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Wikipedia

Rhode Island

January 18, 2023

This article is about the U.S. state. For the geographic feature, see Aquidneck Island. For other uses, see Rhode Island (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 41°42′N 71°30′W / 41.7°N 71.5°W / 41.7; -71.5 (State of Rhode Island)

Rhode Island (/ˌroʊd -/ (listen), like road)[6][7] is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly less than 1.1 million residents as of 2020,[8] but it is the second-most densely populated after New Jersey. It takes its name from the eponymous island, though nearly all of its land area is on the mainland. Rhode Island borders Connecticut to the west; Massachusetts to the north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to the south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound. It also shares a small maritime border with New York.[9] Providence is its capital and most populous city.

Rhode Island
State
State of Rhode Island
Flag
Seal
Nickname(s): 
The Ocean State
Little Rhody[1]
Motto: 
Hope
Anthem: "Rhode Island's It for Me"
Map of the United States with Rhode Island highlighted
CountryUnited States
Before statehoodColony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Admitted to the UnionMay 29, 1790 (13th)
Capital
(and largest city)		Providence
Largest metro and urban areasGreater Boston (combined)
Providence (metro and urban)
Government
 • GovernorDan McKee (D)
 • Lieutenant GovernorSabina Matos (D)
LegislatureRhode Island General Assembly
 • Upper houseSenate
 • Lower houseHouse of Representatives
JudiciaryRhode Island Supreme Court
U.S. senatorsJack Reed (D)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D)
U.S. House delegation1: David Cicilline (D)
2: Seth Magaziner (D) (list)
Area
 • Total1,214[a][2] sq mi (3,144 km2)
 • Land1,055 sq mi (2,707 km2)
 • Water169 sq mi (438 km2)  13.9%
 • Rank50th
Dimensions
 • Length48 mi (77 km)
 • Width37 mi (60 km)
Elevation
200 ft (60 m)
Highest elevation
(Jerimoth Hill[3][b])
812 ft (247 m)
Lowest elevation
(Atlantic Ocean[3])
0 ft (0 m)
Population
 (2020 Census Results)
 • Total1,098,163[4]
 • Rank45th
 • Density1,006/sq mi (388/km2)
  • Rank2nd
 • Median household income
$63,870[5]
 • Income rank
15th
DemonymRhode Islander
Language
 • Official languageDe jure: None
De facto: English
Time zoneUTC– 05:00 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC– 04:00 (EDT)
USPS abbreviation
RI
ISO 3166 codeUS-RI
Traditional abbreviationR.I.
Latitude41° 09′ N to 42° 01′ N
Longitude71° 07′ W to 71° 53′ W
Websitewww.ri.gov

Native Americans lived around Narragansett Bay for thousands of years before English settlers began arriving in the early 17th century.[10] Rhode Island was unique among the Thirteen British Colonies in having been founded by a refugee, Roger Williams, who fled religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to establish a haven for religious liberty. He founded Providence in 1636 on land purchased from local tribes, thereby creating the first settlement in North America with an explicitly secular government.[10] The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations subsequently became a destination for religious and political dissenters and social outcasts, earning it the moniker "Rogue's Island".[11]

Rhode Island was the first colony to call for a Continental Congress, which it did in 1774, and the first to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, which it did on May 4, 1776.[12] After the American Revolution, during which it was heavily occupied and contested, Rhode Island became the fourth state to ratify the Articles of Confederation, which it did on February 9, 1778.[13] Because certain of its citizens favored a weaker central government, it boycotted the 1787 convention that had drafted the United States Constitution,[14] which it initially refused to ratify;[15] it finally did ratify it on May 29, 1790, the last of the original 13 states to do so. [16][17]

It had been officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations since the colonial era, but came to be commonly known simply as "Rhode Island". In November 2020 the state's voters approved an amendment to the state constitution formally dropping "and Providence Plantations" from its full name.[18][19] Its official nickname is the "Ocean State", a reference to its 400 miles (640 km) of coastline and the large bays and inlets that make up about 14% of its total area.[2]

Name

Origins of the name

Despite its name, most of Rhode Island is on the mainland of the United States. Prior to 2020, its official name was State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, derived from the merger of Colonial settlements around Narragansett bay, and outside the jurisdiction of Plymouth colony. The settlements of Rhode Island (Newport and Portsmouth) were on what is commonly called Aquidneck Island today but was called Rhode Island in Colonial times.[c][20] Providence Plantations referred to settlements on the mainland including Providence and what would become Warwick.[21]

It is unclear how the island came to be named Rhode Island, but two historical events may have been influential:

  • Explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano noted the presence of an island near the mouth of Narragansett Bay in 1524 which he likened to the island of Rhodes off the coast of Greece.[22] Subsequent European explorers were unable to precisely identify the island Verrazzano described, but the colonists who settled the area assumed it was this island.[d]
  • Adriaen Block passed by the island during his expeditions in the 1610s, and he described it in a 1625 account of his travels as "an island of reddish appearance", which was "een rodlich Eylande" in 17th-century Dutch, meaning a red or reddish island, supposedly evolving into the designation Rhode Island.[23][24] Historians have theorized this "reddish appearance" resulted from either red autumn foliage or red clay on portions of the shore.[25]

The earliest documented use of the name "Rhode Island" for Aquidneck was in 1637 by Roger Williams. The name was officially applied to the island in 1644 with these words: "Aquethneck shall be henceforth called the Isle of Rodes or Rhode-Island." The name "Isle of Rodes" is used in a legal document as late as 1646.[26][27] Dutch maps as early as 1659 call the island "Red Island" (Roodt Eylandt).[28]

Changes to the name

The first English settlement in Rhode Island was the town of Providence, which the Narragansett granted to Roger Williams in 1636. At that time, Williams obtained no permission from the English crown, as he believed the English had no legitimate claim on Narragansett and Wampanoag territory. However, in 1643, he petitioned Charles I of England to grant Providence and neighboring towns a colonial patent, due to threats of invasion from the colonies of Boston and Plymouth.[29] He used the name "Providence Plantations" in his petition, plantation being the English term for a colony. "Providence Plantations" was therefore the official name of the colony from 1643 to 1663, when a new charter was issued.[30] In 1790, following the American Revolution, the new state incorporated both "Rhode Island" and "Providence Plantations", becoming known as the "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations". However, as matter of convenience, the state came to be commonly known as simply "Rhode Island".

The word plantation in the state's name became a contested issue during the 20th century and the increased awareness of slavery and its role in early Rhode Island history. The General Assembly voted in 2009 to hold a referendum in November 2010 on removing "and Providence Plantations" from the official name. Advocates for excising plantation argued that the word symbolized a legacy of disenfranchisement for many Rhode Islanders, as well as the proliferation of slavery in the colonies and in the post-colonial United States. Advocates for retaining the name argued that plantation was simply an archaic synonym for colony and bore no relation to slavery. The people voted overwhelmingly (78% to 22%) to retain the entire original name.[31]

In June 2020, State Senator Harold Metts introduced a resolution for another ballot referendum on the subject, saying, "Whatever the meaning of the term 'plantations' in the context of Rhode Island's history, it carries a horrific connotation when considering the tragic and racist history of our nation."[32] Governor Gina Raimondo issued an executive order to remove the phrase from a range of official documents and state websites.[33] In July, amidst the George Floyd protests and nationwide calls to address systemic racism, the resolution referring the question to the voters was passed by both houses of the Rhode Island General Assembly: 69–1 in the House of Representatives,[34] and 35–0 in the Senate.[35] The change was then approved by voters 52.8% to 47.2% as part of the 2020 United States elections, taking effect in November 2020 upon certification of the results.[18][36]

History

Main article: History of Rhode Island

Colonial era: 1636–1770

Main article: Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
 
In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations

In 1636, Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious views, and he settled at the top of Narragansett Bay on land sold or given to him by Narragansett sachem Canonicus. He named the site Providence, "having a sense of God's merciful providence unto me in my distress",[37] and it became a place of religious freedom where all were welcome. In 1638 (after conferring with Williams), Anne Hutchinson, William Coddington, John Clarke, Philip Sherman, and other religious dissenters settled on Aquidneck Island (also known as Rhode Island), which was purchased from the local tribes who called it Pocasset. This settlement was called Portsmouth and was governed by the Portsmouth Compact. The island's southern part became the separate settlement of Newport after disagreements among the founders.

Samuel Gorton purchased lands at Shawomet in 1642 from the Narragansetts, precipitating a dispute with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1644, Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport united for their common independence as the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, governed by an elected council and "president". Gorton received a separate charter for his settlement in 1648 which he named Warwick after his patron.[38]

Metacomet was the Wampanoag tribe's war leader, whom the colonists called King Philip. They invaded and burned down several of the towns in the area during King Philip's War (1675–1676), including Providence which was attacked twice.[37] A force of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Plymouth militia under General Josiah Winslow invaded and destroyed the fortified Narragansett Indian village in the Great Swamp in South Kingstown, Rhode Island on December 19, 1675.[39] In one of the final actions of the war, an Indian associated with Benjamin Church killed King Philip in Bristol, Rhode Island.[40]

 
In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s[41]

The colony was amalgamated into the Dominion of New England in 1686, as King James II attempted to enforce royal authority over the autonomous colonies in British North America, but the colony regained its independence under the Royal Charter after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Slaves were introduced in Rhode Island at this time, although there is no record of any law legalizing slave-holding. The colony later prospered under the slave trade, distilling rum to sell in Africa as part of a profitable triangular trade in slaves and sugar with the Caribbean.[42] Rhode Island's legislative body passed an act in 1652 abolishing the holding of slaves (the first British colony to do so), but this edict was never enforced and Rhode Island continued to be heavily involved in the slave trade during the post-revolution era.[43] In 1774, the slave population of Rhode Island was 6.3% of the total (nearly twice the ratio of other New England colonies).[44][45]

Brown University was founded in 1764 as the College in the British Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. It was one of nine Colonial colleges granted charters before the American Revolution but was the first college in America to accept students regardless of religious affiliation.[46]

Revolutionary to Civil War period: 1770–1860

 
Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws

Rhode Island's tradition of independence and dissent gave it a prominent role in the American Revolution. At approximately 2 a.m. on June 10, 1772, a band of Providence residents attacked the grounded revenue schooner HMS Gaspee, burning it to the waterline for enforcing unpopular trade regulations within Narragansett Bay.[47] Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown on May 4, 1776.[48] It was also the last of the thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution on May 29, 1790, and only under threat of heavy trade tariffs from the other former colonies and after assurances were made that a Bill of Rights would become part of the Constitution.[49]

 
A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786.

During the Revolution, the British occupied Newport in December 1776. A combined Franco-American force fought to drive them off Aquidneck Island. Portsmouth was the site of the first African-American military unit, the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, to fight for the U.S. in the unsuccessful Battle of Rhode Island of August 29, 1778.[50] A month earlier, the appearance of a French fleet off Newport caused the British to scuttle some of their own ships in an attempt to block the harbor. The British abandoned Newport in October 1779, concentrating their forces in New York City. An expedition of 5,500 French troops under Count Rochambeau arrived in Newport by sea on July 10, 1780.[51] The celebrated march to Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781 ended with the defeat of the British at the Siege of Yorktown and the Battle of the Chesapeake.

Rhode Island was also heavily involved in the Industrial Revolution, which began in America in 1787 when Thomas Somers reproduced textile machine plans which he imported from England. He helped to produce the Beverly Cotton Manufactory, in which Moses Brown of Providence took an interest. Moses Brown teamed up with Samuel Slater and helped to create the second cotton mill in America, a water-powered textile mill. The Industrial Revolution moved large numbers of workers into the cities, creating a permanently landless class who were, therefore, by the law of the time, also voteless. By 1829, 60% of the state's free white males were ineligible to vote. Several attempts were unsuccessfully made to address this problem, and a new state constitution was passed in 1843 allowing landless men to vote if they could pay a $1 poll tax.

