(11) Identify Roger Williams, the origins of Rhode Island and his essay: The Bloody Tenents of Persecution. Explain how it contributed to freedom of religion, thought, expression and conscience. Roger Williams was the founder of Rhode Island. Before that he was a bright young man drawn to the Plymouth country. His religious views contradicted those of the leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. After many disagreements, Williams was expelled and threatened with being sent back to England. However, a few months later he settled near Providence. He preached and lived with the Indians. He even later argued on their behalf that, because Christian doctrine preached against theft, the State of England should not seize their lands. After founding the First Baptist Church in America, Williams struggled to defend his personal beliefs. Then in 1644, Williams received a charter from the King of England to settle Indian lands. Later, Rhode Island became a popular place for Quakers and Jews fleeing religious persecution. Although his views as a Baptist and scholar contradicted those of the Puritans, Roger Williams preached religious tolerance throughout the colony of Rhode Island. People who followed his preaching appreciated respect for religions other than their own. As a result, Roger Williams also encouraged religious freedom. He later also introduced the idea of ​​separation of church and state into a government in his book The Bloudy Tenet of Persecution. He specifically called for tolerance of all Christian denominations as well as Catholicism and Judaism. Furthermore, Williams points out that through his interpretation of the Bible, Williams argued that it is in the middle of the paper that they form a social contract in which their rights are guaranteed under this form of government. . These ideas changed the way American colonists viewed government. Their views drifted towards independence from Britain. Additionally, the philosophies of John Locke and the ideas of the Enlightenment influenced Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence. The document uses the idea of ​​natural law and justifies the reasons for escaping British rule. His idea of ​​representative government was also essential to the evolution of democratic government in the colonies. The ideas of the social contract also explained why the colonies decided to secede from England. The use of many of these terms in the US Constitution and the subsequent adaptation of the Bill of Rights are examples of the influence of events in Europe..