Editing Roger Williams (section)

== Securing Charters ==
Williams arrived in London in the midst of the [[English Civil War]]. Puritans held power in London, and he was able to obtain a charter through the offices of [[Sir Henry Vane the Younger]] despite strenuous opposition from Massachusetts's agents. His book ''[[A Key into the Language of America]]'' proved crucial to the success of his charter, albeit indirectly.<ref>Gaustad, Edwin S.,''Liberty of Conscience'' (Judson Press, 1999), pg. 62</ref><ref>Ernst, ''Roger Williams: New England Firebrand'' (Macmillan, 1932), pp. 227-228</ref> It was published in 1643 in London and combined a phrase-book with observations about life and culture as an aid to communicate with the Native Americans of [[New England]]. It covered everything from salutations to death and burial. Williams also sought to correct the attitudes of superiority displayed by the colonists towards Native Americans:
{{Blockquote|text=Boast not proud English, of thy birth & blood;
Thy brother Indian is by birth as Good.
Of one blood God made Him, and Thee and All,
As wise, as fair, as strong, as personal.}}

[[Gregory Dexter]] printed the book, which was the first book-length study of a Native American language. In England, it was well received by readers who were curious about the Native American tribes of the New World.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Warren|first=James A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-n-aDwAAQBAJ|title=God, War, and Providence: The Epic Struggle of Roger Williams and the Narragansett Indians against the Puritans of New England|date=2019-06-18|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-5011-8042-2|pages=150|language=en}}</ref>

Williams secured his charter from Parliament for Providence Plantations in July 1644, after which he published his most famous book ''[[The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience]]''. The publication produced a great uproar; between 1644 and 1649, at least 60 pamphlets were published addressing the work's arguments. Parliament responded to Williams on August 9, 1644, by ordering the public hangman to burn all copies. By this time, however, Williams was already on his way back to New England where he arrived with his charter in September.<ref name=":0" />
[[File:Return of Roger Williams.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Return of Roger Williams from England with the First Charter from Parliament for [[Providence Plantations]] in July 1644]]
It took Williams several years to unify the settlements of Narragansett Bay under a single government, given the opposition of William Coddington. The settlements of Providence, Portsmouth, Newport, and Warwick finally united in 1647 into the [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations]]. Freedom of conscience was again proclaimed, and the colony became a safe haven for people who were persecuted for their beliefs, including Baptists, Quakers, and Jews. However, Coddington disliked Williams and did not enjoy his position of subordination under the new charter government. He sailed to England and returned to Rhode Island in 1651 with [[William Coddington#Coddington commission|his own patent]] making him "Governor for Life" over Rhode Island and [[Conanicut Island]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}

As a result, Providence, [[Warwick, Rhode Island|Warwick]], and Coddington's opponents on the island dispatched Williams and John Clarke to England, seeking to cancel Coddington's commission. Williams sold his trading post at Cocumscussec (near [[Wickford, Rhode Island]]) to pay for his journey even though it had provided his primary source of income. He and Clarke succeeded in rescinding Coddington's patent, with Clarke remaining in England for the following decade to protect the colonists' interests and secure a new charter. Williams returned to America in 1654 and was immediately elected the colony's president. He subsequently served in many offices in town and colonial governments.{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}

=== Slavery ===
Williams did not write extensively about slavery. He consistently expressed disapproval of it, though generally he did not object to the enslavement of captured enemy combatants for a fixed duration, a practice that was the normal course of warfare in that time.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=J. Stanley|first=Lemons|date=2002|title=Rhode Island and the Slave Trade|url=http://www.rihs.org/assetts/files/publications/2002_Fall.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.rihs.org/assetts/files/publications/2002_Fall.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=Rhode Island History|volume=60| issue =  4}}</ref> Williams struggled with the morality of slavery and raised his concerns in letters to Massachusetts Bay Governor [[John Winthrop]] concerning the treatment of the [[Pequots]] during the [[Pequot War]] (1636–1638).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Slavery - Roger Williams Initiative|url=http://www.findingrogerwilliams.com/essays/slavery|access-date=2021-04-20|website=www.findingrogerwilliams.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Newell |first=Margret Ellen |date=2015 |title=Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/57597 |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |page=28|isbn=978-0-8014-5648-0 }}</ref> In these letters, he requested Winthrop to prevent the enslavement of Pequot women and children, as well as to direct the colonial militia to spare them during the fighting.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=Roger|date=May 15, 1637|title=Letter to Sir Henry Vane and John Winthrop from Roger Williams- May 15, 1637|url=http://www.masshist.org/publications/winthrop/index.php/view/PWF03d328|access-date=August 5, 2021|website=Massachusetts Historical Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=Roger|date=June 21, 1637|title=Letter to John Winthrop from Roger Williams- June 21, 2021|url=http://www.masshist.org/publications/winthrop/index.php/view/PWF03d341#sn=4|access-date=August 5, 2021|website=Massachusetts Historical Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=Roger|date=July 15, 1637|title=Letter to John Winthrop from Roger Williams- July 15, 1637|url=http://www.masshist.org/publications/winthrop/index.php/view/PWF03d341#sn=4|access-date=August 5, 2021|website=Massachusetts Historical Society}}</ref> In another letter to Winthrop written on July 31, 1637, Williams conceded that the capture and indenture of remaining Pequot women and children would "lawfully" ensure that remaining enemy combatants were "weakned and despoild", but pleaded that their indenture not be permanent.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=Roger|date=July 31, 1637|title=Letter to John Winthrop from Roger Williams- July 31, 1637|url=http://www.masshist.org/publications/winthrop/index.php/view/PWF03d359#sn=12|access-date=August 5, 2021|website=Massachusetts Historical Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=Roger|date=February 28, 1638|title=Letter to John Winthrop from Roger Williams- February 28, 1638|url=http://www.masshist.org/publications/winthrop/index.php/view/PWF04d018#sn=23|access-date=August 5, 2021|website=Massachusetts Historical Society}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Newell |first=Margret Ellen |date=2015 |title=Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/57597 |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |page=32|isbn=978-0-8014-5648-0 }}</ref>