For the first several decades of statehood, Rhode Island was governed in accordance with the 1663 colonial charter. Voting rights were restricted to landowners holding at least $134 in property, disenfranchising well over half of the state's male citizens. The charter apportioned legislative seats equally among the state's towns, over-representing rural areas and under-representing the growing industrial centers. Additionally, the charter disallowed landless citizens from filing civil suits without endorsement from a landowner.[52] Bills were periodically introduced in the legislature to expand suffrage, but they were invariably defeated. In 1841, activists led by Thomas W. Dorr organized an extralegal convention to draft a state constitution,[53] arguing the charter government violated the Guarantee Clause in Article Four, Section Four of the United States Constitution. In 1849 in Luther v. Borden the US Supreme Court declined to rule on this question, holding that it was a political question outside its jurisdiction. In 1842, the charter government and Dorr's supporters held separate elections, and two rival governments claimed sovereignty over the state. Dorr's supporters led an armed rebellion against the charter government, and Dorr was arrested and imprisoned for treason against the state.[54] Later that year, the legislature drafted a state constitution, removing property requirements for American-born citizens but keeping them in place for immigrants, and retaining urban under-representation in the legislature.[55]

In the early 19th century, Rhode Island was subject to a tuberculosis outbreak which led to public hysteria about vampirism.

Civil War

 
The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War
Main article: Rhode Island in the American Civil War

During the American Civil War, Rhode Island was the first Union state to send troops in response to President Lincoln's request for help from the states. Rhode Island furnished 25,236 fighting men, of whom 1,685 died.[citation needed] On the home front, Rhode Island and the other northern states used their industrial capacity to supply the Union Army with the materials it needed to win the war. The United States Naval Academy moved to Rhode Island temporarily during the war.

In 1866, Rhode Island abolished racial segregation in the public schools throughout the state.[56]

Gilded Age

 
Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age

The 50 years following the Civil War were a time of prosperity and affluence that author William G. McLoughlin calls "Rhode Island's halcyon era." Rhode Island was a center of the Gilded Age and provided a home or summer home to many of the country's most prominent industrialists. This was a time of growth in textile mills and manufacturing and brought an influx of immigrants to fill those jobs, bringing population growth and urbanization. In Newport, New York's wealthiest industrialists created a summer haven to socialize and build grand mansions. Thousands of French-Canadian, Italian, Irish, and Portuguese immigrants arrived to fill jobs in the textile and manufacturing mills in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Woonsocket.[57]

World War I

During World War I, Rhode Island furnished 28,817 soldiers, of whom 612 died. After the war, the state was hit hard by the Spanish Influenza.[58]

In the 1920s and 1930s, rural Rhode Island saw a surge in Ku Klux Klan membership, largely in reaction to large waves of immigrants moving to the state. The Klan is believed to be responsible for burning the Watchman Industrial School in Scituate, which was a school for African-American children.[59]

Growth in the modern era: 1929–present

Since the Great Depression, the Rhode Island Democratic Party has dominated local politics. Rhode Island has comprehensive health insurance for low-income children and a large social safety net. Many urban areas still have a high rate of children in poverty. Due to an influx of residents from Boston, increasing housing costs have resulted in more homelessness in Rhode Island.[60]

 
Downtown Providence in 2008

The 350th Anniversary of the founding of Rhode Island was celebrated with a free concert held on the tarmac of the Quonset State Airport on August 31, 1986. Performers included Chuck Berry, Tommy James, and headliner Bob Hope.

In 2003, a nightclub fire in West Warwick claimed 100 lives and resulted in nearly twice as many injured, catching national attention. The fire resulted in criminal sentences.[61]

In March 2010, areas of the state received record flooding due to rising rivers from heavy rain. The first period of rainy weather in mid-March caused localized flooding and, two weeks later, more rain caused more widespread flooding in many towns, especially south of Providence. Rain totals on March 29–30, 2010 exceeded 14 inches (35.5 cm) in many locales, resulting in the inundation of area rivers—especially the Pawtuxet River which runs through central Rhode Island. The overflow of the Pawtuxet River, nearly 11 feet (3 m) above flood stage, submerged a sewage treatment plant and closed a five-mile (8 km) stretch of Interstate 95. In addition, it flooded two shopping malls, numerous businesses, and many homes in the towns of Warwick, West Warwick, Cranston, and Westerly. Amtrak service was also suspended between New York and Boston during this period. Following the flood, Rhode Island was in a state of emergency for two days. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was called in to help flood victims.

Geography

Further information: Geology of New England and Climate change in Rhode Island
 
Topographic map of Rhode Island.

Rhode Island covers an area of 1,214 square miles (3,144 km2) within the New England region of the Northeastern United States and is bordered on the north and east by Massachusetts, on the west by Connecticut, and on the south by Rhode Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean.[2] It shares a narrow maritime border with New York State between Block Island and Long Island. The state's mean elevation is 200 feet (61 m). It is only 37 miles (60 km) wide and 48 miles (77 km) long, yet the state has a tidal shoreline on Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic Ocean of 384 miles (618 km).[62]

Rhode Island is nicknamed the Ocean State and has a number of oceanfront beaches. It is mostly flat with no real mountains, and the state's highest natural point is Jerimoth Hill, 812 feet (247 m) above sea level.[63] The state has two distinct natural regions. Eastern Rhode Island contains the lowlands of the Narragansett Bay, while Western Rhode Island forms part of the New England upland. Rhode Island's forests are part of the Northeastern coastal forests ecoregion.[64]

Narragansett Bay is a major feature of the state's topography. There are more than 30 islands within the bay; the largest is Aquidneck Island, which holds the municipalities of Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth. The second-largest island is Conanicut, and the third is Prudence. Block Island lies about 12 miles (19 km) off the southern coast of the mainland and separates Block Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean proper.[65][66]

A rare type of rock called Cumberlandite is found only in Rhode Island (specifically, in the town of Cumberland) and is the state rock. There were initially two known deposits of the mineral, but it is an ore of iron, and one of the deposits was extensively mined for its ferrous content.[67][68]

Climate

 
Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals.

Most of Rhode Island has a humid continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. The state's southern coastal portions are the broad transition zone into subtropical climates, with hot summers and cool winters with a mix of rain and snow. Block Island has an oceanic climate. The highest temperature recorded in Rhode Island was 104 °F (40 °C), recorded on August 2, 1975, in Providence.[69] The lowest recorded temperature in Rhode Island was −23 °F (−31 °C) on February 5, 1996, in Greene.[70] Monthly average temperatures range from a high of 83 °F (28 °C) to a low of 20 °F (−7 °C).[71]

Rhode Island is vulnerable to tropical storms and hurricanes due to its location in New England, catching the brunt of many storms that blow up the eastern seaboard. Hurricanes that have done significant damage in the state include the 1938 New England hurricane, Hurricane Carol (1954), Hurricane Donna (1960), and Hurricane Bob (1991).

Cities and towns

Main article: List of municipalities in Rhode Island
See also: Rhode Island locations by per capita income and Category:Villages in Rhode Island

Rhode Island is divided into five counties but it has no county governments. The entire state is divided into municipalities, which handle all local government affairs.

There are 39 cities and towns in Rhode Island. Major population centers today result from historical factors; development took place predominantly along the Blackstone, Seekonk, and Providence Rivers with the advent of the water-powered mill. Providence is the base of a large metropolitan area.

The state's 19 largest municipalities ranked by population are[72] :

  1. Providence (190,934)
  2. Cranston (82,934)
  3. Warwick (82,823)
  4. Pawtucket (75,604)
  5. East Providence (47,139)
  6. Woonsocket (43,240)
  7. Cumberland (36,405)
  8. Coventry (35,688)
  9. North Providence (34,114)
  10. South Kingstown (31,931)
  11. West Warwick (31,012)
  12. Johnston (29,568)
  13. North Kingstown (27,732)
  14. Newport (25,163)
  15. Westerly (23,359)
  16. Central Falls (22,583)
  17. Lincoln (22,529)
  18. Bristol (22,493)
  19. Smithfield (22,118)

Some of Rhode Island's cities and towns are further partitioned into villages, in common with many other New England states. Notable villages include Kingston in the town of South Kingstown, which houses the University of Rhode Island; Wickford in the town of North Kingstown, the site of an annual international art festival; and Wakefield where the Town Hall is for the Town of South Kingstown.[73]

Landmarks

See also: List of Registered Historic Places in Rhode Island
 
The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome

The state capitol building is made of white Georgian marble. On top is the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome.[74] It houses the Rhode Island Charter granted by King Charles II in 1663, the Brown University charter, and other state treasures.

The First Baptist Church of Providence is the oldest Baptist church in the Americas, founded by Roger Williams in 1638.

The first fully automated post office in the country is in Providence. There are many historic mansions in the seaside city of Newport, including The Breakers, Marble House, and Belcourt Castle. Also there is the Touro Synagogue, dedicated on December 2, 1763, considered by locals to be the first synagogue within the United States (see below for information on New York City's claim), and still serving. The synagogue showcases the religious freedoms established by Roger Williams, as well as impressive architecture in a mix of the classic colonial and Sephardic style. The Newport Casino is a National Historic Landmark building complex that houses the International Tennis Hall of Fame and features an active grass-court tennis club.

 
The Towers are a Narragansett landmark

Scenic Route 1A (known locally as Ocean Road) is in Narragansett. "The Towers" is also in Narragansett featuring a large stone arch. It was once the entrance to a famous Narragansett casino that burned down in 1900. The Towers now serve as an event venue and host the local Chamber of Commerce, which operates a tourist information center.

The Newport Tower has been hypothesized to be of Viking origin, although most experts believe it was a Colonial-era windmill.[75]

Environment

Environmental legislation

 
The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States[76]

On May 29, 2014, Governor Lincoln D. Chafee announced that Rhode Island was one of eight states to release a collaborative Action Plan to put 3.3 million zero-emission vehicles on its roads by 2025. The plan's purpose is to reduce greenhouse gas and smog-causing emissions. The plan promotes zero-emissions vehicles and investments in the infrastructure to support them.[77]

In 2014, Rhode Island received grants of $2,711,685 from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up Brownfield sites in eight locations. The grants provided communities with funding to assess, clean up, and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies, and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment.[78]

In 2013, the "Lots of Hope" program was established in the City of Providence to focus on increasing the city's green space and local food production, improve urban neighborhoods, promote healthy lifestyles and improve environmental sustainability. Supported by a $100,000 grant, the program will partner with the City of Providence, the Southside Community Land Trust and the Rhode Island Foundation to convert city-owned vacant lots into productive urban farms.[79]

In 2012, Rhode Island passed bill S2277/H7412, "An act relating to Health and Safety – Environmental Cleanup Objectives for Schools", informally known as the School Siting Bill. Sponsored by Senator Juan Pichardo and Representative Scott Slater, and signed into law by the governor, it made Rhode Island the first US State to prohibit school construction on Brownfield sites where toxic vapors can potentially affect indoor air quality. It also creates a public participation process whenever a city or town considers building a school on any other kind of contaminated site.[80]

Environmental monitoring

The Invasive Plant Atlas of New England monitors invasive weeds throughout New England.[81]

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
179068,825—
180069,1220.4%
181076,93111.3%
182083,0598.0%
183097,19917.0%
1840108,83012.0%
1850147,54535.6%
1860174,62018.4%
1870217,35324.5%
1880276,53127.2%
1890345,50624.9%
1900428,55624.0%
1910542,61026.6%
1920604,39711.4%
1930687,49713.7%
1940713,3463.8%
1950791,89611.0%
1960859,4888.5%
1970946,72510.1%
1980947,1540.0%
19901,003,4645.9%
20001,048,3194.5%
20101,052,5670.4%
20201,097,3794.3%
2022 (est.)1,093,734−0.3%
Source: 1910–2020[82]
 
Rhode Island population density map

The United States Census Bureau estimated Rhode Island's population was 1,059,361 on July 1, 2019, a 0.65% increase since the 2010 United States census.[83] At the 2020 U.S. census, its population was 1,097,379. The center of population of Rhode Island is in Providence County, in the city of Cranston.[84] A corridor of population can be seen from the Providence area, stretching northwest following the Blackstone River to Woonsocket, where 19th-century mills drove industry and development.

