Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
| Rhode Island and Providence Plantations | ||||||||||
| Colony of England (1636–1707) Colony of Great Britain (1707–76) |
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| 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 | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 United States
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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 Once the English claimed the area of New England, Dutch influence was withdrawn from the area.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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