Rhode Island

“ The annexation of the eastern towns in 1757 marks an important period in the history of Rhode Island. With two unfriendly neighbors on each side she had been compelled to contend inch by inch for her territory. All the obstacles which impede development had accumulated in her path. All the dangers which menace the existence of feeble colonies had beset her. She had faced them all, she had overcome them all. A great principle lay at the root of her civilization, and humanity itself was inseparably connected with her success. ”

“ This is a great day for Rhode Island. This is a great day for America, because this afternoon and tomorrow the wave of thought that is ours will extend beyond us and be carried everywhere to receptive minds. The sunlight will dash it into every possible nook and corner of the land; the rivers will take it down to the Mexican slope; the whole country will vibrate with it. You who know the history of the man we honor, cherish it in your memory, and when you recall these exercises, congratulate yourself that in assisting at them you have fulfilled a duty ”

“ If it were not for that Rhode Island could not to-day be the State she is. Rhode Island has flourished as she has flourished because of the conditions which have brought about the great increase in urban life. ”

“ I have now reached the story of the longest and bloodiest war which the colonists had yet waged with the Indian. It is known in colonial history as King Philip’s war, and belongs more to the histories of Massachusetts and Connecticut than to that of Rhode Island, although two of its bloodiest battles were fought on Rhode Island soil. Like all wars with barbarians it is filled with strange mixtures of barbarism and heroism, the savage warrior often rising in the pursuit of his ideal to a moral grandeur which his civilized antagonist failed to attain. ”

“ Thus a provisional government took the place of the charter government under which New England had grown so rapidly. A great and successful experiment in political science was suddenly checked, and hopes which had led so many devout and earnest men to renounce the conveniences of home for the perils and discomforts of a wilderness were rudely crushed at the very moment when they seemed nearest their fulfillment. The same blow which fell upon Rhode Island fell with equal fatality upon Massachusetts and Connecticut. ”

“ If we may judge the prosperity of the Colony by the increase of taxation—and taxes it must be remembered were self-imposed—we shall find that Rhode Island at the beginning of the new century had made real if not rapid progress in all the branches of national prosperity. Her population in 1702 was estimated at ten thousand, exclusive of Indians. She drew supplies from foreign ports in bottoms of her own, and raised the staples of life on her own farms. Her citizens were merchants, farmers, fishermen and sailors. ”

“ While these events, so grievous in the present, so full of a glorious future, were passing, Samuel Ward, who had so nobly represented the highest conscience and culture of Rhode Island in the Continental Congress, was dying of small-pox in Philadelphia—the advanced post of civil heroism. An upright and conscientious man, who had drawn from books and men those lessons which make men wise in judgment and firm in principle and bold in action. ”

“ War with the French and Indians was raging all along the northern frontier. New York was the colony most exposed. Leister, her Governor, called on the other colonies for aid. Rhode Island, whose extensive water fronts left her open to attacks by sea, could not send men, and therefore taxed herself three hundred pounds to send money. The wisdom of this course was soon apparent. Seven French privateers made a descent upon the islands on the coast, committing horrible excesses. Bonfires were kindled at Pawcatuck to alarm the country, and a sloop well manned sent out from Newport to reconnoitre. ”

“ Ship building was one of the arts to which the Colony had directed its attention on its first planting, and Rhode Island workmen had grown skillful therein. The direction first taken by her maritime enterprise was privateering, which not only made the fortunes of individuals, but met many wants which the regular commerce of the country was unable to meet. To this great fleet Rhode Island contributed sixteen vessels, manned by men in the prime of life, and animated by love of adventure, love of country, and love of gain. ”

“ In Rhode Island the charter was adroitly put out of his reach by Governor Clarke and not reproduced till he had left Newport. In Connecticut it was hidden in the hollow of an oak. The seal of Rhode Island was broken. The members of the council were constantly changing, and few of them, according to Randolph, cared for the King. “His Excellency has to do with a perverse people.”
We meet some of the questions of our own day. Licenses for the sale of liquor were granted in Newport, but no liquor could be sold in King’s Province. ”

“ The island as a whole received the name of the Isle of Rhodes, or Rhode Island; and in 1644 its two settlements were united with Providence, under a charter procured in England by Roger Williams, forming the colony of Providence Plantations. In 1643 the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven, entered into a confederation, from which Rhode Island was excluded, calling themselves "The United Colonies of New England." The object of the confederation was common action in defence against the Indians and the Dutch on the Hudson. ”

“ Sir Henry Vane, who had already been a firm friend of Rhode Island, wrote in a public letter, “Are there no wise men among you? no public, self-denying spirits who can find some way of union before you become a prey to your enemies?” ”

“ RHODE ISLAND. A North Atlantic State of the United States, belonging to the New England group, and situated between latitudes 41° 18′ and 42° 3′ N. and between longitudes 71° 8′ and 71° 53′ W. It is bounded on the north and east by Massachusetts, on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the west by Connecticut. Rhode Island is the smallest in area of the United States. It has an extreme length from north to south of 48 miles, and an extreme width from east to west of 36 miles. Its area is 1250 square miles, of which 1053 square miles, or 673,920 acres, are land surface. ”

“ But their hearts were with their own race, and when Philip came they resolved to cast in their fortunes with his. The colonists prepared themselves sternly for the contest. Fifteen hundred men were enlisted in Massachusetts, Plymouth and Connecticut; a body of friendly Indians joined them, and though it was mid-winter, thinking only of the necessity of striking a decisive blow they began their march. Volunteers from Rhode Island joined them on the way, but Rhode Island as a colony was not consulted. ”