According to the 2010 census, 81.4% of the population was White (76.4% non-Hispanic white), 5.7% was Black or African American, 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.9% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 3.3% from two or more races. 12.4% of the total population was of Hispanic or Latino origin (they may be of any race).[85]

Racial and ethnic composition as of the 2020 census
Race and ethnicity (2020)[86][87] Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 68.7% 68.7
 
Hispanic or Latino 16.6% 16.6
 
Black (non-Hispanic) 5.0% 5
 
Asian 3.4% 3.4
 
Native American 0.1% 0.1
 
Pacific Islander 0.0%
Mixed (Two or more races) 4.6% 4.6
 
Other (Some other race) 1.6% 1.6
 
Historical racial demographics
Racial composition 1970[88] 1990[88] 2000[89] 2010[90]
White 96.6% 91.4% 85.0% 81.4%
Black 2.7% 3.9% 4.5% 5.7%
Asian 0.4% 1.8% 2.3% 2.9%
Native 0.1% 0.4% 0.5% 0.6%
Native Hawaiian and
other Pacific Islander		 – – 0.1% 0.1%
Other race 0.2% 2.5% 5.0% 6.1%
Two or more races – – 2.7% 3.3%

Of the people residing in Rhode Island, 58.7% were born in Rhode Island, 26.6% were born in a different state, 2.0% were born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island areas or born abroad to American parent(s), and 12.6% were foreign born.[91]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2015, Rhode Island had an estimated population of 1,056,298, which is an increase of 1,125, or 0.10%, from the prior year and an increase of 3,731, or 0.35%, since the year 2010. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 15,220 people (that is 66,973 births minus 51,753 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 14,001 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 18,965 people, and migration within the country produced a net decrease of 4,964 people.

Hispanics in the state make up 12.8% of the population, predominantly Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Guatemalan populations.[92] Rhode Island has the highest percentage of Dominican Americans in the country at 5.1% according to latest estimates, putting the state at sixth largest Dominican community in the country.[87]

According to the 2000 U.S. census, 84% of the population aged 5 and older spoke only American English, while 8.07% spoke Spanish at home, 3.80% Portuguese, 1.96% French, 1.39% Italian and 0.78% speak other languages at home accordingly.[93]

The state's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic white, has declined from 96.1% in 1970 to 76.5% in 2011.[94][95] In 2011, 40.3% of Rhode Island's children under the age of one belonged to racial or ethnic minority groups, meaning they had at least one parent who was not non-Hispanic white.[96]

6.1% of Rhode Island's population were reported as under 5, 23.6% under 18, and 14.5% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 52% of the population.

According to the 2010–2015 American Community Survey, the largest ancestry groups were Irish (18.3%), Italian (18.0%), English (10.5%), French (10.4%), and Portuguese (9.3%).[97] Rhode Island has some of the highest percentages of Irish Americans and Italian Americans.[98] Italian Americans make up a plurality in central and southern Providence County and French-Canadian Americans form a large part of northern Providence County. Irish Americans have a strong presence in Newport and Kent counties. Americans of English ancestry still have a presence in the state as well, especially in Washington County, and are often referred to as "Swamp Yankees".

Rhode Island has a notable Lusophone community, having a higher percentage of Americans of Portuguese ancestry than any other state, including Portuguese Americans and Cape Verdean Americans. Additionally, the state also has the highest percentage of Liberian immigrants, with more than 15,000 residing in the state.[99] African immigrants, including those from Cape Verde and Liberia, form significant and growing communities in Rhode Island. Rhode Island is one of the few states where blacks of foreign origins outnumber blacks of multigenerational American origin (African Americans).[98] Rhode Island also has a sizable Asian community.

Although Rhode Island has the smallest land area of all 50 states, it has the second highest population density of any state in the Union, second to that of New Jersey.

Birth data

Live Births by Race/Ethnicity of Mother
Race 2013[100] 2014[101] 2015[102] 2016[103] 2017[104] 2018[105] 2019[106] 2020[107]
White: 8,672 (80.2%) 8,734 (80.7%) 8,824 (80.3%) ... ... ... ... ...
> non-Hispanic White 6,572 (60.8%) 6,573 (60.7%) 6,702 (61.0%) 6,338 (58.7%) 6,142 (57.7%) 6,008 (57.2%) 5,564 (54.7%) 5,495 (54.4%)
Black 1,411 (13.0%) 1,365 (12.6%) 1,392 (12.7%) 784 (7.3%) 776 (7.3%) 783 (7.5%) 836 (8.2%) 805 (8.0%)
Asian 598 (5.5%) 594 (5.5%) 639 (5.8%) 565 (5.2%) 542 (5.1%) 519 (4.9%) 496 (4.9%) 476 (4.7%)
American Indian 128 (1.2%) 130 (1.2%) 138 (1.2%) 63 (0.6%) 51 (0.5%) 41 (0.4%) 46 (0.4%) 36 (0.3%)
Hispanic (of any race) 2,453 (22.7%) 2,585 (23.9%) 2,622 (23.8%) 2,684 (24.8%) 2,760 (25.9%) 2,756 (26.2%) 2,921 (28.7%) 2,927 (29.0%)
Total Rhode Island 10,809 (100%) 10,823 (100%) 10,993 (100%) 10,798 (100%) 10,638 (100%) 10,506 (100%) 10,175 (100%) 10,101 (100%)
  • Since 2016, data for births of White Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in one Hispanic group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.

Religion

Religious affiliation (2014)[108][109]
Christian
 
 75%
Catholic
 
 42%
Protestant
 
 30%
Other Christian
 
 3%
Unaffiliated
 
 20%
Jewish
 
 1%
Hindu
 
 1%
Buddhist
 
 1%
Other faiths
 
 2%

A Pew survey of Rhode Island residents' religious self-identification in 2014 showed the following distribution of affiliations: Catholic 42%, Protestant 30%, Jewish 1%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, Buddhism 1%, Mormonism 1%, Hinduism 1%, and Non-religious 20%.[108] The largest denominations are the Catholic Church with 456,598 adherents, the Episcopal Church with 19,377, the American Baptist Churches USA with 15,220, and the United Methodist Church with 6,901 adherents.[110]

Rhode Island has had the highest proportion of Catholic residents of any state according to a study in 2000,[111] mainly due to large Irish, Italian, and French-Canadian immigration in the past; recently, significant Portuguese and various Hispanic or Latino communities have also been established in the state. Though it has the highest overall Catholic percentage of any state, none of Rhode Island's individual counties ranks among the 10 most Catholic in the United States, as Catholics are evenly spread throughout the state.

According to the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020, 67% of the population were Christian, spread among evangelical and mainline Protestantism, and Roman Catholicism.[112]

 
Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States

Rhode Island's Jewish community, centered in the Providence area, emerged during a wave of Jewish immigration predominantly from Eastern Europeans shtetls between 1880 and 1920. The presence of the Touro Synagogue in Newport, the oldest existing synagogue in the United States, emphasizes that these second-wave immigrants did not create Rhode Island's first Jewish community; a comparatively smaller wave of Spanish and Portuguese Jews immigrated to Newport during the colonial era.

The religiously unaffiliated since 2014 were 20% of the population, though the separate study by the Public Religion Research Institute determined the irreligious increased to 29% of the adult population.[112]

Economy

See also: Rhode Island locations by per capita income

The Rhode Island economy had a colonial base in fishing.

 
Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States[113]

The Blackstone River Valley was a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. It was in Pawtucket that Samuel Slater set up Slater Mill in 1793,[114] using the waterpower of the Blackstone River to power his cotton mill. For a while, Rhode Island was one of the leaders in textiles. However, with the Great Depression, most textile factories relocated to southern U.S. states. The textile industry still constitutes a part of the Rhode Island economy but does not have the same power.

Other important industries in Rhode Island's past included toolmaking, costume jewelry, and silverware. An interesting by-product of Rhode Island's industrial history is the number of abandoned factories, many of which are now condominiums, museums, offices, and low-income and elderly housing. Today, much of Rhode Island's economy is based on services, particularly healthcare and education, and still manufacturing to some extent.[115] The state's nautical history continues in the 21st century in the form of nuclear submarine construction.

Per the 2013 American Communities Survey, Rhode Island has the highest paid elementary school teachers in the country, with an average salary of $75,028 (adjusted to inflation).[116]

 
 
The headquarters of Textron and Citizens Financial Group in Downtown Providence

The headquarters of Citizens Financial Group, the 14th largest bank in the United States, is in Providence.[117] The Fortune 500 companies CVS Caremark and Textron are based in Woonsocket and Providence, respectively. FM Global, GTECH Corporation, Hasbro, American Power Conversion, Nortek, and Amica Mutual Insurance are all Fortune 1000 companies based in Rhode Island.[118]

Rhode Island's 2000 total gross state production was $46.18 billion (adjusted to inflation), placing it 45th in the nation. Its 2000 per capita personal income was $41,484 (adjusted to inflation), 16th in the nation. Rhode Island has the lowest level of energy consumption per capita of any state.[119][120][121] Additionally, Rhode Island is rated as the 5th most energy efficient state in the country.[122][123] In December 2012, the state's unemployment rate was 10.2%.[124] This has gradually reduced to 3.5% in November 2019, however, the coronavirus pandemic brought the unemployment rate to a high of 18.1% in April 2020. This has since reduced to 10.5% in September 2020 and is projected to further decrease to 7% in October 2020.[125][126]

Health services are Rhode Island's largest industry. Second is tourism, supporting 39,000 jobs, with tourism-related sales at $4.56 billion (adjusted to inflation) in the year 2000. The third-largest industry is manufacturing.[127] Its industrial outputs are submarine construction, shipbuilding, costume jewelry, fabricated metal products, electrical equipment, machinery, and boatbuilding. Rhode Island's agricultural outputs are nursery stock, vegetables, dairy products, and eggs. The largest single product is milk, which in 2017 totalled $4,563,000 in sales.[128] Invasive weeds here are monitored by the § Invasive Plant Atlas of New England.[81]

Rhode Island's taxes were appreciably higher than neighboring states',[129] because Rhode Island's income tax was based on 25% of the payer's federal income tax payment.[130] Former Governor Donald Carcieri claimed the higher tax rate had an inhibitory effect on business growth in the state and called for reductions to increase the competitiveness of the state's business environment. In 2010, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed a new state income tax structure that Governor Carcieri signed into law on June 9, 2010.[131] The income tax overhaul has made Rhode Island competitive with other New England states by lowering its maximum tax rate to 5.99% and reducing the number of tax brackets to three.[132] The state's first income tax was enacted in 1971.[133]

Largest employers

As of March 2011, Rhode Island's largest employers (excluding employees of municipalities) are:[134]

Rank Employer Employees Notes
1 State of Rhode Island 14,904 Full-time equivalents
2 Lifespan Hospital Group 11,869 Rhode Island Hospital (7,024 employees), The Miriam Hospital (2,410), Newport Hospital (919), Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital (800), Lifespan Corporate Services (580), Newport Alliance Newport (68), Lifespan MSO (53), and Home Medical (15)
3 U.S. federal government 11,581 Excludes 3,000 active duty military personnel and 7,000 reservists, but includes 250 employees of the Naval War College.
4 Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence 6,200
5 Care New England 5,953 Employees at: Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island (3,134), Kent County Memorial Hospital (1,850), Butler Hospital (800), VNA of Care New England (140), and Care New England (29)
6 CVS Caremark 5,800 The corporate headquarters are at Woonsocket (5,630 employees). The corporation also has 170 employees at Pharmacare
7 Citizens Financial Group 4,991 The corporate headquarters are in Johnston.
8 Brown University 4,800 Excludes student employees.
9 Stop & Shop Supermarket
(subsidiary of Ahold) 		3,632
10 Bank of America 3,500
11 Fidelity Investments 2,934 2,434 employees in Smithfield and 500 in Providence
12 Rhode Island ARC 2,851 Employees at James L. Maher Center (700), The Homestead Group (650), Cranston Arc (374), The ARC of Blackstone Valley (350), Kent County ARC (500), The Fogarty Center (225), and Westerly Chariho, ARC (52)
13 MetLife Insurance Co. 2,604
14 General Dynamics Corp. 2,243 2,200 employees at General Dynamics Electric Boat in North Kingstown, and 43 employees at General Dynamics Information Technology – Newport in Middletown adjacent to the Naval Undersea Warfare Center[135]
15 University of Rhode Island 2,155
16 Wal-Mart 2,078
17 The Jan Companies 2,050 Employees at Jan-Co Burger King (1,500) (Burger King franchiser); Newport Creamery, LLC (400), Quidnessett Country Club (100), and The Country Inn (50)
18 Shaw's Supermarkets
(subsidiary of Albertsons LLC) 		1,900
19 St. Joseph Health Services and Hospitals of Rhode Island/CharterCARE Health Partners 1,865 Employees at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital (1,343) and St. Joseph Hospital for Specialty Care (522)
20 The Home Depot, Inc. 1,780

Transportation

Further information: Rhode Island Department of Transportation

Bus

 
The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) operates statewide intra- and intercity bus transport from its hubs at Kennedy Plaza in Providence, Pawtucket, and Newport. RIPTA bus routes serve 38 of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns. (New Shoreham on Block Island is not served). RIPTA operates 58 routes, including daytime trolley service (using trolley-style replica buses) in Providence and Newport.

