Williams founded Providence in 1636 on land purchased from the Narragansett people, laying the groundwork for the future colony of Rhode Island. The city became a haven for Anabaptists, Quakers, Jews, and others whose beliefs were denied public expression elsewhere in colonial America. He secured a parliamentary charter in 1644 to unite Providence, Newport, Warwick, and Portsmouth as one colony. He went again to England in 1651β54 to have the colony confirmed, finally securing it against the wiles of neighboring colonies that had long denied its validity.
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