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ambitious_wenchAs I have mentioned, I'm in the process of researching primary source material for a book about King Phillips War; my personal contact is a an acquaintance and fellow performer, a gentleman by the name of John McNiff. John is the director of apprentices at King Richard's Faire; I've had the good fortune of working with him for the past two seasons.
John holds a degree in American history, a masters, I believe. I could be wrong. I do know that his knowledge of the history of Rhode Island and the role of Roger Williams in shaping the concept of "Separation of church and state" is formidable.
He is also remarkably well read in the last 16th and early 17th centuries in England, and also the New England area. He is alos one of the rangers at the Roger Williams Memorial in downtown Providence.
Some snippets of information:
The bronze statue of Roger Williams at Roger Williams University was sculpted with the face of Ted Williams.
The folk who settled at Plimoth (later Plymoth, Plymouth) were Brownists, or Sepratists. They actually favored a formal cut from the Church of England. They were not Puritans. They were more lenient and liberal than the Puritans.
The folk who settled in Salem and Boston were "Puritans", who wished to Purify the church. Both groups believed in only two sacraments--baptism, and ordination.
John describes the Boston and Salem Puritans as being roughly analogous to the Taliban. Ultra conservative, oppressive and utterly convinced that they and they alone were God's chosen people. They would persecute and hang Quakers.
When Roger Williams bought land from the Wampanoag peoples and settled what would later become Providence, his next door neighbor refused to attend any religious ceremonies in the new settlement. His wife and mother-in-law were followers of Williams, and to his horror, they believed in the heresy of "soul freedom", the right of the individual to worship as they saw fit. He began to beat his wife to keep her from attending meetings--he was tried disenfranchised for interferring in her religious freedom. It was the first time in the known history of the world a woman's freedom of religion was defended in a court. This was in May of 1638 or 39. The trial split the residents of Providence. Many left the colony to settle elsewhere.
He later would take his wife and mother-in-law back to Boston in ropes; There he became the man in charge of seeing to it that everybody went to church. He arrested his wife, his mother-in-law and his own brother for not attending.
Most of this story John had to piece together from primary source material; Church records, court documents, journals. It will be told fully!
Finally, this bit of information;
Thomas Jefferson used the term "separation of church and state" in a letter to the Baptists; He was speaking to the spiritual descendants of Roger Williams. (The First Baptist Church was founded by Williams, but he left it 3 months later because it had become too political). He has actually take then term from the writings of Roger Williams.
Both Jefferson and Williams advocated for the separation of Church and State, but from different directions: Williams wanted Government to stay out of Religion, and Jefferson wanted Religion to stay out of the Government.
John holds a degree in American history, a masters, I believe. I could be wrong. I do know that his knowledge of the history of Rhode Island and the role of Roger Williams in shaping the concept of "Separation of church and state" is formidable.
He is also remarkably well read in the last 16th and early 17th centuries in England, and also the New England area. He is alos one of the rangers at the Roger Williams Memorial in downtown Providence.
Some snippets of information:
The bronze statue of Roger Williams at Roger Williams University was sculpted with the face of Ted Williams.
The folk who settled at Plimoth (later Plymoth, Plymouth) were Brownists, or Sepratists. They actually favored a formal cut from the Church of England. They were not Puritans. They were more lenient and liberal than the Puritans.
The folk who settled in Salem and Boston were "Puritans", who wished to Purify the church. Both groups believed in only two sacraments--baptism, and ordination.
John describes the Boston and Salem Puritans as being roughly analogous to the Taliban. Ultra conservative, oppressive and utterly convinced that they and they alone were God's chosen people. They would persecute and hang Quakers.
When Roger Williams bought land from the Wampanoag peoples and settled what would later become Providence, his next door neighbor refused to attend any religious ceremonies in the new settlement. His wife and mother-in-law were followers of Williams, and to his horror, they believed in the heresy of "soul freedom", the right of the individual to worship as they saw fit. He began to beat his wife to keep her from attending meetings--he was tried disenfranchised for interferring in her religious freedom. It was the first time in the known history of the world a woman's freedom of religion was defended in a court. This was in May of 1638 or 39. The trial split the residents of Providence. Many left the colony to settle elsewhere.
He later would take his wife and mother-in-law back to Boston in ropes; There he became the man in charge of seeing to it that everybody went to church. He arrested his wife, his mother-in-law and his own brother for not attending.
Most of this story John had to piece together from primary source material; Church records, court documents, journals. It will be told fully!
Finally, this bit of information;
Thomas Jefferson used the term "separation of church and state" in a letter to the Baptists; He was speaking to the spiritual descendants of Roger Williams. (The First Baptist Church was founded by Williams, but he left it 3 months later because it had become too political). He has actually take then term from the writings of Roger Williams.
Both Jefferson and Williams advocated for the separation of Church and State, but from different directions: Williams wanted Government to stay out of Religion, and Jefferson wanted Religion to stay out of the Government.