Roger Williams (c. 1603-1683) is best known for his advocacy of religious tolerance and the separation of church and state, his opposition to the confiscation of land from Native Americans by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and his founding of the State of Rhode Island after he was banished from Massachusetts. His Key into the Language of America, published in London in 1643, was the first study of an Amerindian language in English and brought Europe's attention to Native American language and culture.