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A SHORT HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND,
A SHORT HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND,
BY George Washington Greene , LL.D., Late Non-Resident Professor of American History in Cornell University; Author of “The Life of Major-General Nathanael Greene;” “Historical View of the American Revolution,” etc., etc. PROVIDENCE: J. A. & R. A. Reid, Publishers , 1877. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by ANNA MARIA GREENE, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. TO Anna Maria Greene, My Dear Mother: You bear your ninety-three years so lig
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Preface.
Preface.
There are two classes of history, each of which has claims upon our attention peculiarly its own. One is a sober teacher, the other a pleasant companion. One opens new paths of thought, the other throws new light upon the old, and both agree in making man the chief object of their meditations. Nearly two thousand years ago a Roman historian likened the life of his country to the life of man. Time has confirmed the parallel. Nations, like men, have their infancy and their youth, their robust manh
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Analytical Table
Analytical Table
A Short History of Rhode Island....
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CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
CONDITION OF AFFAIRS IN MASSACHUSETTS BAY AND PLYMOUTH COLONIES.—ARRIVAL AND BANISHMENT OF ROGER WILLIAMS. The nations of antiquity, unable to discover their real origin, found a secret gratification in tracing it to the Gods. Thus a religious sentiment was connected with the foundation of states, and the building of the city walls was consecrated by religious rites. The Christian middle ages preserved the spirit of Pagan antiquity, and every city celebrated with solemn rites the day of its patr
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CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
SUFFERINGS OF ROGER WILLIAMS IN THE WILDERNESS.—FOUNDS A SETTLEMENT ON THE SEEKONK RIVER.—IS ADVISED TO DEPART.—SEEKS OUT A NEW PLACE, WHICH HE CALLS PROVIDENCE. When the sentence of banishment was first pronounced against the future founder of Rhode Island, his health was so feeble that it was resolved to suspend the execution of it till spring. This, however, was soon found to be impracticable, for the affection and confidence which he had inspired presently found open expression, and friends
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CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
WILLIAMS OBTAINS A GRANT OF LAND AND FOUNDS A COLONY.—FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN THE COLONY.—WILLIAMS GOES TO ENGLAND TO OBTAIN A ROYAL CHARTER. The territory which now forms the State of Rhode Island, with the exception of Bristol County, in which lay Mount Hope, the seat of Massasoit, chief of the Wamponoags, was held by the Narragansetts, a tribe skilled in the Indian art of making wampum, the Indian money, and the art common to most barbarous nations of making rude vessels in clay and stone. They
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CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
SETTLEMENT OF AQUIDNECK AND WARWICK.—PEQUOT WAR.—DEATH OF MIANTONOMI. I have said that two other colonies had been founded in Rhode Island. Like Providence, they both had their origin in religious controversy. Not long after the return of Roger Williams there came to Boston a woman of high and subtle spirit, deeply imbued with the controversial temper of her age. Her name was Anna Hutchinson, and she taught that salvation was the fruit of grace, not of works. It is easy to conceive how such a do
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CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
CHARTER GRANTED TO PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.—ORGANIZATION UNDER IT.—THE LAWS ADOPTED. We have seen that in 1643 Roger Williams had been sent to England as agent to solicit a charter for the three colonies of Narragansett Bay. He found the King at open war with the Parliament, and the administration of the colonies entrusted to the Earl of Warwick and a joint committee of the two Houses. Of the details of the negotiation little is known, but on the 14th of March of the following year, a “free and a
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CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC TROUBLES.—UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT AT USURPATION BY CODDINGTON. And now, just as the new Province was entering upon that chartered existence which was to lead to such brilliant results, the wise and peaceable Canonicus died, closing in humiliation and sorrow a life which had begun in strength and hope. He had seen the first foot-prints of the stranger; had aided him in his weakness; had resisted him in his strength; had lived to see his destined successor fall victim to an unhol
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CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
MORE FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC TROUBLES.—CIVIL AND CRIMINAL REGULATIONS OF THE COLONY.—ARRIVAL OF QUAKERS. And now it seemed as though the little Colony might peaceably return to its original organization and devote itself to the development of its natural resources. But the spirit of dissension had struck deep. The absolute independence which was claimed for religious opinion, led some to claim an equal independence for civil action. If conscience was to be the supreme test in the relations between