“ Rhode Island pointed to her long water front, broken by bays and coves and constantly exposed to the fleets and privateers of the enemy, and claimed that she needed her men for her own protection. As a proof, however, of her willingness to do all that could justly be asked of her, she appealed to her past conduct and to the fact that during the last seven years she had spent nearly a thousand pounds a year for military purposes.
The war bore hardly upon the resources of the Colony. A French fleet was expected on the coast. Scouts were constantly on the look-out. ”

“ It is a noble record for Rhode Island, and a valuable contribution to the history of the war. It deals with facts, not polities or prejudices. We think every loyal State should prepare such a volume. A simple and reliable statement of what she has herself done, a sketch of her heroes of all ranks and parties, of her batteries, regiments, and companies, of her commandants and the battles in which her troops bore part, should be therein contained. ”

“ Island were restive under the petty tyranny of Andros, and when they heard of the imprisonment of the despot at Boston, in 1689, they assembled at Newport, resumed popular government under the old charter, and began a new independent political career. From that time, until the enforced union of the colonies for mutual defence, at the breaking out of the French and Indian war, the inhabitants of Rhode Island bore their share in the defensive efforts, especially when the hostile savages hung along the frontiers of New York like an ill-omened cloud. ”

“ The bald appearance of Rhode Island, relieved only by orchards, which showed like dark tufts of verdure in the distance, with a few wind-mills and scattered farm-houses, formed a singular and unfavorable feature in the view as we approached Newport; while upon small islands and the main land appeared the ruins of forts and batteries, indicating the military importance of the waters we were navigating. This was
"Rhode Island, the land where the exile sought rest ”

“ This claim Rhode Island had contested when advanced by former governors, nor was she disposed to yield to it now. Still less was she disposed to accept a proposal which at this time came from Bristol under the signature, “A Friend to Property,” to divide Rhode Island between Massachusetts and Connecticut, or ask that she should be made a royal government upon the ground that “an elective legislature must always be a source of disorder and corruption” in a small state. ”

“ You are familiar with the whole topography of Rhode Island, and therefore I need say nothing of the interblending of rural scenery and retirement, with city embellishment and comfort, which so eminently distinguish not a few of the neat and elegant residences in Providence. There is one feature in the moral character of this city, which distinguishes it from most other New England towns. In almost all New England the great mass of mind is educated, and the people upon all subjects think for themselves. ”

“ The charter left a doubt concerning the manner of choosing the state magistrates. Should they be elected by the freemen in town meeting, or by the General Assembly? The democratic instinct prevailed, and the choice was left to the freemen.
There was a still graver question to be decided, requiring firmness, self-control and skilled diplomacy. Rhode Island had never been looked upon by Massachusetts with friendly eyes. That a banished man should have become the founder of a new colony close upon her borders was irritating to her pride. ”

“ The productive enterprise which was to raise Rhode Island so high in the list of manufacturing states, was already awakened, and as early as 1741 James Greene and his associates petitioned the Assembly for permission to build a dam across the south branch of Pawtuxet river and lay the foundation of those iron works which in the sequel became so celebrated throughout the colonies. Population was increasing. The large townships became too large for the demands of local government and were divided. ”

“ Stephen Hopkins was chosen President. After long and frequent consultations with the Assembly, it was recommended that an army of six thousand men should be concentrated in Rhode Island, of which Massachusetts was to furnish nineteen hundred men, Connecticut eleven hundred, New Hampshire three hundred, and Rhode Island eighteen hundred and a thousand Continental troops.
Other questions called for equal attention. Men no longer dared to look to paper and a printing-press for their money, but to taxing and borrowing. A loan of forty thousand pounds at five per cent. ”

“ She contributed seven times as much as South Carolina, whose population was three times as large; one and a half times as much as Maryland, whose population was four times as great; twice as much as Virginia, with a population eight times larger.
Rhode Island contributed proportionately her share of men to the great struggle. Rhode Island men were in every great battle under Washington. Rhode Island has been greatly criticized for not quickly adopting the Constitution. ”

“ The northern boundary brought Rhode Island into direct collision with Massachusetts, which was now the heiress of the claims of Plymouth. Commissioners were appointed who made no report, and it was only by slow steps that the Colony assumed its permanent form and dimensions.
Among the laws which were brought every day to every door was the law which made the price of wheat the standard of the price of bread. Every baker was required to have his trade mark and make every loaf of a specified weight. The bread that fell short was forfeited to the poor. ”

“ Even after this blow Philip succeeded in arousing the Maine and New Hampshire tribes to his support, and the war still raged for a while through the New England settlements. Rhode Island suffered severely. Warwick was burned, and the cattle driven off. Tradition says that when the enemy approached Providence, Roger Williams, now a very old man, went out to meet them. “Massachusetts,” he said, “can raise thousands of men at this moment, and if you kill them, the King of England will supply their places as fast as they fall.” ”

“ Accordingly, he and five of his friends rowed down the river and, landing at a place pointed out by the Indians as having a spring of good water, made a settlement, which they called Providence, in token of God's watchful care over them. This was the beginning of Rhode Island, a colony where all men, whatever their religious belief might be, were welcome. Men who had been persecuted elsewhere on account of their religion were glad to go to Rhode Island, where they were allowed to worship as they pleased. And thus it soon grew to be a prosperous settlement. ”

“ Moreover the memory of the man's beautiful, unselfish life pervades this section of Rhode Island, and the story of his sweetness and patience under a keen and unexpected disappointment furnishes one of the most satisfying pages in our early history. ”