Pawtuxet and Warwick
At Pawtuxet there was immediate friction and a rift in the settlers, with a majority of them adhering to Gorton's views. The original Pawtuxet settlers, consisting of William Arnold, his son-in-law William Carpenter, Robert Cole, and Arnold's son Benedict Arnold were deeply offended by Gorton's conduct, so much so that they sent a letter to Massachusetts, dated 17 November 1641, in which they complained of the "insolent and riotous carriage of Samuel Gorton and his company" and they petitioned Massachusetts to "lend us a neighborlike helping hand." With no legal government established anywhere in the Narragansett region, these Pawtuxet settlers put themselves under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which arrangement lasted for 16 years. In so doing, the Pawtuxet settlers became agents of the underhanded dealings of Massachusetts in its quest to continue punishing those with dissenting views, and to gain territories that would give them an outlet to the Narragansett Bay. The Arnolds and their Pawtuxet partners became complicit in efforts by Massachusetts to remove Gorton and his followers from the entire region. Territorial claims made by Massachusetts in the Narragansett region were for decades an issue of contention for Roger Williams who wanted to consolidate all of the towns around the Narragansett Bay into a unified government.
In January 1643 Gorton and 11 others bought a large tract of land from the Narragansett tribal chief Miantonomi for 144 fathoms (864 feet or 263 meters) of wampum, and they called the place Shawomet, using the native name, which would later be named Warwick. Later that year he and others of Shawomet were summoned to appear in court in Boston to answer a complaint from two Indian sachems concerning some "unjust and injurious dealing" towards them. The Shawomet men refused the summons, claiming that they were loyal subjects of the King of England and beyond the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. Soldiers were soon sent after them, their writings were confiscated, and the men were taken to Boston for trial. Once tried, the charges against Gorton and the others had nothing to do with the original charges, but instead were about Gorton's writings and how he conducted himself. The following charge was made against him, "Upon much examination and serious consideration of your writing, with your answers about them, we do charge you to be a blasphemous enemy of the true religion of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Holy Ordinances, and also of all civil authority among the people of God and particularly in this jurisdiction." It was then ordered that Gorton be confined to Charlestown, to be kept at labor, and to wear bolts or irons in order to prevent his escape. Were he to break confinement, or were he to maintain any of the "blasphemies or abominable heresies wherewith he hath been charged" that upon a conviction by a jury trial he would be sentenced to death. Even though the trial was a total sham, all but three of the present magistrates had given Gorton the death sentence, though a majority of the deputies refused to sanction such a sentence.
The sentencing took place in November 1643, but a few months later, in March 1644, he was released from prison, being banished from both Massachusetts and from Shawomet (which was claimed by Massachusetts). Seeking redress for the wrongs committed against them, later that year Gorton, Randall Holden and John Greene boarded a ship in New Amsterdam and sailed back to England, where Gorton would spend four years. In 1646 he published one of his many writings, entitled Simplicity's Defence Against Seven Headed Policy, detailing the wrongs that were put upon the Shawomet settlers. The same year he was given what he had come for: the Commissioner of Plantations, responsible for overseeing the activities of the colonies, issued an order to Massachusetts to allow the residents of Shawomet and other lands included in the patent to "freely and quietly live and plant" without being disquieted by external pressures. In 1648 Gorton returned to New England, landing in Boston that May. His arrest was ordered, but he had a letter of protection from Robert Rich, 5th Earl of Warwick, which saw him safely back to his family. In honor of the Earl's intercession in this colonial difficulty, Gorton changed the name of Shawomet to Warwick.
Read more about this topic: Samuel Gorton