Roger Williams first came to America in 1631, settling in Boston of the Massachusetts Bay colony during a wave of Puritan emigration from England. Puritans wanted to reform the Church of England, but Williams soon realized that reformation was not the answer, and he became what was known as a Separatist: one who wanted to split from the Anglican Church altogether, not to reform it. Finding Boston tied too much to religion for his liking, he moved to the more liberal town of Salem, and then to Plymouth of the Plymouth colony, which at the time was friendly to Separatist ideals. He constantly spoke out against government-salaried ministers and was an ardent supporter of the separation of politics and religion. He was also against the English seizure of Indian land without pay. He earned his living by trading with the local Indians and not only became good friends with them, but he was also one of the few Englishmen who could speak their language.

Williams returned to Salem and continued his verbal harassment of church and political officials. In October 1635, he was charged with sedition and found guilty, with banishment from the Massachusetts Bay colony being his punishment. He was given six weeks to settle his affairs, but during this time he continued to speak out, and as a result his punishment was secretly changed to deportation back to England. He got word of this and fled Massachusetts on foot just days before he would have been arrested. He survived the winter only after being taken in by his friends, the Wampanoag Indians. He ended up near present day Bristol, Rhode Island, and in the spring he purchased a tract of land just outside the Plymouth colony where he would not be bothered. Joined by some of his friends from Salem, the men settled what would become the first town in America where religion and politics did not mix—Providence.

In 1643, Williams returned to England with the intent of obtaining an official royal charter for a colony that would include Providence and the nearby towns of Newport and Portsmouth. Unfortunately, he arrived in the midst of a civil war in which Parliament and the King were at odds, and he was only able to secure a patent (land deed) issued by Parliament for the Providence Plantations in Narragansett Bay.

The leader of Newport, however, did not want to be associated with Williams and ended up receiving a commission in 1651 to break away and govern his own land. This prompted Williams to return to England a second time, though he once again came back empty handed in 1654. He did leave a colleague behind to pursue the matter, and when the monarchy was finally restored to power, King Charles II granted a royal charter for the colony of Rhode Island in 1663. He also agreed to let the colony govern itself without input from any religion, making it the first secular colony in England’s North American land holdings.