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RHODE
ISLAND
is the smallest state of the Union, at a
mere 48 miles long by 37 miles wide, and
tends to be overlooked as a destination,
even if it is home to more than twenty
percent of the nation’s historical
landmarks. It was established by Roger
Williams in 1635 as a “lively experiment”
in religious freedom. He had been expelled
from Puritan Salem for his radical ideas
(including the notion that Indians should
be paid for their land and that there
should be a complete separation of church
from state), and the Massachusetts
Puritans liked to call the state “Rogues
Island.”
Despite
its size, Rhode Island has over four
hundred miles of coastline, hacked out of
the Narragansett Bay; it is, in fact, made
up of over thirty tiny islands, including
Hope and Despair. The “Ocean State”
therefore developed through sea trade,
whaling and smuggling. Partly due to this
commercial interest, Rhode Islanders,
resenting the stringent economic pressures
placed on them from England, were in the
front rank of Revolutionary groundswell.
However, no Revolutionary battles were
fought on Rhode Island soil and unwilling
at first to abandon its new-found freedom,
it turned out to be the last state to
ratify the Constitution. Between the
Revolution and the Civil War, Rhode Island
shifted from a maritime economy and led
the Industrial Revolution with
Samuel Slater’s creation of the nation’s
first water-powered textile mill in
Pawtucket, just outside Providence. Today,
although still heavily industrialized, the
state’s principal destinations are its two
original ports: well-heeled Newport,
yachting capital of the world, with good
beaches and outrageously extravagant
mansions, and the colonial college town of
Providence. Block Island,
about thirty miles south of Newport, has a
popular state beach, while the rest of
Rhode Island is largely made up of sleepy
small towns and fishing ports.
Click here to go to Rhode
Island State web site. |
