History of Rhode Island
William Blackstone was the first white
settler to inhabit the area known as Rhode
Island today. He settled near a river that
was later named for him, but was not
actually the first documented settlement.
Providence is given credit for being the
first settlement in Rhode Island established
by Roger Williams and his followers. These
settlers
went on to be the founders of
Newport, Portsmouth, and Warwick as well.
To secure their land and
religious freedom, Rhode Island sent Roger
Williams to England in 1643 to have a patent
issued for the four towns.
The king was more than happy to grant them their freedom as it
meant
that he still had supreme rule over
the area. Rhode Island's settlements
were almost wiped out during King
Philip's War in 1675. This war, between
the New England Native Americans and the
settlers, lasted over 10 years
and cost the lives of many natives and
settlers.
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During this conflict, thousands of
Indians and over 600
colonists were killed.
The settlements on Rhode Island's
mainland
were destroyed during the war, ruining the
colonists' accomplishments and forcing them
to start over. After the natives were
subdued, the economy of Rhode Island began
to flourish.
The population steadily grew over the
next 60 years to
almost quadruple its initial size. Sugar
and maritime trade
were the top money makers at the time and
are what brought about the American
Revolution. The Sugar Act and other
taxes that hit the colony in the 1760’s
caused a huge
backlash and the war began. In 1774,
Stephen Hopkins s et his mark in history
by introducing a bill into the Rhode Island
Assembly that prohibited the importation of
slaves into the colony. |
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