited it and how ground-breaking their ideas could be. At the same time, as she explains, they often fell short of their highest standards. For Roger Williams, his family, and his many neighbors, life was full of contention as well as hope—still the motto of Rhode Island. Thanks to this book, we have a far richer sense of that struggle, and its legacy for all of us.” — Ted Widmer, City University of New York, author of Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington

“In Roger Williams and His World, Carrington-Farmer exposes the complexities of Roger Williams—both the man himself and the cataclysmic world and time in which he lived.” — Lorén Spears, enrolled Narragansett, Executive Director of the Tomaquag Museum

“This eagerly awaited collection of primary sources and historical commentary will soon be considered the authoritative work on the life and times of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island. Carrington-Farmer has compiled a diverse array of documents offering multiple perspectives on Williams’s actions and beliefs on topics such as religious toleration, ‘soul liberty,’ Indigeneity, and enslavement. This is not a hagiography but rather a primer for historians and students alike on how lauded figures from the past must be examined critically via primary sources.” — Kathryn Lamontagne, Boston University

“Following Williams from England to America, this excellent reader presents him in all his messy complexity. We see a religious fanatic who championed toleration, and a self-proclaimed friend of the Natives who furthered their dispossession. Perfect for the undergraduate classroom, this book gives a thorough portrait not just of one important character in colonial America, but of the wider world he inhabited.” — Owen Stanwood, Boston College

“Carrington-Farmer does more than assemble the words to, from, and about Rhode Island's most famous ‘founder.’ She situates him in a context that is made comprehensible for Williams students and scholars of all ages and disciplines. For those just getting to know Williams, this is an accessible text with annotations and follow up questions to provide explanation and depth. Williams becomes far more than words on a page: rather, he is a man in and of his times as we are immersed in the personal, political, and spiritual world he acted in and upon.” — C. Morgan Grefe, Executive Director, The Rhode Island Historical Society

“This a wonderfully enlightening collection that examines religion, politics, personal relationships, and conflicts, shedding light on a period of history that is often over-simplified. Carrington-Farmer explores how the ideals that Williams embodied and expressed helped shape some of the values that Americans strive for today.” — John McNiff, historian and former National Park Ranger at Roger Williams National Memorial

Charlotte Carrington-Farmer is Professor of History at Roger Williams University.

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