Despite his reservations, Williams formed part of the colonial delegation sent to conduct negotiations at the end of the Pequot War, where the fates of the captured Pequots were decided upon between the [[New England Colonies|colonists of New England]] and their Native American allies the [[Narragansett people|Narragansetts]], [[Mohegan Tribe|Mohegans]], and [[Niantic people|Niantics]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Gallay|first=Alan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HT69BbA3Is8C|title=Indian Slavery in Colonial America|date=2009-01-01|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=978-0-8032-2200-7|pages=40–42|language=en}}</ref> Williams reported to Winthrop that he and Narragansett sachem [[Miantonomoh]] discussed what to do with a group of captured Pequots; initially they discussed the possibility of distributing them as slaves among the four victorious parties, which Miantonomoh "liked well", though at Williams's suggestion, the non-combatants were relocated to an island in Niantic territory "because most of them were families".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=Roger|date=July 10, 1637|title=Letter to John Winthrop From Roger Williams July 10, 1637 (2)|url=http://www.masshist.org/publications/winthrop/index.php/view/PWF03d351|access-date=August 3, 2021|website=Massachusetts Historical Society}}</ref> Miantonomoh later requested an enslaved female Pequot from Winthrop, to which Williams objected, stating that "he had his share sent to him". Instead, Williams suggested that he "buy one or two of some English man".<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=Roger|date=August 12, 1637|title=Letter to John Winthrop From Roger Williams- August 12, 1637|url=http://www.masshist.org/publications/winthrop/index.php/view/PWF03d364|access-date=August 3, 2021|website=Massachusetts Historical Society}}</ref>

In July 1637, Winthrop gave Williams a Pequot boy as an indentured servant. The child had been captured by [[Israel Stoughton]] in Connecticut.<ref>{{cite book |last=Newell |first=Margret Ellen |date=2015 |title=Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/57597 |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=68–69|isbn=978-0-8014-5648-0 }}</ref> Williams renamed the child "Will."<ref>{{cite book |last=Newell |first=Margret Ellen |date=2015 |title=Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/57597 |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |page=74|isbn=978-0-8014-5648-0 }}</ref>

Some of the Native American allies aided in the export of enslaved Pequots to the [[West Indies]], while others disagreed with the practice, believing that they should have been given land and provisions to contribute to the wellbeing of colonial settlements.<ref name=":3" /> Many enslaved Pequots frequently ran away, where they were taken in by surrounding Native American settlements.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" /> Williams aided colonists in distributing and selling Pequot captives and fielded requests from colonists to track down and return runaways,<ref name="Newell 2015 37">{{cite book |last=Newell |first=Margret Ellen |date=2015 |title=Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/57597 |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |page=37|isbn=978-0-8014-5648-0 }}</ref> using his connections with Miantonomoh, Ayanemo, and other Native leaders to find escapees.<ref>{{cite book |last=Newell |first=Margret Ellen |date=2015 |title=Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/57597 |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |page=104|isbn=978-0-8014-5648-0 }}</ref> Williams recorded experiences of abuse and rape recounted by the Natives he apprehended, and [[Margaret Ellen Newell]] speculates that Williams's letters encouraging Winthrop to limit terms of servitude were informed by his acquaintance with escapees.<ref name="Newell 2015 37"/>

In 1641, the Massachusetts Bay Colony passed laws sanctioning slavery.<ref>PBS. ''Africans in America: the Terrible Transformation.'' "[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr3.html From Indentured Servitude to Racial Slavery]." Accessed September 13, 2011.</ref> In response, under Williams's leadership, Providence Plantations passed a law in 1652 restricting the amount of time for which an individual could be held in servitude and tried to prevent the importation of slaves from Africa.<ref name=":2" /> The law established terms for slavery that mirrored that of indentured servitude; enslavement was to be limited in duration and not passed down to children.<ref name=":1" /> Upon the unification of the mainland and island settlements, residents of the island refused to accept this law, ensuring that it became dead legislation.<ref>McLoughlin, William G. ''Rhode Island: A History'' (W. W. Norton, 1978), p. 26.</ref>

Tensions escalated with the Narragansetts during [[King Philip's War]], despite Williams's efforts to maintain peace, during which his home was burned to the ground.<ref name=":2" /> During the war, Williams led the committee responsible for processing and selling Rhode Island's Native American captives into slavery.<ref>{{cite book |last=Newell |first=Margret Ellen |date=2015 |title=Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/57597 |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |page=151|isbn=978-0-8014-5648-0 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Clark-Pujara|first=Christy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yK84DwAAQBAJ&q=providence+slave+population+1750&pg=PA24|title=Dark Work: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island|date=2018|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=978-1-4798-5563-6|language=en|page=32|id={{Project MUSE|49199|type=book}}}}</ref> Williams's committee recommended that Providence allow residents to keep Native American slaves in spite of earlier municipal statutes. The committee appraised the prices of various Native American captives and brokered their sale to residents. Williams's son transported additional captives to be sold in Newport. Williams also organized the trial and execution of a captured Native American man who had been a ring leader in the war.<ref>{{cite book |last=Newell |first=Margret Ellen |date=2015 |title=Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/57597 |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=170–171|isbn=978-0-8014-5648-0 }}</ref>