Ferry

From 2000 through 2008, RIPTA offered seasonal ferry service linking Providence and Newport (already connected by highway) funded by grant money from the United States Department of Transportation. Though the service was popular with residents and tourists, RIPTA was unable to continue after the federal funding ended. Service was discontinued as of 2010.[136] The service resumed in 2016 and has been successful. The privately run Block Island Ferry[137] links Block Island with Newport and Narragansett with traditional and fast-ferry service, while the Prudence Island Ferry[138] connects Bristol with Prudence Island. Private ferry services also link several Rhode Island communities with ports in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York.

Rail

 
A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station
See also: List of Rhode Island railroads

The MBTA Commuter Rail's Providence/Stoughton Line links Providence and T. F. Green Airport with Boston's South Station. The line was later extended southward to Wickford Junction, with service beginning April 23, 2012. The state hopes to extend the MBTA line to Kingston and Westerly, as well as explore the possibility of extending Connecticut's Shore Line East to T.F. Green Airport.[139] Amtrak's Acela Express stops at Providence Station (the only Acela stop in Rhode Island), linking Providence to other cities in the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak's Northeast Regional service makes stops at Providence Station, Kingston, and Westerly.

Aviation

See also: Aviation in Rhode Island and List of airports in Rhode Island

Rhode Island's primary airport for passenger and cargo transport is T. F. Green Airport in Warwick, though Rhode Islanders who wish to travel internationally on direct flights and those who seek a greater availability of flights and destinations often fly through Logan International Airport in Boston.

Limited access highways

 
The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)

Interstate 95 (I-95) runs southwest to northeast across the state, linking Rhode Island with other states along the East Coast. I-295 functions as a partial beltway encircling Providence to the west. I-195 provides a limited-access highway connection from Providence (and Connecticut and New York via I-95) to Cape Cod. Initially built as the easternmost link in the (now cancelled) extension of I-84 from Hartford, Connecticut, a portion of U.S. Route 6 (US 6) through northern Rhode Island is limited-access and links I-295 with downtown Providence.

Several Rhode Island highways extend the state's limited-access highway network. Route 4 is a major north–south freeway linking Providence and Warwick (via I-95) with suburban and beach communities along Narragansett Bay. Route 10 is an urban connector linking downtown Providence with Cranston and Johnston. Route 37 is an important east–west freeway through Cranston and Warwick and links I-95 with I-295. Route 99 links Woonsocket with Providence (via Route 146). Route 146 travels through the Blackstone Valley, linking Providence and I-95 with Worcester, Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Turnpike. Route 403 links Route 4 with Quonset Point.

Several bridges cross Narragansett Bay connecting Aquidneck Island and Conanicut Island to the mainland, most notably the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge and the Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge.

Bicycle paths

The East Bay Bike Path stretches from Providence to Bristol along the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay, while the Blackstone River Bikeway will eventually link Providence and Worcester. In 2011, Rhode Island completed work on a marked on-road bicycle path through Pawtucket and Providence, connecting the East Bay Bike Path with the Blackstone River Bikeway, completing a 33.5 miles (54 km) bicycle route through the eastern side of the state.[140] The William C. O'Neill Bike Path (commonly known as the South County Bike Path) is an 8 mi (13 km) path through South Kingstown and Narragansett. The 19 mi (31 km) Washington Secondary Bike Path stretches from Cranston to Coventry, and the 2 mi (3.2 km) Ten Mile River Greenway path runs through East Providence and Pawtucket.

Future

In late 2019, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority released a draft of the Rhode Island Transit Master Plan, documenting and describing a variety of proposed improvements and additions to be made to the state's public transit network by 2040. Several different proposals were offered and still under consideration as of December 2020,[141] including implementation of a bus rapid transit system, express bus routes, expansion of Amtrak and MBTA services throughout the state, and construction of a new light rail network through downtown Providence.[141][142]

Media

Main article: Media in Rhode Island

Education

 
University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States.[143]

Primary and secondary schools

Further information: Rhode Island schools

Colleges and universities

Main article: List of colleges and universities in Rhode Island

Rhode Island has several colleges and universities:

Culture

Local accent

Main article: Eastern New England English § Rhode Island English

Some Rhode Islanders speak with the distinctive, non-rhotic, traditional Rhode Island accent linguists describe as a cross between New York City and Boston accents (e.g., "water" sounds like "watuh" [ˈwɔəɾə]).[144] Many Rhode Islanders distinguish a strong aw sound [ɔə] (i.e., resist the cot–caught merger of Boston) much like one might hear in New Jersey or New York City; for example, the word coffee is pronounced [ˈkʰɔəfi].[145] Rhode Islanders sometimes refer to drinking fountains as "bubblers", milkshakes as "cabinets", and overstuffed foot-long sandwiches (of whatever kind) as "grinders".[146]

Food and beverages

Rhode Island, like the rest of New England, has a tradition of clam chowder. Both the white New England and the red Manhattan varieties are popular, but there is also a unique clear-broth chowder known as Rhode Island Clam Chowder available in many restaurants. A culinary tradition in Rhode Island is the clam cake (also known as a clam fritter outside of Rhode Island), a deep fried ball of buttery dough with chopped bits of clam inside. They are sold by the half-dozen or dozen in most seafood restaurants around the state, and the quintessential summer meal in Rhode Island is chowder and clam cakes.

The quahog is a large local clam usually used in a chowder. It is also ground and mixed with stuffing or spicy minced sausage, and then baked in its shell to form a stuffie. Calamari (squid) is sliced into rings and fried as an appetizer in most Italian restaurants, typically served Sicilian-style with sliced banana peppers and marinara sauce on the side. (In 2014, calamari became the official state appetizer.[147]) Clams Casino originated in Rhode Island, invented by Julius Keller, the maitre d' in the original Casino next to the seaside Towers in Narragansett.[148] Clams Casino resemble the beloved stuffed quahog but are generally made with the smaller littleneck or cherrystone clam and are unique in their use of bacon as a topping.

The official state drink of Rhode Island is coffee milk,[149] a beverage created by mixing milk with coffee syrup. This unique syrup was invented in the state and is sold in almost all Rhode Island supermarkets, as well as its bordering states. Johnnycakes have been a Rhode Island staple since Colonial times, made with corn meal and water then pan-fried much like pancakes.

Submarine sandwiches are called grinders throughout Rhode Island, and the Italian grinder, made with cold cuts such as ham, prosciutto, capicola, salami, and Provolone cheese, is especially popular. Linguiça or chouriço is a spicy Portuguese sausage that the state's large Portuguese community often serves with peppers and eats with hearty bread.

Rhode Island state symbols

In popular culture

The Farrelly brothers and Seth MacFarlane depict Rhode Island in popular culture, often making comedic parodies of the state. MacFarlane's television series Family Guy is based in a fictional Rhode Island city named Quahog, and notable local events and celebrities are regularly lampooned. Peter Griffin is seen working at the Pawtucket brewery, and other state locations are mentioned.

The 1956 film High Society (starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra) was set in Newport, Rhode Island.

The 1974 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby was also filmed in Newport.

Jacqueline Bouvier and John F. Kennedy were married at St. Mary's church in Newport. Their reception took place at Hammersmith Farm, the Bouvier summer home in Newport.

Cartoonist Don Bousquet, a state icon, has made a career out of Rhode Island culture, drawing Rhode Island-themed gags in The Providence Journal and Yankee magazine. These cartoons have been reprinted in the Quahog series of paperbacks (I Brake for Quahogs, Beware of the Quahog, and The Quahog Walks Among Us.) Bousquet has also collaborated with humorist and Providence Journal columnist Mark Patinkin on two books: The Rhode Island Dictionary and The Rhode Island Handbook.

The 1998 film Meet Joe Black was filmed at Aldrich Mansion in the Warwick Neck area of Warwick.

Body of Proof's first season was filmed entirely in Rhode Island.[150] The show premiered on March 29, 2011.[151]

The 2007 Steve Carell and Dane Cook film Dan in Real Life was filmed in various coastal towns in the state. The sunset scene with the entire family on the beach takes place at Napatree Point.

Jersey Shore star Pauly D filmed part of his spin-off The Pauly D Project in his hometown of Johnston.

The Comedy Central cable television series Another Period is set in Newport during the Gilded Age.

Notable firsts in Rhode Island

Rhode Island has been the first in a number of initiatives. The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations enacted the first law prohibiting slavery in America on May 18, 1652.[152]

The first act of armed rebellion in America against the British Crown was the boarding and burning of the Revenue Schooner Gaspee in Narragansett Bay on June 10, 1772. The idea of a Continental Congress was first proposed at a town meeting in Providence on May 17, 1774. Rhode Island elected the first delegates (Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Ward) to the Continental Congress on June 15, 1774. The Rhode Island General Assembly created the first standing army in the colonies (1,500 men) on April 22, 1775. On June 15, 1775, the first naval engagement took place in the American Revolution between an American sloop commanded by Capt. Abraham Whipple and an armed tender of the British Frigate Rose. The tender was chased aground and captured. Later in June, the General Assembly created the American Navy when it commissioned the sloops Katy and Washington, armed with 24 guns and commanded by Abraham Whipple who was promoted to Commodore. Rhode Island was the first Colony to declare independence from Britain on May 4, 1776.[152]

Slater Mill in Pawtucket was the first commercially successful cotton-spinning mill with a fully mechanized power system in America and was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the US.[153] The oldest Fourth of July parade in the country is still held annually in Bristol, Rhode Island. The first Baptist church in America was founded in Providence in 1638.[154] Ann Smith Franklin of the Newport Mercury was the first female newspaper editor in America (August 22, 1762).[152] Touro Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in America, founded in Newport in 1763.[152]

Pelham Street in Newport was the first in America to be illuminated by gaslight in 1806.[152] The first strike in the United States in which women participated occurred in Pawtucket in 1824.[152] Watch Hill has the nation's oldest flying horses carousel that has been in continuous operation since 1850.[152] The motion picture machine was patented in Providence on April 23, 1867.[152] The first lunch wagon in America was introduced in Providence in 1872.[152] The first nine-hole golf course in America was completed in Newport in 1890.[152] The first state health laboratory was established in Providence on September 1, 1894.[152] The Rhode Island State House was the first building with an all-marble dome to be built in the United States (1895–1901).[152] The first automobile race on a track was held in Cranston on September 7, 1896.[152] The first automobile parade was held in Newport on September 7, 1899, on the grounds of Belcourt Castle.[152]

Miscellaneous local culture

Rhode Island is nicknamed "The Ocean State", and the nautical nature of Rhode Island's geography pervades its culture. Newport Harbor, in particular, holds many pleasure boats. In the lobby of T. F. Green, the state's main airport, is a large life-sized sailboat,[155] and the state's license plates depict an ocean wave or a sailboat.[156]

 
Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches

The large number of beaches in Washington County lures many Rhode Islanders south for summer vacation.[157]

The state constitution protects shore access, including swimming and gathering of seaweed.[158][159] The 1982 Rhode Island Supreme Court decision in State v. Ibbison[160][161] defines the end of private land as the mean high tide line, which is difficult to determine in day-to-day activities, and has resulted in beach access conflicts.[162] Underfunding of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council has resulted in lax enforcement against encroachment on public access and building of illegal structures.[163]

The state was notorious for organized crime activity from the 1950s into the 1990s when the Patriarca crime family held sway over most of New England from its Providence headquarters.

