Transcript
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NARRATOR:
Can you tell a story about the past that speaks to the present? I hear you asking, why would I do that? Let me explain by telling you a true story, a story from the past that has something to say about your streets, your community, your sports, or your hobbies. A story about diversity, people who are different, and a man with a passion for the values of religious toleration. The story takes you back in time 400 years ago to a place called Massachusetts on the East Coast of America. The people here have recently arrived from England.
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They're known as Puritans. They want to establish what they see as an ideal Christian society. But in building their ideal pure society, they're intolerant towards people who don't share their religious beliefs and practices. One person who disagrees with this is Roger Williams.
By winter 1636, Roger Williams is no longer welcome. He's facing arrest. He needs to escape. It's a long journey through the deep snow and harsh cold.
Eventually, thanks to some friendly Indigenous people, Roger got the chance to start a new settlement. It would become the colony of Rhode Island. Roger wanted this new colony to be different, different from Massachusetts, different from the Old World in Europe, a society where there is freedom of conscience. Roger Williams thought of this new society as a ship.
On this ship, in theory, there could be people of different religions, different types of Christians, Muslims, atheists, Jews. They were all welcome. They shared the ship. It was a ship where there was justice and fairness. Everyone had a choice about when they prayed and who they prayed to.
The captain of the ship could belong to any religion. In the 17th century, very few people believed a society could be like this. But Roger Williams did. And he pioneered a new approach to religious freedom.
There. I've told you a story, a story about diversity and toleration and what society might be like. What does that story trigger your thinking about? Why not make a film about it?
In this project, you will relay ideas from history to your streets, your community, your sports, or your hobbies? You'll become a historian, a film maker, and a blogger all in one. All it takes is a little imagination.
Like Roger Williams, you, too, will go on a voyage of discovery. Go to retopea.eu. It has all the tools you'll need to think about history in a new way and make your film. Bon voyage.
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