Rhode Island History Guide

Inhabitants, including the Wampanoag, Narragansett and Niantic tribes, occupied most of the area now known as Rhode Island. Most of the Native Americans were decimated by European diseases and warfare with the Europeans. The Narragansett language died out for many years but was preserved in Roger Williams' the "A Key into the Languages of America." In the twenty-first century, the Narragansett tribe remains a federally recognized entity in Rhode Island. Giovanni da Verrazano explored the Narragansett Bay for France in 1524.

Adriaen Block, the Dutch explorer, visited an island (now called Block Island) in 1614, and by 1625, the Dutch West India Company had established a trading post on an island in Narragansett Bay, and was actively trading with the Indians. In 1636, after being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious views, Roger Williams settled at the tip of Narragansett Bay. He called the site Providence and declared it a place of religious freedom. Williams purchased the land for Providence from the Narragansett natives in 1638. Anne Hutchinson (a religious dissident) was also exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1638. She and other religious exiles subsequently brought additional settlers into this harsh new land.

In 1662, King Philip became chief of the Wampanoag Indian tribe when his father died. He feared white men and disliked that some settlers were taking land without paying for it. In 1675, a series of battles were fought between the colonists and the Wampanoag tribe. Troops from Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut defeated the Indians in the Great Swamp Fight near Kingston, Rhode Island. The war ended in southern New England that year, but continued in Maine and New Hampshire until King Philips death in 1676.

Rhode Island was the first of the British colonies in America to declare its independence on May 4, 1776. The Battle of Rhode Island was fought during the summer of 1778 and was an unsuccessful attempt to expel the British from Narragansett Bay although few colonial casualties occurred. The Marquis de Lafayette called the action the "best fought" of War. The following year, the British, wanting to concentrate their forces in New York, abandoned Newport.

Rhode Island was the last of the original 13 states to ratify the United States Constitution on May 29, 1790. Rhode Island waited for the Bill of Rights to be added to the Constitution that limited federal government and guarantied individual rights.

As the plight of black slaves in the southern states grew into a controversial issue, that moral dispute between the northern and southern states peaked, and in 1861, America's Civil War began. Rhode Island joined the Union cause and over 25,000 of its men joined the battle. In addition, Rhode Island, as well as other northern states, used its industrial capacity to supply the Union Army. After the war, Newport became an important military center. In 1883, the Newport Naval Station was built; the following year, the Naval War College established. Prosperity continued and the industries developed worldwide markets.

The textile industry declined during the 1920s. Many factories moved south for lower labor and transportation costs. To compensate, industries increased production of machinery, tools, and metal products. During World War II (1939-1945), the U.S. Navy built a base at Quonset Point creating many jobs.

After the war, the economy fell again and unemployment rose to 17% in Rhode Island. By the end of the 1960s, a diversified economy with electronic, chemical, and plastic industries dropped the unemployment to 3%. The University of Rhode Island began development of a scientific research center in Saunderstown where many laboratories and the nation's first state-owned nuclear reactor can be found.

Today, Rhode Island, smallest of the 50 states, is densely populated and highly industrialized. It is a major center for jewelry manufacturing. Electronics, metal, plastic products, and boat and ship construction are other important industries. Non-manufacturing employment includes research in health, medicine, and the ocean environment. Providence is a wholesale distribution center for New England.

Fishing ports are at Galilee and Newport. Rural areas of the state support small-scale farming, including grapes for local wineries, turf grass, and nursery stock. Tourism generates over a billion dollars a year in revenue.

Rhode Island Famous People

• Harry Anderson (1952 - ) Actor and magician.  He starred in the sit-com Night Court; born in Newport.
• Nicholas Brown (1729 - 1791) An instrumental figure in convincing leaders to ratify the U.S. Constitution; Rhode Island College was renamed Brown University after him.
• George Michael Cohan (1878 - 1942) Composer and actor who is called the father of U.S. musical comedy; born in Providence.
• Bobby (Robert Leo) Hackett (1915-1976) Jazz trumpeter; born and raised in Providence.
• Julia Ward Howe (1819 - 1910) Reformer, writer, and poet that wrote the words to ?The Battle Hymn of the Republic?; lived in Portsmouth and Newport.
• Napoleon (Larry) Lajoie (1874 - 1959) Baseball player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937; born in Woonsocket.
• H.P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft (1890 - 1937) Author.  He wrote the book Necronomicon and was interested in science fiction and supernatural stories; born in Providence
• Horace Mann (1796 - 1859) Known as the father of American public education and served as the first head of the Massachusetts state board of education; graduated from Brown University.
• Samuel Slater (1768 - 1835) English manufacturer who built the first water-powered textile mill in 1791 in Pawtucket; migrated to Rhode Island in 1780.
• Gilbert Stuart (1755 - 1828) Artist that painted the George Washington that appears on the dollar bill; born in Saunderstown.
• Roger Williams (1604 - 1683) He was a Puritan leader and the founder of Rhode Island.