Coddington was not asked to depart, but he felt that the outcome of the controversy was unjust and decided to join many of his fellow parishioners in exile.

During this period, Roger Williams had gone to England to obtain a patent to unite the four Narragansett towns of Providence, Warwick, Portsmouth, and Newport.

With the revocation of his commission, Coddington withdrew from public life, focusing on his mercantile interests, and becoming a member of the Religious Society of Friends.

The relative calm of this period was shattered during his second year as governor of the colony when King Philip's War erupted in June 1675.

[4] As a member of the Boston Church, Coddington was pleased when John Cotton arrived in the colony in 1633, as he was one of the most noted Puritan ministers of the time.

Many members of Boston's church disagreed with Wilson's emphasis on morality and his doctrine of "evidencing justification by sanctification", meaning that one demonstrates salvation by living a more holy life.

[9] Wilson's theological views were in accord with those of the other ministers in the colony except for Cotton, who stressed "the inevitability of God's will" (which he termed a covenant of grace) as opposed to preparation (works).

[12] In May 1636, the Bostonians received a new ally when the Reverend John Wheelwright arrived from England and immediately aligned himself with Cotton, Hutchinson, and other so-called free grace advocates.

Yet another boost came for those advocating the free grace theology during the same month when young aristocrat Henry Vane was elected governor of the colony.

By late 1636, the theological schism had become great enough that the General Court called for a day of fasting to help ease the colony's difficulties.

Governor Vane began challenging the doctrines of the colony's divines, and supporters of Hutchinson refused to serve during the Pequot War of 1637 because Wilson was the chaplain of the expedition.

Winthrop realized that "two so opposite parties could not contain in the same body, without apparent hazard of ruin to the whole"; he opted for a stern approach to the difficulties, supported by a majority of the colonists.

[19] The autumn court in 1637 convened on 2 November, and Wheelwright was sentenced to banishment and ordered to leave the colony within fourteen days.

[28] Coddington was angry about the recent trials, considering them to be unjust, so he began making plans for his own future in consultation with others affected by the Court's decisions.

[30] Altogether, a group of 23 individuals signed the instrument, sometimes called the Portsmouth Compact, which was intended to form a "Bodie Politick" based on Christian principles.

[32] The two island towns grew and prospered at a much greater rate than the mainland settlements of Providence Plantations and the newly established Shawomet (later Warwick).

[33] This did not happen, but Coddington did manage to resist union with Providence until 1647, when representatives of the four towns finally met and adopted the Williams Patent of 1643.

[38] Exasperated by the situation, Coddington decided to go to England and present his case to the Colonial Commissioners in London, leaving his farm and business interests in the hands of an agent.

[39] He thought that Coddington would be a wise and effective chief magistrate and permitted him to serve as governor for an indefinite period, subject to the will of Parliament.

[41] With his new commission, Coddington once again unsuccessfully sought a place for Rhode Island in the New England Confederation, consisting of the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven.

In Bicknell's view, Roger Williams went to London in 1643, without advice or instructions, and returned in September 1644 with a patent for the colony, without the knowledge or consent of the island population.

The venerable Dr. John Clarke voiced his opposition to the island governor, and he and William Dyer were sent to England as agents of the discontents to get the Coddington commission revoked.

[43] Simultaneously, the mainland towns of Providence and Warwick sent Roger Williams on a similar errand, and the three men sailed for England in November 1651.

[43] Coddington was accused of taking sides with the Dutch on matters of colonial trade, and his commission was revoked for the island government in October 1652.

[44] A committee was appointed to investigate his right to a seat, and they sent a letter to the Council of State in England asking for a full accounting of all complaints entered against him.

[45] Sometime in the early 1660s, Coddington joined Governor Nicholas Easton and many other prominent citizens in becoming members of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers.

[46] Coddington remained out of public office for most of the two decades following the demise of his commission to govern Aquidneck Island, but he was still considered one of the colony's leading citizens, and his name appears in the Royal Charter of 1663.

[48] Little of note occurred during this administration, other than the establishment of peace between England and the Dutch Republic, removing a large source of tension in the colonies.

In June 1675, the peace was shattered by an Indian massacre at Swansea[50] which began King Philip's War, the most devastating event to visit the colony of Rhode Island prior to the American Revolution.

"[6] Historian Thomas Bicknell writes: "he rose to the achievement of a great personal and political victory, when foes became friends, his policy of statecraft vindicated, and Rhode Island Colony on Aquidneck assumed the position for which he had so stoutly contended and so shamefully suffered.