Rhode Island

Roger Williams founded Providence in 1636 after Massachusetts banished him for arguing that the state had no business policing belief. Rhode Island became a refuge for dissenters and one of the first governments anywhere to separate church from state.

That independent streak ran both ways: Rhode Island was the first colony to renounce allegiance to the Crown in May 1776, yet the last of the thirteen to ratify the U.S. Constitution, holding out until 1790 over fears of central power.