Roger Williams had been convicted in Boston . His crime
seems bizarre today – he had been found guilty of preaching for the separation of church and state, freedom of conscience and tolerance of minorities. All values that a century and a half later would become the foundation for the United States. He had been warned the authorities were coming for him so he fled in a blizzard (some say as a true Rhode Islander he was just going out for bread and milk and lost his way). He was a man on the lam when he found sanctuary and named this place Providence. It has been a haven for “otherwise mindedness” ever since.
The freedom loving folks up in Boston did rescind Roger’s conviction – they but first they waited to see how all his “radical “ ideas about freedom would work out – after 300 years they were pretty certain that the were going to work and MAssachusetts officially pardoned him. It only took three centuries but Roger Williams is no longer a wanted man.