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CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
TROUBLES IN OBTAINING A NEW CHARTER.—PROVISIONS OF THE CHARTER.—DIFFICULTIES CONCERNING THE NARRAGANSETT PURCHASE.—CURRENCY.—SCHOOLS. The charter of Charles II. was a practical recognition of the right of self-government. The government which it established, like that instituted by the colonists in their first organization, was a pure democracy, emanating from the people and framed for their good. In form it consisted of a Governor, a Deputy-Governor, ten assistants, and a House of Deputies, six
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CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
TERRITORY OF RHODE ISLAND IS INCREASED BY THE ADDITION OF BLOCK ISLAND.—DISPUTES BETWEEN BLOCK ISLAND AND THE OTHER COLONIES SETTLED BY ROYAL COMMAND.—STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THE COLONY IN 1667. The charter came at a fortunate moment, for petition and remonstrance had reached their utmost, and it is difficult to see how the little Colony could have preserved the integrity of its territory much longer against two such powerful neighbors but for the intervention of an authority that was recognized by
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CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
KING PHILIP’S WAR. 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
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CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
INDIANS STILL TROUBLESOME.—CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE.—TROUBLES CONCERNING THE BOUNDARY LINES. War was followed by pestilence, which moves so fatally in her train. Of this pestilence we only know that it ran its deadly course in two or three days, and left its traces in almost every family. Meanwhile the legislature was sedulously repairing the breaches of the war. Laws passed in order to meet an urgent want were repealed, and chief among them as most repugnant to the tolerant spirit of the Colony
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CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
DEATH OF SEVERAL OF THE MOST PROMINENT MEN.—CHANGES IN LEGISLATION. The woes of Rhode Island begin anew. Scarcely had the war ceased when Connecticut as we have already seen renewed her claim to Narragansett. Massachusetts soon followed in the name of the Atherton company. And presently Plymouth joined herself to the roll of Rhode Island’s enemies by advancing a claim to Aquidneck itself. Connecticut sought to strengthen her pretensions by asserting that the disputed territory was now hers by ri
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CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
COURTS AND ARMY STRENGTHENED.—COMMISSIONERS SENT FROM ENGLAND.—CHARTER REVOKED. Disputes of title fill, as we have seen, a full but monotonous chapter in this part of our history. Among them was the dispute for Potowomut, a neck of land on Coweset Bay which had been purchased of the Indians by order of the Assembly as early as 1659. Bitter disputes soon followed, Warwick claiming it, and individuals both English and Indians disputing the claim. At last the question was disposed of, as was suppos
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CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
CHANGES IN FORM OF GOVERNMENT.—SIR EDMOND ANDROS APPOINTED GOVERNOR.—HE OPPRESSES THE COLONISTS AND IS FINALLY DEPOSED. 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 the
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CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XV.
CHARTER GOVERNMENT AGAIN RESUMED.—FRENCH WAR.—INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.—CHARGES AGAINST THE COLONIES. Rhode Island had never hated Andros as bitterly as the other colonies had hated him, for the freedom of conscience which he endeavored to force upon them was in her a fundamental principle. But she loved her charter and rightly believed that it was the only sure pledge of her liberties. Therefore, when Dudley, the Chief-Justice, undertook to open his court, he was seized and put in jail. This was a
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CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
COLONIAL PROSPERITY.—DIFFICULTIES OCCASIONED BY THE WAR WITH THE FRENCH.—DOMESTIC AFFAIRS OF THE COLONY. 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
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CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
PAPER MONEY TROUBLES.—ESTABLISHMENT OF BANKS.—PROTECTION OF HOME INDUSTRIES.—PROPERTY QUALIFICATIONS FOR SUFFRAGE. The treaty of Utrecht gave peace to England and her dependencies, leaving them free to follow out the peaceful development of commerce and manufactures. War had brought on paper money, which was first issued to meet the expenses of the second expedition against Port Royal. This first issue was of five thousand pounds in bills of from five pounds to two shillings, equal in value as f
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CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHANGE OF THE EXECUTIVE.—ACTS OF THE ASSEMBLY.—JOHN BERKELY’S RESIDENCE IN NEWPORT.—FRIENDLY FEELING BETWEEN THE COLONISTS AND THE MOTHER COUNTRY. Nearly a generation had passed since a new governor had been chosen, but the place made vacant by death was now to be filled. The choice fell upon Joseph Jenckes, (May, 1727.) He was a resident of Pawtucket, and in those days of irregular communication Pawtucket was too far from the seat of government for the prompt transaction of public business. It
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CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPTER XIX.
