when was the college of william and mary founded
College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (also known as William & Mary, W&M, and officially the College of William and Mary in Virginia) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, after Harvard University.
Roger Williams Williams was expelled by the Puritan leaders from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for spreading "new and dangerous ideas", and he established the Providence Plantations in 1636 as a refuge offering what he called "liberty of conscience". In 1638, he founded the First Baptist Church in America, also known as the First Baptist Church of Providence.[4][5] He was a student of Indian languages, and he organized the first attempt to prohibit slavery in any of the American colonies.[3]