Which philosopher is described as founder of Rhode Island, preaching religious toleration and a high wall of separation of Church and State?

• A. John Winthrop
• B. Locke
• C. Roger Williams
• D. James Harrington

Answer: (B)

This item tests understanding of who championed religious liberty and the separation of church and state in early American thought and who actually founded Rhode Island. Roger Williams is the figure who founded Rhode Island and argued for broad religious toleration and a high wall separating church from state. He established Providence Plantations after being banished from Massachusetts for challenging the Puritan establishment, and he advocated that civil government should not compel or oversee religious belief, prioritizing freedom of conscience. This combination—founding Rhode Island and insisting on religious liberty and church-state separation—defines his role.

John Winthrop founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where church and state were closely linked, so his example aligns more with an established church model. John Locke, while influential on liberal ideas about toleration and the separation of church and state, did not found Rhode Island. James Harrington is a different English political thinker with unrelated ties to Rhode Island.