The founder of the smallest American colony was Roger Williams, a Protestant priest who was expelled from Massachusetts for his religious teaching. He thus reached <u>Rhode Island </u>in <u>1636 </u>and laid the foundations of the state on the land given to him by the Indians. Basically, Williams proclaimed that all people have religious and political freedoms in this place.
Roger Williams, a Puritan minister, had differences with the Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. When he was expelled, he founded Rhode Island as a colony that would be free to practice his brand of Puritanism. It was self-governing, with an elected governor and its own representative assembly.