Rhode Islanders developed a unique style of architecture in the 17th century called the stone-ender.[164]

Rhode Island is the only state to still celebrate Victory over Japan Day which is officially named "Victory Day" but is sometimes referred to as "VJ Day."[165] It is celebrated on the second Monday in August.[166]

Nibbles Woodaway, more commonly referred to as "The Big Blue Bug", is a 58-foot-long termite mascot for a Providence extermination business. Since its construction in 1980, it has been featured in several movies and television shows, and has come to be recognized as a cultural landmark by many locals.[167] In more recent times, the Big Blue Bug has been given a mask to remind locals and visitors to mask-up during the COVID-19 pandemic.[168]

Sports

Professional

Rhode Island's only professional minor league team is the Providence Bruins ice hockey team of the American Hockey League, who are a top-level minor league affiliate of the Boston Bruins. They play in the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence and won the AHL's Calder Cup during the 1998–99 AHL season.

The Pawtucket Red Sox baseball team was a Triple-A International League affiliate of the Boston Red Sox from 1973 to 2020. They played at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket and had won four league titles, the Governors' Cup, in 1973, 1984, 2012, and 2014. McCoy Stadium also has the distinction of being home to the longest professional baseball game ever played – 33 innings.

The Providence Reds were a hockey team that played in the Canadian-American Hockey League (CAHL) between 1926 and 1936 and the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1936 to 1977, the last season of which they played as the Rhode Island Reds. The team won the Calder Cup in 1938, 1940, 1949, and 1956. The Reds played at the Rhode Island Auditorium, on North Main Street in Providence, Rhode Island from 1926 through 1972, when the team affiliated with the New York Rangers and moved into the newly built Providence Civic Center. The team name came from the rooster known as the Rhode Island Red. They moved to New York in 1977, then to Connecticut in 1997, and are now called the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The Reds are the oldest continuously operating minor-league hockey franchise in North America, having fielded a team in one form or another since 1926 in the CAHL. It is also the only AHL franchise to have never missed a season. The AHL returned to Providence in 1992 in the form of the Providence Bruins.

 
1884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays

Before the great expansion of athletic teams all over the country, Providence and Rhode Island in general played a great role in supporting teams. The Providence Grays won the first World Championship in baseball history in 1884. The team played their home games at the old Messer Street Field in Providence. The Grays played in the National League from 1878 to 1885. They defeated the New York Metropolitans of the American Association in a best of five-game series at the Polo Grounds in New York. Providence won three straight games to become the first champions in major league baseball history. Babe Ruth played for the minor league Providence Grays of 1914 and hit his only official minor league home run for them before the Grays' parent club, the Boston Red Stockings, recalled him.

The now-defunct professional football team the Providence Steam Roller won the 1928 NFL title. They played in a 10,000 person stadium called the Cycledrome.[169] The Providence Steamrollers played in the Basketball Association of America which became the National Basketball Association.

Rhode Island is also home to a top semi-professional soccer club, the Rhode Island Reds, which compete in the National premier soccer league, in the fourth division of U.S. Soccer.

Rhode Island is home to one top level non-minor league team, the Rhode Island Rebellion rugby league team, a semi-professional rugby league team that competes in the USA Rugby League, the Top Competition in the United States for the Sport of Rugby League.[170][171] The Rebellion play their home games at Classical High School in Providence.[172]

Current professional teams
Professional Team League Sport Venue City Established Championships
Providence Bruins American Hockey League (AHL) Ice hockey Amica Mutual Pavilion Providence, Rhode Island 1987 1
USLC Rhode Island USL Championship (USLC) Soccer Riptide Stadium Pawtucket, Rhode Island 2020 0
Current semi-professional teams

Collegiate and amateur sports

 
University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston

There are four NCAA Division I schools in Rhode Island. All four schools compete in different conferences. The Brown University Bears compete in the Ivy League, the Bryant University Bulldogs compete in the America East Conference, the Providence College Friars compete in the Big East Conference, and the University of Rhode Island Rams compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Three of the schools' football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision, the second-highest level of college football in the United States. Brown plays FCS football in the Ivy League, Bryant plays FCS football in the Big South Conference before that league merges its football operations with those of the Ohio Valley Conference in 2023, and Rhode Island plays FCS football in CAA Football, the technically separate football league of the Colonial Athletic Association. All four Division I schools in the state compete in an intrastate all-sports competition known as the Ocean State Cup, with Bryant winning the most recent cup in 2011–12 academic year.

From 1930 to 1983, America's Cup races were sailed off Newport, and the extreme-sport X Games and Gravity Games were founded and hosted in the state's capital city.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame is in Newport at the Newport Casino, site of the first U.S. National Championships in 1881. The Hall of Fame and Museum were established in 1954 by James Van Alen as "a shrine to the ideals of the game".

Rhode Island is also home to the headquarters of the governing body for youth rugby league in the United States, the American Youth Rugby League Association or AYRLA. The AYRLA has started the first-ever Rugby League youth competition in Providence Middle Schools, a program at the RI Training School, in addition to starting the first High School Competition in the US in Providence Public High School.[173]

Government

Main article: Government of Rhode Island
Gubernatorial election results[174]
Year Democratic Republican
1950 59.3% 176,125 40.7% 120,683
1954 57.7% 189,595 41.7% 137,131
1958 49.1% 170,275 50.9% 176,505
1962 49.9% 163,554 50.1% 163,952
1966 36.7% 121,862 63.3% 210,202
1970 50.1% 173,420 49.5% 171,549
1974 78.5% 252,436 21.5% 69,224
1978 62.8% 197,386 30.7% 96,596
1982 73.3% 247,208 23.6% 79,602
1986 32.4% 104,504 64.7% 208,822
1990 74.1% 264,411 25.9% 92,177
1994 43.6% 157,361 47.4% 171,194
1998 42.1% 129,105 51.0% 156,180
2002 45.2% 150,229 54.7% 181,827
2006 49.0% 189,503 51.0% 197,306
2010 23.1% 78,896 33.6% 114,911
2014 40.7% 131,452 36.2% 117,106
2018 52.6% 198,122 37.2% 139,932
United States presidential election results for Rhode Island[175]
Year Republican / Whig Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 199,922 38.61% 307,486 59.39% 10,349 2.00%
2016 180,543 38.90% 252,525 54.41% 31,076 6.70%
2012 157,204 35.24% 279,677 62.70% 9,168 2.06%
2008 165,391 35.06% 296,571 62.86% 9,804 2.08%
2004 169,046 38.67% 259,760 59.42% 8,328 1.91%
2000 130,555 31.91% 249,508 60.99% 29,049 7.10%
1996 104,683 26.82% 233,050 59.71% 52,551 13.46%
1992 131,601 29.02% 213,299 47.04% 108,578 23.94%
1988 177,761 43.93% 225,123 55.64% 1,736 0.43%
1984 212,080 51.66% 197,106 48.02% 1,306 0.32%
1980 154,793 37.20% 198,342 47.67% 62,937 15.13%
1976 181,249 44.08% 227,636 55.36% 2,285 0.56%
1972 220,383 53.00% 194,645 46.81% 780 0.19%
1968 122,359 31.78% 246,518 64.03% 16,123 4.19%
1964 74,615 19.13% 315,463 80.87% 13 0.00%
1960 147,502 36.37% 258,032 63.63% 1 0.00%
1956 225,819 58.23% 161,970 41.77% 2 0.00%
1952 210,935 50.89% 203,293 49.05% 270 0.07%
1948 135,787 41.44% 188,736 57.59% 3,179 0.97%
1944 123,487 41.26% 175,356 58.59% 433 0.14%
1940 138,653 43.17% 182,182 56.73% 313 0.10%
1936 125,031 40.18% 165,238 53.10% 20,909 6.72%
1932 115,266 43.31% 146,604 55.08% 4,300 1.62%
1928 117,522 49.55% 118,973 50.16% 699 0.29%
1924 125,286 59.63% 76,606 36.46% 8,223 3.91%
1920 107,463 63.97% 55,062 32.78% 5,456 3.25%
1916 44,858 51.08% 40,394 46.00% 2,564 2.92%
1912 27,703 35.56% 30,412 39.04% 19,779 25.39%
1908 43,942 60.76% 24,706 34.16% 3,669 5.07%
1904 41,605 60.60% 24,839 36.18% 2,212 3.22%
1900 33,784 59.74% 19,812 35.04% 2,952 5.22%
1896 37,437 68.33% 14,459 26.39% 2,889 5.27%
1892 26,975 50.71% 24,336 45.75% 1,885 3.54%
1888 21,969 53.88% 17,530 42.99% 1,276 3.13%
1884 19,030 58.07% 12,391 37.81% 1,350 4.12%
1880 18,195 62.24% 10,779 36.87% 261 0.89%
1876 15,787 59.29% 10,712 40.23% 128 0.48%
1872 13,665 71.94% 5,329 28.06% 0 0.00%
1868 12,993 66.49% 6,548 33.51% 0 0.00%
1864 13,962 62.24% 8,470 37.76% 0 0.00%
1860 12,244 61.37% 7,707 38.63% 0 0.00%
1856 11,467 57.85% 6,680 33.70% 1,675 8.45%
1852 7,626 44.85% 8,735 51.37% 644 3.79%
1848 6,779 60.77% 3,646 32.68% 730 6.54%
1844 7,322 59.55% 4,867 39.58% 107 0.87%
1840 5,278 61.22% 3,301 38.29% 42 0.49%
1836 2,710 47.76% 2,964 52.24% 0 0.00%

The capital of Rhode Island is Providence. The state's governor is Daniel McKee (D), and the lieutenant governor is Sabina Matos (D). Gina Raimondo became Rhode Island's first female governor with a plurality of the vote in the November 2014 state elections.[176] Its United States senators are Jack Reed (D) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D). Rhode Island's two United States representatives are David Cicilline (D-1) and Jim Langevin (D-2). See congressional districts map. Rhode Island is one of a few states that do not have an official governor's residence. See List of Rhode Island Governors.

The state legislature is the Rhode Island General Assembly, consisting of the 75-member House of Representatives and the 38-member Senate. The Democratic Party dominates both houses of the bicameral body; the Republican Party's presence is minor in the state government, with Republicans holding a handful of seats in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

Elections

Further information: Politics of Rhode Island and Political party strength in Rhode Island
 
Treemap of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election

Rhode Island's population barely crosses the threshold beyond the minimum of three for additional votes in both the federal House of Representatives and Electoral College; it is well represented relative to its population, with the eighth-highest number of electoral votes and second-highest number of House Representatives per resident. Based on its area, Rhode Island has the highest density of electoral votes of any state.[177]

Federally, Rhode Island is a reliably Democratic state during presidential elections, usually supporting the Democratic presidential nominee. The state voted for the Republican presidential candidate until 1908. Since then, it has voted for the Republican nominee for president seven times, and the Democratic nominee 17 times. The last 16 presidential elections in Rhode Island have resulted in the Democratic Party winning the Ocean State's Electoral College votes 12 times. In the 1980 presidential election, Rhode Island was one of six states to vote against Republican Ronald Reagan. Reagan was the last Republican to win any of the state's counties in a Presidential election until Donald Trump won Kent County in 2016. In 1988, George H. W. Bush won over 40% of the state's popular vote, something no Republican has done since.

