History of Rhode Island Map

The first permanent European settlement in the state of Rhode Island was established by an English clergyman of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Roger Williams in 1636.

The region around the Rhode Island was inhabited by the Narragansett Indians years before the advent of the Europeans. The first European to have explored the region was a Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524. He was followed by a expedition led by the Dutchman Adriaen Block in 1614. However, the first permanent white settlement was established at Providence in 1636 by English clergyman Roger Williams from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
There were many more settlements made later by the Puritan exiles like the settlement of Portsmouth (1638), Newport (1639), and Warwick (1642).

In 1644, the region was organized into a single colony called the Providence Plantations. However, the Stuart Restoration demanded a royal charter that called for an autonomous state. Charles II of England granted the royal charter in 1663; the charter guaranteed religious liberty, and strengthened the colony's territorial claims.

Years later, the region saw an uprising by the Indians who inhabited the area. The Europeans started encroaching their lands against which the natives fought. This was known as the King Philip's War (1675-76). Many Indians were killed and there was widespread destruction across the state.

The early eighteenth century in Rhode Island saw tremendous growth agriculture and commerce. There was also great slave trade business in the state. Rhode Island was the first colony to resist the policies of King George III. On 4 May 1776, the state formally declared its allegiance to the King. The state ratified the Articles of Confederation in 1778, and on May 29, 1790 it formally entered the Union. Rhode Island was the last of the original thirteen colonies to join the Union.

After the Revolutionary War, there was widespread poverty and unemployment in the state. The shipping industry, the mainstay of the economy, was hit hard by Jefferson's Embargo Act of 1807. Also the state faced competition from larger ports such as New York and Boston. The increase in immigration led to industrialization and urbanization.

With these developments, Providence replaced Newport as the commercial center of the state.

Rhode Island was dominated by the Republican Party until the 1930s. However, the Democrats captured the state power in the 1940s. Immigration increased as English, Irish, and Scottish settlers began arriving in the state. In the mid-twentieth century, Rhode Island was second-most densely populated state in the United States.

From the 1950s to the 1980s, manufacturing was the most important source of revenue; jewelry and textile industries were increasingly popular. The economy underwent a change from manufacturing to services sector in the early 1970s.