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Providence Civil Compact
The Providence Civil Compact (sometimes referred to as the "Scott Petition") was a foundational agreement signed by thirteen settlers of the Towne of Providence (now Providence, Rhode Island), in which they pledged obedience to the decisions of local government—but only in "civil things." This early assertion of limited government authority is one of the first known declarations in colonial America to endorse the principle of separation of church and state, and it laid the groundwork for religious liberty in Rhode Island. Background and signatories Roger Williams, a Puritan minister and theologian, was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636 for his "new and dangerous opinions," including the belief that civil magistrates had no authority over matters of conscience or religious practice. He objected to the colony's enforcement of religious uniformity, compulsory worship, and oaths of allegiance, and he defended the land rights of Indigenous peoples. Williams fle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is one of the oldest cities in New England, founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He named the area in honor of "God's merciful Providence" which he believed was responsible for revealing such a haven for him and his followers. The city developed as a busy port, as it is situated at the mouth of the Providence River at the head of Narragansett Bay. Providence was one of the first cities in the country to industrialize and became noted for its textile manufacturing and subsequent machine tool, jewelry, and silverware industries. Today, the city of Providence is home to eight hospitals and List of colleges and universities in Rhode Island#Institutions, eight instit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ezekiel Holliman
Ezekial Holliman (c. 1586 – 17 September 1679) was a founder of the First Baptist Church in America. Boston Holliman ran into trouble while living in Boston when he ran afoul of the prevailing religious sensibilities of the time. He was accused of heresy, but left town before legal actions were initiated. He presumably thought that moving into the frontier would allow him a greater sense of religious liberty and so became one of the earliest settlers of Dedham, Massachusetts. Dedham The original settlers of Dedham met for the first time on August 18, 1636 in Watertown. By September 5, 1636, their number grew from 18 at the first meeting to 25 proprietors willing to set out for the new community. By November 25, however, so few people had actually moved to Dedham that the proprietors voted to require every man to move to Dedham permanently by the first day of the following November or they would lose the land they had been granted. A few young men without families set off to sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Providence Combination Of 1640
The Providence Combination of 1640, referred to then as the Combination & Plantation Agreement, established a civil government for the Providence Plantation, which encompassed what is now Providence and parts of Cranston and Pawtucket in Rhode Island. This document stands as the first governmental instrument in Western history to explicitly mention "liberty of conscience." The Combination—so named because it "combined" the inhabitants into a unified civil body—brought several groundbreaking advancements to colonial governance, including a democratic government based on arbitration, the formal acknowledgment of liberty of conscience as a fundamental right, and the unprecedented inclusion of women as signatories to a political agreement. Articles of the Combination The Combination, drafted on , 1640, by elected committee members Robert Coles, Chad Browne, William Harris, and John Warner, contained twelve articles establishing representative government and guaranteeing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Amendment To The United States Constitution
The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents Federal government of the United States, Congress from making laws respecting an Establishment Clause, establishment of religion; prohibiting the Free Exercise Clause, free exercise of religion; or abridging the Freedom of speech in the United States, freedom of speech, the Freedom of the press in the United States, freedom of the press, the freedom of assembly, or the Right to petition in the United States, right to petition the government for redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the United States Bill of Rights, Bill of Rights. In the original draft of the Bill of Rights, what is now the First Amendment occupied third place. The first two articles were not ratified by the states, so the article on disestablishment and free speech ended up being first. The Bill of Rights was proposed to assuage Anti-Federalism, Anti-Federalist oppo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact, originally titled Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth, was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the men aboard the ''Mayflower,'' consisting of Separatist Puritans, adventurers, and tradesmen. Although the agreement contained a pledge of loyalty to the King, the Puritans and other Protestant Separatists were dissatisfied with the state of the Church of England, the limited extent of the English Reformation and reluctance of King James I of England to enforce further reform. The Mayflower Compact was signed aboard ship on , 1620. Signing the covenant were 41 of the ship's 101 passengers; the ''Mayflower'' was anchored in Provincetown Harbor within the hook at the northern tip of Cape Cod. History The Pilgrims had originally hoped to reach America in early October using two ships, but delays and complications meant they could use only one, the ''Mayflower''. Their intended destination had been the Colony of Vir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson (; July 1591 – August 1643) was an English-born religious figure who was an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her strong religious formal declarations were at odds with the established Puritans, Puritan clergy in the Boston area and her popularity and charisma helped create a theological schism that threatened the Puritan religious community in New England. She was eventually tried and convicted, then banished from the colony with many of her supporters. Hutchinson was born in Alford, Lincolnshire, the daughter of Francis Marbury, an Anglican cleric and school teacher who gave her a far better education than most other girls received. She lived in London as a young adult, and there married a friend from home, William Hutchinson (Rhode Island judge), William Hutchinson. The couple moved back to Alford where they began following preacher John Cotton (minister), John Cotton in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katherine Marbury Scott
Katherine Marbury Scott (born approx.1607-1610, died 1687) was a Quakers, Quaker advocate and Settler colonialism, colonist of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Like her older sister, Anne Hutchinson, she was persecuted by the Puritans when her open opposition to Puritan authorities disturbed the Patriarchy, patriarchal order of the colony. Early life and education Katherine Marbury was born in London, England between 1607 and 1610, and was one of at least 15 children of Bridget Dryden and Francis Marbury. Marbury was an educator, cleric, and political dissident, and died in 1611, when Katherine was still an infant. Unusually for the era, the Marbury daughters were taught to read and write, and Katherine was likely educated by one of her older siblings: Susan (the only surviving child of Marbury's first marriage to Elizabeth Moore), Anne, Francis, Emme, Erasmus, Bridget, Jeremuth, Elizabeth, Thomas, and Anthony. Biography In 1632, Katharine married Richard Scott, and in 1634, they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