Party registration as of March 2022[178]
Party Total voters Percentage
Unaffiliated 318,449 44.93%
Democratic 292,539 41.28%
Republican 97,730 13.79%
Total 708,718 100%

Rhode Island was the Democrats' leading state in 1960, 1964, 1968, 1988 and 2000, and second-best in 1968, 1972, 1996, and 2004. Rhode Island's most one-sided Presidential election result was in 1964, with over 80% of Rhode Island's votes going for Lyndon B. Johnson. In 2004, Rhode Island gave John Kerry more than a 20-percentage-point margin of victory (the third-highest of any state), with 59.4% of its vote. All but three of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns voted for the Democratic candidate. The exceptions were East Greenwich, West Greenwich, and Scituate.[179] In 2008, Rhode Island gave Barack Obama a 28-percentage-point margin of victory (the third-highest of any state), with 63% of its vote. All but one of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns voted for the Democratic candidate (the exception being Scituate).[180]

In a 2020 study, Rhode Island was ranked as the 19th easiest state for citizens to vote in.[181]

Legislation and taxes

Rhode Island is one of 21 states that have abolished capital punishment; it was second do so, just after Michigan, and carried out its last execution in the 1840s. Rhode Island was the second to last state to make prostitution illegal. Until November 2009 Rhode Island law made prostitution legal provided it took place indoors.[182] In a 2009 study Rhode Island was listed as the 9th safest state in the country.[183]

In 2011, Rhode Island became the third state in the United States to pass legislation to allow the use of medical marijuana. On May 25, 2022, Rhode Island fully legalized recreational use of marijuana, becoming the nineteenth state to do so.[184] Additionally, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed legislation that allowed civil unions which Governor Lincoln Chafee signed into law on July 2, 2011. Rhode Island became the eighth state to fully recognize either same-sex marriage or civil unions.[185] Same-sex marriage became legal on May 2, 2013, and took effect August 1.[186]

Rhode Island has some of the highest taxes in the country, particularly its property taxes, ranking seventh in local and state taxes, and sixth in real estate taxes.[129]

Notable people

Main article: List of people from Rhode Island

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Approximately 776,957 acres
  2. ^ Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988
  3. ^ This island is the largest of several islands in Narragansett Bay.
  4. ^ Giovanni da Verrazzano named a place on Rhode Island Puntum Iovianum in honor of his friend Paolo Giovio (Jovium in Latin) (1483–1542), humanist and historian. Giovio owned the Cèllere Codex of Verrazzano containing the text of his first trip.

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General bibliography

Primary sources

Secondary sources

  • Adams, James Truslow. The Founding of New England (1921)
  • Adams, James Truslow. Revolutionary New England, 1691–1776 (1923)
  • Adams, James Truslow. New England in the Republic, 1776–1850 (1926)
  • Andrews, Charles M. The Fathers of New England: A Chronicle of the Puritan Commonwealths (1919). Short survey by leading scholar.
  • Axtell, James, ed. The American People in Colonial New England (1973), new social history
  • Brewer, Daniel Chauncey. Conquest of New England by the Immigrant (1926).
  • Coleman, Peter J. The Transformation of Rhode Island, 1790–1860 (1963)
  • Conforti, Joseph A. Imagining New England: Explorations of Regional Identity from the Pilgrims to the Mid-Twentieth Century (2001)
  • Dennison, George M. The Dorr War: Republicanism on Trial, 1831–1861 (1976)
  • Hall, Donald, ed. Encyclopedia of New England (2005)
  • Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England (1998)
  • Lovejoy, David S. Rhode Island Politics and the American Revolution, 1760–1776 (1969)
  • McLaughlin, William. Rhode Island: A Bicentennial History (1976)
  • Moondancer & Strong Woman "Cultural History of the Native Peoples of Southern New England". Bauu Press. (2007).
  • Palfrey, John Gorham. History of New England July 28, 2020, at the Wayback Machine (5 vol. 1859–90)
  • "Slavery in Rhode Island". Slavery in the North. from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  • Sletcher, Michael. New England. (2004).
  • Stephenson, Nathaniel Wright. Nelson W. Aldrich, a Leader in American Politics (1930).
  • WPA. Guide to Rhode Island (1939).
  • Zimmerman, Joseph F. The New England Town Meeting: Democracy in Action November 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. (1999)

External links

  • Rhode Island at Curlie
  • State of Rhode Island Government website
  • USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Rhode Island December 9, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  • U.S. Census Bureau Quickfacts: Rhode Island
  • Rhode Island laws
  • Scituate Art Festival
  • USDA Rhode Island State Facts
  • "Rhode Island" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 248–254. — Detailed Historical Article
  • Indian Place Names
  •   Geographic data related to Rhode Island at OpenStreetMap
  • – Annotated list of searchable databases produced by Rhode Island state agencies and compiled by the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association.
  • Rhode Island State Guide from the Library of Congress
  • Rhode Island State Archives Catalog for further information
Preceded by List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union
Ratified Constitution on May 29, 1790 (13th) 		Succeeded by

