Roger Williams doesn't found Rhode Island

Hi!

What would the ramifications be of Roger Williams not deciding to break off from Massachusetts and form another state next door? Maybe instead of founding RI he founds his new city of Providence out in the western part of the state, which is less under Boston's thumb but still part of Massachusetts. He could also have put Providence where it is but still considered it part of Massachusetts.

For all we know, he could have advocated greater tolerance of Quakers in Massachusetts (though that may be a stretch).

Would 12 colonies instead of 13 make a difference at all?
 
Maybe western Massachasutts becomes the *Rhode Island in ATL centered on Springfield, keeping it at 13 colonies. Connecticut almost certainly takes the majority of Rhode Island, except Providence and east of the bay would probably be MA.
 
Assuming Williams founds Providence in its OTL site but does not break off...

The Quakers would probably still try to move into this bigger Massachusetts and still get persecuted, but what would have been the Rhode Islanders would in turn possibly advocate for them a bit more.

The MA elite had a very tight grip on their colony and the majority of the population definitely agreed with their ways (the dissenters usually left, after all), so the Quaker persecution wouldn't lead to any real unrest - more like a bigger annoyance the elites have to deal with.

Quakers will basically be even more bummed until they settle Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The freedom of religion doctrine Rhode Island pioneered will still be developed in the Delaware Valley.

Overall, it's basically a bit of a longer wait for Quakers to have a haven, but you get to have 'the dozen colonies' roll of the tongue by contrast. :p
 
I've been thinking about ways to make large eastern states recently, and came to Roger Williams.

I think, if Williams were to go to New Hampshire, then Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven may do very poorly in the Pequot War without his inluence. New Hampshire comes to the rescue eventually, and the result is an early New England Confederation. The NEC proves its worth with respect to the Dutch and other Native American wars.

By the 1770s the Commonwealth of New England includes the OTL states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Rhode Island proper, settled by Anne Hutchinson's people, doesn't have much say in this matter.
 
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