WAR WITH SPAIN.—NEW TAXES LEVIED BY ENGLAND.—RELIGIOUS AWAKENING AMONG THE BAPTISTS. Events were preparing a closer union of the colonies. England declared war against Spain—a war of commercial rivalry, for Spain was a maritime power of the first class, and claimed the right of search. England sent out her ships of war and privateers, and carried on a lucrative contraband trade among the Spanish islands and on the Spanish main. The colonies were called upon to furnish their part of men and munit
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CHAPTER XX.
CHAPTER XX.
PROGRESS OF THE WAR WITH THE FRENCH.—CHANGE IN THE JURISDICTION OF THE COURTS.—SENSE OF COMMON INTEREST DEVELOPING AMONG THE COLONISTS.—LOUISBURG CAPTURED. War still continued to give its stern coloring to legislation. The Tartar was held ready for instant service. The Governor and his council were vested with the power of laying an embargo upon outward bound vessels. Speculation turned seaward, and the money which in peace would have been employed in building up commerce and manufactures was sp
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CHAPTER XXI.
CHAPTER XXI.
ATTEMPT TO RETURN TO SPECIE PAYMENTS.—CHANGES IN THE REQUIREMENTS OF CITIZENSHIP.—NEW COUNTIES AND TOWNS FORMED.—FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.—WARD AND HOPKINS CONTEST.—ESTABLISHMENT OF NEWSPAPERS. The war was almost over, although privateers still endangered maritime commerce. First an armistice was agreed upon for four months and then peace was signed at Aix la Chapelle, on the 30th of April, 1748. It was a welcome peace although the war had brought lessons with it which were never forgotten. The men
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CHAPTER XXII.
CHAPTER XXII.
RETROSPECT.—ENCROACHMENTS OF ENGLAND.—RESISTANCE TO THE REVENUE LAWS.—STAMP ACT.—SECOND CONGRESS OF COLONIES MET IN NEW YORK.—EDUCATIONAL INTEREST. Thus far we have traced the progress of Rhode Island, step by step from the first small settlement on the banks of the Mooshausick to the flourishing Colony, which, by its firmness and perseverance had made it mistress of the shores and islands of Narragansett Bay. We have seen it taking for its corner stone a vital principle of human society, unreco
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CHAPTER XXIII.
CHAPTER XXIII.
TRANSIT OF VENUS.—A STRONG DISLIKE TO ENGLAND MORE OPENLY EXPRESSED.—NON-IMPORTATION AGREEMENT.—INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES PROHIBITED.—CAPTURE OF THE GASPEE. The feud of the two parties which had so long divided the Colony ceased at the approach of danger from abroad. A new Governor was elected, Josias Lyndon, and a new Deputy-Governor, Nicholas Cooke, whose name meets us so honorably during the first years of the war, now close at hand. For Ward and Hopkins a broader field of honorable rivalry was
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CHAPTER XXIV.
CHAPTER XXIV.
PROPOSITION FOR THE UNION OF THE COLONIES.—ACTIVE MEASURES TAKEN LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE.—DELEGATES ELECTED TO CONGRESS.—DESTRUCTION OF TEA AT PROVIDENCE.—TROOPS RAISED.—POSTAL SYSTEM ESTABLISHED.—DEPREDATIONS OF THE BRITISH.—“GOD SAVE THE UNITED COLONIES.” The 22d of June, 1772, was memorable in the history of humanity, for it was on that day that Mansfield solemnly declared as Lord Chief-Justice of England that slavery could not exist on English soil. This declaration met with a hearty re
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CHAPTER XXV.
