Rhode Island Colony
| 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 | ||||||||
| • | 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 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 Once the English claimed the area of New England, Dutch influence was particularly withdrawn from the area, though still remained after that, perhaps including the name Red Island, which perhaps was later anglicized to Rhode Island.
Providence was founded by Roger Williams when he was expelled from the Massachusetts Colony in 1636, when he established Providence Plantation. The modern area of Rhode Island became a state on May 29, 1790.
Providence Plantation was an American colony of English settlers 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 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and agreed with his fellow settlers on an egalitarian constitution providing for majority rule "in civil things" with liberty of conscience on spiritual matters. He named the colony Providence Plantation, believing that God had brought him and his followers 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 virtues: Patience Island, Prudence Island, and Hope Island.
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