17. “Roger Williams’s Unintentional Contribution to the Creation of American Capitalism”
by Casey Pratt
Abstract: This paper argues that in attempting to protect the religious life from the sullying influence of worldly affairs, Roger Williams participated, albeit unintentionally, in creating the economic conditions that led to the birth of American capitalism. Although Williams argued for a separation of church and state, he did so not in the interest of defending economic liberty, but instead to preserve the sanctity of the church against the frequent immorality that seemed to him required in worldly governance. Questions of pricing and wages, lending and interest—issues that would until Williams’s intervention have been handled by the church in terms of Aquinas’ just price theory—fell outside of the church’s purview according to the new model described by Williams. The result was the creation of an “amoral” public space where the effective separation between spiritual and material concerns led to a kind of free-by-default economic marketplace. This paper traces the development and inadvertent consequences of this essentially theological idea as it took shape in the colonial era.
![[RSS Feed]](http://libertarianpapers.org/wp-content/themes/journalist/images/rss.gif "Subscribe to the Libertarian Papers Site Feed")
![[iTunes]](http://libertarianpapers.org/wp-content/themes/journalist/images/itunes.png "Subscribe to the Libertarian Papers Podcast with iTunes")
![[CC Attribution 3.0]](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/3.0/us/80x15.png)
I just wanted to give you a quick note. When I clicked on the PDF version the text seemed to fall outside of the margins and some of the words were partially cut off. You may wish to resize the document.
Ryan
Thanks. Fixed it!
The Protestant reformation sowed the seeds of desacralization of all of human society and action which had grown up in the previous centuries. One of the earliest to begin understanding this process was Robert Browne. But the practical application of this process takes centuries of groping for truth. Williams is just one contributor along the way.
The theological argument involved is not difficult. The statement in the Gospel is self explanatory: “The Kingdom of God is within you.”
The modern tutelary fascist state is routinely invading the space of individual conscience by establishing and imposing values through the exercise of a variety of coercive powers. It now purports to stand in loco Deus.
Bravo. Excellent read.
This article reminds me (partly) of CS Lewis’s essay: Meditation on the Third Commandment. In it, Lewis warns those tee-totaling Christians that outlawing/prohibiting things by declaring “God says so” is the equivalent of using the Lord’s name in vain. That is, saying that God has spoken when he has not is wrong.
God gives man reason (and sometimes revelation) for guidance. He (man) does not need another persons’ pesky meddling for assistance.