CHAPTER XXV.
RHODE ISLAND BLOCKADED.—DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE INDORSED BY THE ASSEMBLY.—NEW TROOPS RAISED.—FRENCH ALLIANCE.—UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THE BRITISH FROM RHODE ISLAND. From the 4th of May, 1776, the Declaration of Independence of Rhode Island, to the battle of Tiverton Heights, on the 29th of August, 1778, she lived with the enemy at her door, constantly subject to invasion by land and by water, and seldom giving her watch-worn inhabitants the luxury of a quiet pillow. For months, as we a
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CHAPTER XXVI.
CHAPTER XXVI.
ACTS OF THE BRITISH TROOPS.—DISTRESS IN RHODE ISLAND.—EVACUATION OF NEWPORT.—REPUDIATION.—END OF THE WAR. The Americans were sorely disappointed. They had taken up their arms with such confidence of success that they could not bear to lay them down with so little done. Their murmurs were loud and deep. Some were ready to lay all the blame upon their allies. Nothing but the good sense of Greene and the good feeling and generous nature of Lafayette could have prevented an outbreak. The old leaven
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CHAPTER XXVII.
CHAPTER XXVII.
ARTS OF PEACE RESUMED.—DOCTRINE OF STATE RIGHTS. Great were the rejoicings over the surrender of Cornwallis—public balls, firing of cannon and display of fire-works—for close upon that surrender came the longed for peace. As a more enduring expression of gratitude to the man who had led in this great work, the Assembly decreed that “in order to obliterate, as may be, every trace and idea of that government which threatened our destruction ... the same county, (King’s), shall forever hereafter be
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CHAPTER XXVIII.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
DEPRECIATION OF THE CURRENCY.—INTRODUCTION OF THE SPINNING-JENNY.—BITTER OPPOSITION TO THE FEDERAL UNION.—RHODE ISLAND FINALLY ACCEPTS THE CONSTITUTION. The question of finance meets us at every turn, and in every phase bears fatal witness to the demoralizing effects of paper money unsustained by hard money capital. At the Spring election of 1786, the triumph of the paper money party was complete. A new bank was established of a hundred thousand pounds. And soon a Forcing Act became necessary to
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CHAPTER XXIX.
CHAPTER XXIX.
MODE OF LIFE IN OUR FOREFATHERS’ DAYS. We have followed with as much detail as our limits would permit, the history of Rhode Island through the various phases of her colonial life. Before we enter upon the story of her development as a member of a great Union, we propose to bring together a few facts from the imperfect record of her social and domestic life, and endeavor to form for ourselves some idea of what manner of men and women our fathers and mothers were, and what kind of lives they led.
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CHAPTER XXX.
CHAPTER XXX.
COMMERCIAL GROWTH AND PROSPERITY OF RHODE ISLAND. Rhode Island came well prepared to her new duties. She had worked out in her own experience the most important problems of civil organization, rendering “unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” Her legislation was the reflection of her culture, and her statute book the record of her progress in the science of self-government. Her colonial life had been a constant struggle with jealous neighbors who coveted
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CHAPTER XXXI.
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE DORR REBELLION. We have seen that the relation of the citizen to the State became the subject of attention and experiment at an early period in the history of Rhode Island. Although an avowed democracy, she regarded suffrage not as an inherent right, but as a privilege dependent upon the fulfillment of certain specified conditions. Inequality of representation was a natural consequence of the unequally increased population; some towns growing faster than others, but having no more voice in l
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CHAPTER XXXII.
CHAPTER XXXII.
LIFE UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.—THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.—THE CENTENARY. With the adoption of the new Constitution business returned to its natural channels. Party animosities lost somewhat of their bitterness as the various forms of industry revived, and old friends were again brought into daily communication under the healing influence of common interests and common pleasures. The story of these calm pursuits brings out in pleasant relief the every-day virtues of domestic life and the higher qual
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Author’s Note.
Author’s Note.
( Referring to Page 196 . ) This is not strictly accurate. It was in honor of Nicholas, not John Brown, and several years after its removal from Warren to Providence, that the name of Rhode Island College was changed to Brown University....