January 18, 2023
rhode, island, this, article, about, state, geographic, feature, aquidneck, island, other, uses, disambiguation, coordinates, state, listen, like, road, state, england, region, northeastern, united, states, smallest, state, area, seventh, least, populous, with. This article is about the U S state For the geographic feature see Aquidneck Island For other uses see Rhode Island disambiguation Coordinates 41 42 N 71 30 W 41 7 N 71 5 W 41 7 71 5 State of Rhode Island Rhode Island ˌ r oʊ d listen like road 6 7 is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States It is the smallest U S state by area and the seventh least populous with slightly less than 1 1 million residents as of 2020 8 but it is the second most densely populated after New Jersey It takes its name from the eponymous island though nearly all of its land area is on the mainland Rhode Island borders Connecticut to the west Massachusetts to the north and east and the Atlantic Ocean to the south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound It also shares a small maritime border with New York 9 Providence is its capital and most populous city Rhode IslandStateState of Rhode IslandFlagSealNickname s The Ocean StateLittle Rhody 1 Motto HopeAnthem Rhode Island s It for Me Map of the United States with Rhode Island highlightedCountryUnited StatesBefore statehoodColony of Rhode Island and Providence PlantationsAdmitted to the UnionMay 29 1790 13th Capital and largest city ProvidenceLargest metro and urban areasGreater Boston combined Providence metro and urban Government GovernorDan McKee D Lieutenant GovernorSabina Matos D LegislatureRhode Island General Assembly Upper houseSenate Lower houseHouse of RepresentativesJudiciaryRhode Island Supreme CourtU S senatorsJack Reed D Sheldon Whitehouse D U S House delegation1 David Cicilline D 2 Seth Magaziner D list Area Total1 214 a 2 sq mi 3 144 km2 Land1 055 sq mi 2 707 km2 Water169 sq mi 438 km2 13 9 Rank50thDimensions Length48 mi 77 km Width37 mi 60 km Elevation200 ft 60 m Highest elevation Jerimoth Hill 3 b 812 ft 247 m Lowest elevation Atlantic Ocean 3 0 ft 0 m Population 2020 Census Results Total1 098 163 4 Rank45th Density1 006 sq mi 388 km2 Rank2nd Median household income 63 870 5 Income rank15thDemonymRhode IslanderLanguage Official languageDe jure NoneDe facto EnglishTime zoneUTC 05 00 Eastern Summer DST UTC 04 00 EDT USPS abbreviationRIISO 3166 codeUS RITraditional abbreviationR I Latitude41 09 N to 42 01 NLongitude71 07 W to 71 53 WWebsitewww wbr ri wbr govNative Americans lived around Narragansett Bay for thousands of years before English settlers began arriving in the early 17th century 10 Rhode Island was unique among the Thirteen British Colonies in having been founded by a refugee Roger Williams who fled religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to establish a haven for religious liberty He founded Providence in 1636 on land purchased from local tribes thereby creating the first settlement in North America with an explicitly secular government 10 The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations subsequently became a destination for religious and political dissenters and social outcasts earning it the moniker Rogue s Island 11 Rhode Island was the first colony to call for a Continental Congress which it did in 1774 and the first to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown which it did on May 4 1776 12 After the American Revolution during which it was heavily occupied and contested Rhode Island became the fourth state to ratify the Articles of Confederation which it did on February 9 1778 13 Because certain of its citizens favored a weaker central government it boycotted the 1787 convention that had drafted the United States Constitution 14 which it initially refused to ratify 15 it finally did ratify it on May 29 1790 the last of the original 13 states to do so 16 17 It had been officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations since the colonial era but came to be commonly known simply as Rhode Island In November 2020 the state s voters approved an amendment to the state constitution formally dropping and Providence Plantations from its full name 18 19 Its official nickname is the Ocean State a reference to its 400 miles 640 km of coastline and the large bays and inlets that make up about 14 of its total area 2 Contents 1 Name 1 1 Origins of the name 1 2 Changes to the name 2 History 2 1 Colonial era 1636 1770 2 2 Revolutionary to Civil War period 1770 1860 2 3 Civil War 2 4 Gilded Age 2 5 World War I 2 6 Growth in the modern era 1929 present 3 Geography 3 1 Climate 3 2 Cities and towns 4 Landmarks 5 Environment 5 1 Environmental legislation 5 2 Environmental monitoring 6 Demographics 6 1 Birth data 6 2 Religion 7 Economy 7 1 Largest employers 8 Transportation 8 1 Bus 8 2 Ferry 8 3 Rail 8 4 Aviation 8 5 Limited access highways 8 6 Bicycle paths 8 7 Future 9 Media 10 Education 10 1 Primary and secondary schools 10 2 Colleges and universities 11 Culture 11 1 Local accent 11 2 Food and beverages 11 3 Rhode Island state symbols 11 4 In popular culture 11 5 Notable firsts in Rhode Island 11 6 Miscellaneous local culture 11 7 Sports 11 7 1 Professional 11 7 1 1 Current professional teams 11 7 1 2 Current semi professional teams 11 7 2 Collegiate and amateur sports 12 Government 13 Elections 14 Legislation and taxes 15 Notable people 16 See also 17 Notes 18 Citations 19 General bibliography 19 1 Primary sources 19 2 Secondary sources 20 External linksName EditOrigins of the name Edit Despite its name most of Rhode Island is on the mainland of the United States Prior to 2020 its official name was State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations derived from the merger of Colonial settlements around Narragansett bay and outside the jurisdiction of Plymouth colony The settlements of Rhode Island Newport and Portsmouth were on what is commonly called Aquidneck Island today but was called Rhode Island in Colonial times c 20 Providence Plantations referred to settlements on the mainland including Providence and what would become Warwick 21 It is unclear how the island came to be named Rhode Island but two historical events may have been influential Explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano noted the presence of an island near the mouth of Narragansett Bay in 1524 which he likened to the island of Rhodes off the coast of Greece 22 Subsequent European explorers were unable to precisely identify the island Verrazzano described but the colonists who settled the area assumed it was this island d Adriaen Block passed by the island during his expeditions in the 1610s and he described it in a 1625 account of his travels as an island of reddish appearance which was een rodlich Eylande in 17th century Dutch meaning a red or reddish island supposedly evolving into the designation Rhode Island 23 24 Historians have theorized this reddish appearance resulted from either red autumn foliage or red clay on portions of the shore 25 The earliest documented use of the name Rhode Island for Aquidneck was in 1637 by Roger Williams The name was officially applied to the island in 1644 with these words Aquethneck shall be henceforth called the Isle of Rodes or Rhode Island The name Isle of Rodes is used in a legal document as late as 1646 26 27 Dutch maps as early as 1659 call the island Red Island Roodt Eylandt 28 Changes to the name Edit The first English settlement in Rhode Island was the town of Providence which the Narragansett granted to Roger Williams in 1636 At that time Williams obtained no permission from the English crown as he believed the English had no legitimate claim on Narragansett and Wampanoag territory However in 1643 he petitioned Charles I of England to grant Providence and neighboring towns a colonial patent due to threats of invasion from the colonies of Boston and Plymouth 29 He used the name Providence Plantations in his petition plantation being the English term for a colony Providence Plantations was therefore the official name of the colony from 1643 to 1663 when a new charter was issued 30 In 1790 following the American Revolution the new state incorporated both Rhode Island and Providence Plantations becoming known as the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations However as matter of convenience the state came to be commonly known as simply Rhode Island The word plantation in the state s name became a contested issue during the 20th century and the increased awareness of slavery and its role in early Rhode Island history The General Assembly voted in 2009 to hold a referendum in November 2010 on removing and Providence Plantations from the official name Advocates for excising plantation argued that the word symbolized a legacy of disenfranchisement for many Rhode Islanders as well as the proliferation of slavery in the colonies and in the post colonial United States Advocates for retaining the name argued that plantation was simply an archaic synonym for colony and bore no relation to slavery The people voted overwhelmingly 78 to 22 to retain the entire original name 31 In June 2020 State Senator Harold Metts introduced a resolution for another ballot referendum on the subject saying Whatever the meaning of the term plantations in the context of Rhode Island s history it carries a horrific connotation when considering the tragic and racist history of our nation 32 Governor Gina Raimondo issued an executive order to remove the phrase from a range of official documents and state websites 33 In July amidst the George Floyd protests and nationwide calls to address systemic racism the resolution referring the question to the voters was passed by both houses of the Rhode Island General Assembly 69 1 in the House of Representatives 34 and 35 0 in the Senate 35 The change was then approved by voters 52 8 to 47 2 as part of the 2020 United States elections taking effect in November 2020 upon certification of the results 18 36 History EditMain article History of Rhode Island Colonial era 1636 1770 Edit Main article Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations In 1636 Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations In 1636 Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious views and he settled at the top of Narragansett Bay on land sold or given to him by Narragansett sachem Canonicus He named the site Providence having a sense of God s merciful providence unto me in my distress 37 and it became a place of religious freedom where all were welcome In 1638 after conferring with Williams Anne Hutchinson William Coddington John Clarke Philip Sherman and other religious dissenters settled on Aquidneck Island also known as Rhode Island which was purchased from the local tribes who called it Pocasset This settlement was called Portsmouth and was governed by the Portsmouth Compact The island s southern part became the separate settlement of Newport after disagreements among the founders Samuel Gorton purchased lands at Shawomet in 1642 from the Narragansetts precipitating a dispute with the Massachusetts Bay Colony In 1644 Providence Portsmouth and Newport united for their common independence as the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations governed by an elected council and president Gorton received a separate charter for his settlement in 1648 which he named Warwick after his patron 38 Metacomet was the Wampanoag tribe s war leader whom the colonists called King Philip They invaded and burned down several of the towns in the area during King Philip s War 1675 1676 including Providence which was attacked twice 37 A force of Massachusetts Connecticut and Plymouth militia under General Josiah Winslow invaded and destroyed the fortified Narragansett Indian village in the Great Swamp in South Kingstown Rhode Island on December 19 1675 39 In one of the final actions of the war an Indian associated with Benjamin Church killed King Philip in Bristol Rhode Island 40 In 1680 Newport was the third largest Anglo American city It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s 41 The colony was amalgamated into the Dominion of New England in 1686 as King James II attempted to enforce royal authority over the autonomous colonies in British North America but the colony regained its independence under the Royal Charter after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 Slaves were introduced in Rhode Island at this time although there is no record of any law legalizing slave holding The colony later prospered under the slave trade distilling rum to sell in Africa as part of a profitable triangular trade in slaves and sugar with the Caribbean 42 Rhode Island s legislative body passed an act in 1652 abolishing the holding of slaves the first British colony to do so but this edict was never enforced and Rhode Island continued to be heavily involved in the slave trade during the post revolution era 43 In 1774 the slave population of Rhode Island was 6 3 of the total nearly twice the ratio of other New England colonies 44 45 Brown University was founded in 1764 as the College in the British Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations It was one of nine Colonial colleges granted charters before the American Revolution but was the first college in America to accept students regardless of religious affiliation 46 Revolutionary to Civil War period 1770 1860 Edit Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws Rhode Island s tradition of independence and dissent gave it a prominent role in the American Revolution At approximately 2 a m on June 10 1772 a band of Providence residents attacked the grounded revenue schooner HMS Gaspee burning it to the waterline for enforcing unpopular trade regulations within Narragansett Bay 47 Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown on May 4 1776 48 It was also the last of the thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution on May 29 1790 and only under threat of heavy trade tariffs from the other former colonies and after assurances were made that a Bill of Rights would become part of the Constitution 49 A nine pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 During the Revolution the British occupied Newport in December 1776 A combined Franco American force fought to drive them off Aquidneck Island Portsmouth was the site of the first African American military unit the 1st Rhode Island Regiment to fight for the U S in the unsuccessful Battle of Rhode Island of August 29 1778 50 A month earlier the appearance of a French fleet off Newport caused the British to scuttle some of their own ships in an attempt to block the harbor The British abandoned Newport in October 1779 concentrating their forces in New York City An expedition of 5 500 French troops under Count Rochambeau arrived in Newport by sea on July 10 1780 51 The celebrated march to Yorktown Virginia in 1781 ended with the defeat of the British at the Siege of Yorktown and the Battle of the Chesapeake Rhode Island was also heavily involved in the Industrial Revolution which began in America in 1787 when Thomas Somers reproduced textile machine plans which he imported from England He helped to produce the Beverly Cotton Manufactory in which Moses Brown of Providence took an interest Moses Brown teamed up with Samuel Slater and helped to create the second cotton mill in America a water powered textile mill The Industrial Revolution moved large numbers of workers into the cities creating a permanently landless class who were therefore by the law of the time also voteless By 1829 60 of the state s free white males were ineligible to vote Several attempts were unsuccessfully made to address this problem and a new state constitution was passed in 1843 allowing landless men to vote if they could pay a 1 poll tax For the first several decades of statehood Rhode Island was governed in accordance with the 1663 colonial charter Voting rights were restricted to landowners holding at least 134 in property disenfranchising well over half of the state s male citizens The charter apportioned legislative seats equally among the state s towns over representing rural areas and under representing the growing industrial centers Additionally the charter disallowed landless citizens from filing civil suits without endorsement from a landowner 52 Bills were periodically introduced in the legislature to expand suffrage but they were invariably defeated In 1841 activists led by Thomas W Dorr organized an extralegal convention to draft a state constitution 53 arguing the charter government violated the Guarantee Clause in Article Four Section Four of the United States Constitution In 1849 in Luther v Borden the US Supreme Court declined to rule on this question holding that it was a political question outside its jurisdiction In 1842 the charter government and Dorr s supporters held separate elections and two rival governments claimed sovereignty over the state Dorr s supporters led an armed rebellion against the charter government and Dorr was arrested and imprisoned for treason against the state 54 Later that year the legislature drafted a state constitution removing property requirements for American born citizens but keeping them in place for immigrants and retaining urban under representation in the legislature 55 In the early 19th century Rhode Island was subject to a tuberculosis outbreak which led to public hysteria about vampirism Civil War Edit The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War Main article Rhode Island in the American Civil War During the American Civil War Rhode Island was the first Union state to send troops in response to President Lincoln s request for help from the states Rhode Island furnished 25 236 fighting men of whom 1 685 died citation needed On the home front Rhode Island and the other northern states used their industrial capacity to supply the Union Army with the materials it needed to win the war The United States Naval Academy moved to Rhode Island temporarily during the war In 1866 Rhode Island abolished racial segregation in the public schools throughout the state 56 Gilded Age Edit Interior of The Breakers a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age The 50 years following the Civil War were a time of prosperity and affluence that author William G McLoughlin calls Rhode Island s halcyon era Rhode Island was a center of the Gilded Age and provided a home or summer home to many of the country s most prominent