Native Americans lived around Narragansett Bay for thousands of years before English settlers began arriving in the early 17th century. Rhode Island was unique among the Thirteen British Colonies in having been founded by a refugee, Roger Williams, who fled religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to establish a haven for religious liberty. He founded Providence in 1636 on land purchased from local tribes, creating the first settlement in North America with an explicitly secular government. The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations subsequently became a destination for religious and political dissenters and social outcasts, earning it the moniker "Rogue's Island".
Rhode Island was the first colony to call for a Continental Congress, in 1774, and the first to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, on May 4, 1776. After the American Revolution, during which it was heavily occupied and contested, Rhode Island became the fourth state to ratify the Articles of Confederation, on February 9, 1778. Because its citizens favored a weaker central government, it boycotted the 1787 convention that had drafted the United States Constitution, which it initially refused to ratify; it finally ratified it on May 29, 1790, the last of the original 13 states to do so.
The state was officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations since the colonial era but came to be commonly known as "Rhode Island". In November 2020, the state's voters approved an amendment to the state constitution formally dropping "and Providence Plantations" from its full name. Its official nickname is the "Ocean State", a reference to its 400 mi (640 km) of coastline and the large bays and inlets that make up about 14% of its area. (Full article...)
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The John F. Adams House is a historic house in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States. In 1983 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places (listed incorrectly as the John E. Adams House); the house's unique exterior and architecture were described in the multiple property submission as the "finest late Italianate dwelling still standing in Pawtucket." Its design is similar to the dwellings designed by Henry Austin and features Moorish window hoods and Indian porch columns. The John F. Adams House was moved back 50 feet (15 m) and turned to face Allen Avenue after it was purchased by the Beacon Oil Company in 1929. This minor move was found not to make it ineligible because of the house's architectural and historical significance. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. (Full article...)
The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a publicland-grantresearch university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". As of 2019, the URI enrolled 14,653 undergraduate students, 1,982 graduate students, and 1,339 non-degree students, making it the largest university in the state.
Its main campus is located in the village of Kingston in southern Rhode Island. Satellite campuses include the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center in Providence's Jewelry District, the Narragansett Bay Campus in Narragansett, and the W. Alton Jones Campus in West Greenwich. The university offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees in 80 undergraduate and 49 graduate areas of study through nine academic schools and colleges. Another college, University College for Academic Success, serves primarily as an advising college for all incoming undergraduates and follows them through their first two years of enrollment at URI. (Full article...)
One hundred years after the declaration that all men are created equal, there began to gather in Newport a colony of the rich, determined to show that some Americans were conspicuously more equal than others.
Jerimoth Hill is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Rhode Island, at 812 feet (247 m) above sea level. It was formerly controversial due to property complications, but it is now accessible to the public on weekends.
Jerimoth Hill is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Rhode Island, at 812 feet (247 m) above sea level. It was formerly controversial due to property complications, but it is now accessible to the public on weekends.
Image 28Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 29Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 30In 1936, on the 300th anniversary of the settlement of Rhode Island in 1636, the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp, depicting Roger Williams (from Rhode Island)
Image 52In 1936, on the 300th anniversary of the settlement of Rhode Island in 1636, the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp, depicting Roger Williams (from Rhode Island)
