• I was born in London, United Kingdom, in 1603.
  • I migrated to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1631, where as a radical nonconformist I refused to associate with the Anglican Puritans.
  • A year later I moved to the separatist Plymouth Colony, but my unorthodox views, such as my staunch belief in the separation of church and state, led to me being exiled from the colony.
  • One of my key beliefs was in addressing native Americans as equals, and in the spring of 1636 I founded the town of Providence on land explicitly purchased, not seized, from the Narraganset people.
  • Providence and the colony of Rhode Island became a refuge for those whose religious beliefs were persecuted elsewhere, such as Quakers and Anabaptists.

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