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The Charter, GRANTED BY KING CHARLES II.,
The Charter, GRANTED BY KING CHARLES II.,
July 8, 1663, and in force until the adoption of the Constitution, November, 1842. Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Whereas, we have been informed, by the humble petition of our trusty and well-beloved subject, John Clarke, on the behalf of Benjamin Arnold, William Brenton, William Codington, Nicholas Easton, William Boulston, John Porter, John Smith, Sam
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CONSTITUTION OF THE State of Rhode Island, AND Providence Plantations.
CONSTITUTION OF THE State of Rhode Island, AND Providence Plantations.
ARTICLE I.— Declaration of Rights. Section 1. Right of the people to make and alter their Constitution. Sec. 2. Object of government—How laws should be made and burdens distributed. Sec. 3. Religious freedom secured. Sec. 4. Slavery prohibited. Sec. 5. Laws should provide remedies—Justice shall be free, complete, prompt. Sec. 6. Rights of search and seizure regulated. Sec. 7. Provisions concerning criminal proceedings. Sec. 8. Bail, fines and punishments. Sec. 9. Bail and habeas corpus . Sec. 10
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[Copy of the Dorr Constitution.]
[Copy of the Dorr Constitution.]
CONSTITUTION OF THE State of Rhode Island, AND Providence Plantations, As finally adopted by the Convention of the People assembled at Providence, on the 18th day of November, 1841. WE, the PEOPLE of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations , grateful to Almighty God for His blessing vouchsafed to the “lively experiment” of Religious and Political Freedom here “held forth” by our venerated ancestors, and earnestly imploring the favor of His gracious Providence toward this our attempt
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The State Seal.
The State Seal.
The coat of arms of the State is familiar to every citizen, for it is impressed on public documents and meets the eye on monuments and in newspapers. Its simplicity and its significance, as well as its correct heraldry render it superior to that of any of the other states; and the words by which it is described in our statute book, have a singular force and beauty. “There shall continue to be one seal for the public use of the State; the form of an anchor shall be engraven thereon, and the motto
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Governors of Rhode Island.
Governors of Rhode Island.
The State originally consisted of four towns: Providence, settled in 1636; Portsmouth, in 1638; Newport, in 1639; and Warwick, in 1642. Each town was governed independently until 1647. Providence and Warwick had no executive head till 1647. PORTSMOUTH. JUDGES. NEWPORT. JUDGE. PORTSMOUTH AND NEWPORT. [B] GOVERNOR. [B] United in 1640. In 1647 the four towns were united under a charter or patent, granted in 1643, by Parliament. PRESIDENTS UNDER THE PATENT. In 1651 a separation occurred between the
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Deputy Governors.
Deputy Governors.
The title was now changed to lieutenant-governor. LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORS. [I] Elected by the Assembly: no choice by the people....
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MEMBERS OF THE Continental Congress From Rhode Island.
MEMBERS OF THE Continental Congress From Rhode Island.
[J] Duly elected, but their names are not in the Journals of Congress....
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Towns in Rhode Island,
Towns in Rhode Island,
DATE OF INCORPORATION, ETC. Note. —In several cases the exact date of the passage of the act of incorporation of towns cannot be ascertained. In such cases the date of the meeting of the General Assembly at which the act was passed is given....
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Total Population of Rhode Island,
Total Population of Rhode Island,
From 1708 to 1875 . Note. The permission to use these valuable tables I owe to Hon. J. M. Addeman, Secretary of State....
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State Valuation.
State Valuation.
Valuation of the several towns and cities in the State as returned by the town and city clerks to the Secretary of State, October, 1875. [K] Including highway tax....
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The Corliss Engine
The Corliss Engine
AT THE INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION. This engine was furnished by George H. Corliss, of Providence, Rhode Island, and was especially designed for supplying motive power at the International Exposition of 1876. This engine is of fourteen hundred horse-power, but is capable of doing the work of twenty-five hundred horses if necessary. With its appurtenances it weighs over seven hundred tons, and furnishes power to all the machinery in the building. Miles of shafting lead away from it along the aisles
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