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Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Colony of England (1636–1707)
Colony of Great Britain (1707–76)
1636–1776
Capital Newport
Languages English, Narragansett Indians
Government Crown Colony
History
 •  Established 1636
 •  Foundation 1637
 •  Chartered as an English colony 1644
 •  Coddington Commission 1651–1653
 •  Royal Charter 1663
 •  Part of the Dominion of New England 1686–1688
 •  Ratification of Constitution of the United States of America 1790
 •  Disestablished 1776
Preceded by
Succeeded by
New Netherland
Rhode Island
Today part of  United States

The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of England's original Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of North America bordering the Atlantic Ocean. After the American Revolution, it became the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

The land that became the English colony was first home to the Narragansett Indians, which led to the name of the modern town of Narragansett, showing respect to the Narragansett and Nipmuc peoples. European settlement began with the Dutch, and the area was initially claimed by the Colony of New Netherlands, while English settlement occurred along the Massachusetts Bay. Once the English claimed the area of New England, Dutch influence was withdrawn from the area.

Providence Plantation was an English settlement founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a theologian, independent preacher, and linguist, on land given to him by Narragansett sachem Canonicus. Williams was exiled under religious persecution from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He and his fellow settlers agreed on an egalitarian constitution providing for majority rule "in civil things," with liberty of conscience on spiritual matters. He named the settlement Providence Plantation, believing that God had brought them there. (The term "plantation" was used in the 17th century as a synonym for "settlement" or "colony.") Williams named the islands in the Narragansett Bay after Christian virtues: Patience, Prudence, and Hope Islands.


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