Samuell Gorton: A Forgotten Founder of our Liberties

In Short

This concise biographical study restores Samuell Gorton to his place among the founders of American liberty. Tracing his journey from early clashes with the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay authorities to his role as President of Rhode Island, the book details his fight against theocratic overreach. Janes shows how Gorton established the settlement of Warwick, secured English charters, championed human rights, and formulated a forward-looking political philosophy. The work endures as a vital correction to early colonial histories that maligned Gorton, revealing him as a primary architect of total religious freedom and constitutional law.

The Story

The narrative follows Samuell Gorton's relentless pursuit of civil and religious freedom across the harsh landscape of seventeenth-century New England. Arriving from England, Gorton immediately runs afoul of the Puritan authorities in Plymouth when he defends a member of his household who committed the offense of smiling during a church meeting. Asserting that the magistrates possess no legal warrant for their arbitrary charges, he demands the protections of English legal precedent. Banishment follows, driving him and his vulnerable family into the freezing winter toward Aquidneck, where he helps organize a new town government at Portsmouth.

His steadfast refusal to yield to illegally constituted authority soon forces him to move on to Providence and ultimately to Shawomet, which he purchases from the Narragansett Indians. Yet the leaders of Massachusetts Bay, eager to crush dissent and expand their territory, extend their reach to subvert the new settlement. Armed forces sent from Boston besiege Gorton and his small group of followers in a blockhouse, taking them prisoner to Boston under promise of fair arbitration. Instead, the Puritans subject Gorton to a trial for his life on manufactured charges of blasphemy, examining his theological writings and threatening execution before sentencing him to hard labor in irons.

Upon his eventual release and banishment, Gorton demonstrates brilliant political strategy. He sails to England, where he publishes a defense of his actions, presents the formal submission of the Narragansett nation to the English authorities, and secures a protective patent from the Earl of Warwick that safeguards his settlement’s land. Returning in triumph to rename his home Warwick, Gorton spends his remaining years serving as President, General Assistant, and lawmaker for Rhode Island.

Throughout his political career, he fights tirelessly against theocratic tyranny and human bondage. He helps enact a groundbreaking law limiting the term of involuntary servitude for both Black and white individuals, effectively creating an early anti-slavery statute. He defends persecuted Quakers, urges strict adherence to civil laws over religious dictates, and builds a legacy of absolute liberty of conscience that outlives the rigid theocracies surrounding him.

How It Unfolds

Confrontation at Plymouth Gorton defends a woman of his household against arbitrary magistrates who accuse her of smiling in meeting. He insists that civil authorities cannot punish individuals without clear legal warrants rooted in English law, earning himself a fine and banishment.

The Aquidneck Exile Journeying through severe winter weather with his sick family, Gorton reaches Aquidneck and helps found the settlement at Portsmouth. He rejects later attempts to merge the town under an unconstitutional coalition of magistrates, maintaining his uncompromising stance on legitimate government.

Siege at Shawomet After purchasing land at Shawomet from the local sachems, Gorton and his companions face an invading military force dispatched from Boston. The men endure a day and night of siege in a blockhouse before surrendering under a promise of fair treatment.

Trial and Captivity Brought to Boston in chains, Gorton faces a tribunal of magistrates and ministers who try him for his life on charges of blasphemy rather than civil land disputes. He is forced to answer complex theological queries and is sentenced to hard labor.

Triumph in London After gaining his freedom, Gorton travels to England, where he publishes his defense and secures a royal patent protecting the Shawomet lands. He returns under safe-conduct to establish the town of Warwick and serve as President of the colony.

The People

• Samuell Gorton — A scholar, legal thinker, and political pioneer who seeks a society where civil power is strictly limited and conscience remains free. He faces banishment, imprisonment, and trial for his life without ever retreating from his convictions, ultimately serving as President of Rhode Island.
• Roger Williams — The founder of Providence and co-builder of Rhode Island who shares Gorton's commitment to "soul liberty." Though initially clashing with Gorton over administrative matters, he eventually adopts Gorton's views on the necessity of English constitutional protections.
• William Coddington — A prominent magistrate at Aquidneck who seeks to establish a top-down, theocratic government. His efforts to centralize authority drive Gorton and the democratic majority to establish independent town institutions.
• The Massachusetts Magistrates — The political and religious leaders of Boston who view Gorton's insistence on legal rights and religious freedom as a direct threat to their theocratic rule, leading them to use military force and blasphemy charges against him.

In Its Own Voice

"The Gortonists stood siege for a day and a night, and repelled the attempt of the men of Massachusetts and their savage allies to set fire to the block-house..."

This moment illustrates the desperate physical resistance Gorton and his small band mounted against the Boston forces before surrendering to superior numbers.

"There was no pretence of a judicial consideration of their rights as settlers at Shawomet."

Here the author underscores the hypocrisy of the Massachusetts authorities, who transformed a civil land dispute into a religious prosecution.

"God is eternally a creator, eternally a redeemer, eternally a conservator of peace."

This passage captures the heart of Gorton's unique theology, highlighting his belief in an ongoing, universal divine presence rather than a rigid historical dogma.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book explores the fundamental tension between arbitrary power and the rule of law. Janes argues that genuine political freedom cannot exist without clear, constitutional limits on those who govern. By examining Gorton's theological and legal writings, the work reveals how the separation of church and state was born not merely from abstract philosophy, but from practical resistance to theocratic overreach. Gorton’s career raises enduring questions about the nature of civil disobedience, the rights of the individual against the collective, and the essential legal safeguards required to protect human dignity and liberty of conscience.

Why Read It Today

Historians and general readers interested in the origins of American democracy will find this work an illuminating correction to standard colonial narratives. Janes writes with clear, direct prose that cuts through the historical bias that long surrounded Rhode Island’s founders. The book offers a fascinating look at the rough, unvarnished realities of seventeenth-century colonial life, where theological debates carried real-world consequences of exile and imprisonment.

While the text occasionally requires patience with lengthy descriptions of colonial land disputes and dense seventeenth-century religious terminology, it rewards the reader with a vivid portrait of a forgotten hero. Gorton's insistence that laws must apply equally to all, combined with his early legislative efforts against permanent slavery, feels remarkably modern. What stays with you is the image of a single, unyielding individual who stood up against the most powerful authorities of his day to demand that liberty be anchored in justice.