industrialists This was a time of growth in textile mills and manufacturing and brought an influx of immigrants to fill those jobs bringing population growth and urbanization In Newport New York s wealthiest industrialists created a summer haven to socialize and build grand mansions Thousands of French Canadian Italian Irish and Portuguese immigrants arrived to fill jobs in the textile and manufacturing mills in Providence Pawtucket Central Falls and Woonsocket 57 World War I Edit During World War I Rhode Island furnished 28 817 soldiers of whom 612 died After the war the state was hit hard by the Spanish Influenza 58 In the 1920s and 1930s rural Rhode Island saw a surge in Ku Klux Klan membership largely in reaction to large waves of immigrants moving to the state The Klan is believed to be responsible for burning the Watchman Industrial School in Scituate which was a school for African American children 59 Growth in the modern era 1929 present Edit Since the Great Depression the Rhode Island Democratic Party has dominated local politics Rhode Island has comprehensive health insurance for low income children and a large social safety net Many urban areas still have a high rate of children in poverty Due to an influx of residents from Boston increasing housing costs have resulted in more homelessness in Rhode Island 60 Downtown Providence in 2008 The 350th Anniversary of the founding of Rhode Island was celebrated with a free concert held on the tarmac of the Quonset State Airport on August 31 1986 Performers included Chuck Berry Tommy James and headliner Bob Hope In 2003 a nightclub fire in West Warwick claimed 100 lives and resulted in nearly twice as many injured catching national attention The fire resulted in criminal sentences 61 In March 2010 areas of the state received record flooding due to rising rivers from heavy rain The first period of rainy weather in mid March caused localized flooding and two weeks later more rain caused more widespread flooding in many towns especially south of Providence Rain totals on March 29 30 2010 exceeded 14 inches 35 5 cm in many locales resulting in the inundation of area rivers especially the Pawtuxet River which runs through central Rhode Island The overflow of the Pawtuxet River nearly 11 feet 3 m above flood stage submerged a sewage treatment plant and closed a five mile 8 km stretch of Interstate 95 In addition it flooded two shopping malls numerous businesses and many homes in the towns of Warwick West Warwick Cranston and Westerly Amtrak service was also suspended between New York and Boston during this period Following the flood Rhode Island was in a state of emergency for two days The Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA was called in to help flood victims Geography EditFurther information Geology of New England and Climate change in Rhode Island Topographic map of Rhode Island Rhode Island covers an area of 1 214 square miles 3 144 km2 within the New England region of the Northeastern United States and is bordered on the north and east by Massachusetts on the west by Connecticut and on the south by Rhode Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean 2 It shares a narrow maritime border with New York State between Block Island and Long Island The state s mean elevation is 200 feet 61 m It is only 37 miles 60 km wide and 48 miles 77 km long yet the state has a tidal shoreline on Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic Ocean of 384 miles 618 km 62 Rhode Island is nicknamed the Ocean State and has a number of oceanfront beaches It is mostly flat with no real mountains and the state s highest natural point is Jerimoth Hill 812 feet 247 m above sea level 63 The state has two distinct natural regions Eastern Rhode Island contains the lowlands of the Narragansett Bay while Western Rhode Island forms part of the New England upland Rhode Island s forests are part of the Northeastern coastal forests ecoregion 64 Narragansett Bay is a major feature of the state s topography There are more than 30 islands within the bay the largest is Aquidneck Island which holds the municipalities of Newport Middletown and Portsmouth The second largest island is Conanicut and the third is Prudence Block Island lies about 12 miles 19 km off the southern coast of the mainland and separates Block Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean proper 65 66 A rare type of rock called Cumberlandite is found only in Rhode Island specifically in the town of Cumberland and is the state rock There were initially two known deposits of the mineral but it is an ore of iron and one of the deposits was extensively mined for its ferrous content 67 68 Geography of Rhode Island Map of Rhode Island showing major cities and roads Rocky shoreline in Newport Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge Forest along the Blackstone River Trustom Pond a lagoon in South KingstownClimate Edit Koppen climate types of Rhode Island using 1991 2020 climate normals Most of Rhode Island has a humid continental climate with warm summers and cold winters The state s southern coastal portions are the broad transition zone into subtropical climates with hot summers and cool winters with a mix of rain and snow Block Island has an oceanic climate The highest temperature recorded in Rhode Island was 104 F 40 C recorded on August 2 1975 in Providence 69 The lowest recorded temperature in Rhode Island was 23 F 31 C on February 5 1996 in Greene 70 Monthly average temperatures range from a high of 83 F 28 C to a low of 20 F 7 C 71 Rhode Island is vulnerable to tropical storms and hurricanes due to its location in New England catching the brunt of many storms that blow up the eastern seaboard Hurricanes that have done significant damage in the state include the 1938 New England hurricane Hurricane Carol 1954 Hurricane Donna 1960 and Hurricane Bob 1991 Cities and towns Edit Main article List of municipalities in Rhode Island See also Rhode Island locations by per capita income and Category Villages in Rhode IslandRhode Island is divided into five counties but it has no county governments The entire state is divided into municipalities which handle all local government affairs There are 39 cities and towns in Rhode Island Major population centers today result from historical factors development took place predominantly along the Blackstone Seekonk and Providence Rivers with the advent of the water powered mill Providence is the base of a large metropolitan area The state s 19 largest municipalities ranked by population are 72 Providence 190 934 Cranston 82 934 Warwick 82 823 Pawtucket 75 604 East Providence 47 139 Woonsocket 43 240 Cumberland 36 405 Coventry 35 688 North Providence 34 114 South Kingstown 31 931 West Warwick 31 012 Johnston 29 568 North Kingstown 27 732 Newport 25 163 Westerly 23 359 Central Falls 22 583 Lincoln 22 529 Bristol 22 493 Smithfield 22 118 Some of Rhode Island s cities and towns are further partitioned into villages in common with many other New England states Notable villages include Kingston in the town of South Kingstown which houses the University of Rhode Island Wickford in the town of North Kingstown the site of an annual international art festival and Wakefield where the Town Hall is for the Town of South Kingstown 73 Major cities of Rhode Island 1 Providence 2 Warwick 3 Cranston 4 Pawtucket 5 East Providence 6 Woonsocket 7 Coventry 8 Cumberland 9 North Providence 10 South Kingstown 11 Johnston 12 West Warwick 13 North Kingstown 14 Newport 15 WesterlyLandmarks EditSee also List of Registered Historic Places in Rhode Island The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world s fourth largest self supported marble dome The state capitol building is made of white Georgian marble On top is the world s fourth largest self supported marble dome 74 It houses the Rhode Island Charter granted by King Charles II in 1663 the Brown University charter and other state treasures The First Baptist Church of Providence is the oldest Baptist church in the Americas founded by Roger Williams in 1638 The first fully automated post office in the country is in Providence There are many historic mansions in the seaside city of Newport including The Breakers Marble House and Belcourt Castle Also there is the Touro Synagogue dedicated on December 2 1763 considered by locals to be the first synagogue within the United States see below for information on New York City s claim and still serving The synagogue showcases the religious freedoms established by Roger Williams as well as impressive architecture in a mix of the classic colonial and Sephardic style The Newport Casino is a National Historic Landmark building complex that houses the International Tennis Hall of Fame and features an active grass court tennis club The Towers are a Narragansett landmark Scenic Route 1A known locally as Ocean Road is in Narragansett The Towers is also in Narragansett featuring a large stone arch It was once the entrance to a famous Narragansett casino that burned down in 1900 The Towers now serve as an event venue and host the local Chamber of Commerce which operates a tourist information center The Newport Tower has been hypothesized to be of Viking origin although most experts believe it was a Colonial era windmill 75 Environment EditEnvironmental legislation Edit The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States 76 On May 29 2014 Governor Lincoln D Chafee announced that Rhode Island was one of eight states to release a collaborative Action Plan to put 3 3 million zero emission vehicles on its roads by 2025 The plan s purpose is to reduce greenhouse gas and smog causing emissions The plan promotes zero emissions vehicles and investments in the infrastructure to support them 77 In 2014 Rhode Island received grants of 2 711 685 from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up Brownfield sites in eight locations The grants provided communities with funding to assess clean up and redevelop contaminated properties boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment 78 In 2013 the Lots of Hope program was established in the City of Providence to focus on increasing the city s green space and local food production improve urban neighborhoods promote healthy lifestyles and improve environmental sustainability Supported by a 100 000 grant the program will partner with the City of Providence the Southside Community Land Trust and the Rhode Island Foundation to convert city owned vacant lots into productive urban farms 79 In 2012 Rhode Island passed bill S2277 H7412 An act relating to Health and Safety Environmental Cleanup Objectives for Schools informally known as the School Siting Bill Sponsored by Senator Juan Pichardo and Representative Scott Slater and signed into law by the governor it made Rhode Island the first US State to prohibit school construction on Brownfield sites where toxic vapors can potentially affect indoor air quality It also creates a public participation process whenever a city or town considers building a school on any other kind of contaminated site 80 Environmental monitoring Edit The Invasive Plant Atlas of New England monitors invasive weeds throughout New England 81 Demographics EditHistorical populationCensus Pop 179068 825 180069 1220 4 181076 93111 3 182083 0598 0 183097 19917 0 1840108 83012 0 1850147 54535 6 1860174 62018 4 1870217 35324 5 1880276 53127 2 1890345 50624 9 1900428 55624 0 1910542 61026 6 1920604 39711 4 1930687 49713 7 1940713 3463 8 1950791 89611 0 1960859 4888 5 1970946 72510 1 1980947 1540 0 19901 003 4645 9 20001 048 3194 5 20101 052 5670 4 20201 097 3794 3 2022 est 1 093 734 0 3 Source 1910 2020 82 Rhode Island population density map The United States Census Bureau estimated Rhode Island s population was 1 059 361 on July 1 2019 a 0 65 increase since the 2010 United States census 83 At the 2020 U S census its population was 1 097 379 The center of population of Rhode Island is in Providence County in the city of Cranston 84 A corridor of population can be seen from the Providence area stretching northwest following the Blackstone River to Woonsocket where 19th century mills drove industry and development According to the 2010 census 81 4 of the population was White 76 4 non Hispanic white 5 7 was Black or African American 0 6 American Indian and Alaska Native 2 9 Asian 0 1 Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander 3 3 from two or more races 12 4 of the total population was of Hispanic or Latino origin they may be of any race 85 Racial and ethnic composition as of the 2020 census Race and ethnicity 2020 86 87 PercentageWhite non Hispanic 68 7 68 7 Hispanic or Latino 16 6 16 6 Black non Hispanic 5 0 5 Asian 3 4 3 4 Native American 0 1 0 1 Pacific Islander 0 0 Mixed Two or more races 4 6 4 6 Other Some other race 1 6 1 6 Historical racial demographics Racial composition 1970 88 1990 88 2000 89 2010 90 White 96 6 91 4 85 0 81 4 Black 2 7 3 9 4 5 5 7 Asian 0 4 1 8 2 3 2 9 Native 0 1 0 4 0 5 0 6 Native Hawaiian andother Pacific Islander 0 1 0 1 Other race 0 2 2 5 5 0 6 1 Two or more races 2 7 3 3 Of the people residing in Rhode Island 58 7 were born in Rhode Island 26 6 were born in a different state 2 0 were born in Puerto Rico U S Island areas or born abroad to American parent s and 12 6 were foreign born 91 According to the U S Census Bureau as of 2015 update Rhode Island had an estimated population of 1 056 298 which is an increase of 1 125 or 0 10 from the prior year and an increase of 3 731 or 0 35 since the year 2010 This includes a natural increase since the last census of 15 220 people that is 66 973 births minus 51 753 deaths and an increase due to net migration of 14 001 people into the state Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 18 965 people and migration within the country produced a net decrease of 4 964 people Hispanics in the state make up 12 8 of the population predominantly Dominican Puerto Rican and Guatemalan populations 92 Rhode Island has the highest percentage of Dominican Americans in the country at 5 1 according to latest estimates putting the state at sixth largest Dominican community in the country 87 According to the 2000 U S census 84 of the population aged 5 and older spoke only American English while 8 07 spoke Spanish at home 3 80 Portuguese 1 96 French 1 39 Italian and 0 78 speak other languages at home accordingly 93 The state s most populous ethnic group non Hispanic white has declined from 96 1 in 1970 to 76 5 in 2011 94 95 In 2011 40 3 of Rhode Island s children under the age of one belonged to racial or ethnic minority groups meaning they had at least one parent who was not non Hispanic white 96 6 1 of Rhode Island s population were reported as under 5 23 6 under 18 and 14 5 were 65 or older Females made up approximately 52 of the population According to the 2010 2015 American Community Survey the largest ancestry groups were Irish 18 3 Italian 18 0 English 10 5 French 10 4 and Portuguese 9 3 97 Rhode Island has some of the highest percentages of Irish Americans and Italian Americans 98 Italian Americans make up a plurality in central and southern Providence County and French Canadian Americans form a large part of northern Providence County Irish Americans have a strong presence in Newport and Kent counties Americans of English ancestry still have a presence in the state as well especially in Washington County and are often referred to as Swamp Yankees Rhode Island has a notable Lusophone community having a higher percentage of Americans of Portuguese ancestry than any other state including Portuguese Americans and Cape Verdean Americans Additionally the state also has the highest percentage of Liberian immigrants with more than 15 000 residing in the state 99 African immigrants including those from Cape Verde and Liberia form significant and growing communities in Rhode Island Rhode Island is one of the few states where blacks of foreign origins outnumber blacks of multigenerational American origin African Americans 98 Rhode Island also has a sizable Asian community Although Rhode Island has the smallest land area of all 50 states it has the second highest population density of any state in the Union second to that of New Jersey Birth data Edit Live Births by Race Ethnicity of Mother Race 2013 100 2014 101 2015 102 2016 103 2017 104 2018 105 2019 106 2020 107 White 8 672 80 2 8 734 80 7 8 824 80 3 gt non Hispanic White 6 572 60 8 6 573 60 7 6 702 61 0 6 338 58 7 6 142 57 7 6 008 57 2 5 564 54 7 5 495 54 4 Black 1 411 13 0 1 365 12 6 1 392 12 7 784 7 3 776 7 3 783 7 5 836 8 2 805 8 0 Asian 598 5 5 594 5 5 639 5 8 565 5 2 542 5 1 519 4 9 496 4 9 476 4 7 American Indian 128 1 2 130 1 2 138 1 2 63 0 6 51 0 5 41 0 4 46 0 4 36 0 3 Hispanic of any race 2 453 22 7 2 585 23 9 2 622 23 8 2 684 24 8 2 760 25 9 2 756 26 2 2 921 28 7 2 927 29 0 Total Rhode Island 10 809 100 10 823 100 10 993 100 10 798 100 10 638 100 10 506 100 10 175 100 10 101 100 Since 2016 data for births of White Hispanic origin are not collected but included in one Hispanic group persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race Religion Edit Religious affiliation 2014 108 109 Christian 75 Catholic 42 Protestant 30 Other Christian 3 Unaffiliated 20 Jewish 1 Hindu 1 Buddhist 1 Other faiths 2 A Pew survey of Rhode Island residents religious self identification in 2014 showed the following distribution of affiliations Catholic 42 Protestant 30 Jewish 1 Jehovah s Witnesses 2 Buddhism 1 Mormonism 1 Hinduism 1 and Non religious 20 108 The largest denominations are the Catholic Church with 456 598 adherents the Episcopal Church with 19 377 the American Baptist Churches USA with 15 220 and the United Methodist Church with 6 901 adherents 110 Rhode Island has had the highest proportion of Catholic residents of any state according to a study in 2000 111 mainly due to large Irish Italian and French Canadian immigration in the past recently significant Portuguese and various Hispanic or Latino communities have also been established in the state Though it has the highest overall Catholic percentage of any state none of Rhode Island s individual counties ranks among the 10 most Catholic in the United States as Catholics are evenly spread throughout the state According to the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020 67 of the population were Christian spread among evangelical and mainline Protestantism and Roman Catholicism 112 Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States Rhode Island s Jewish community centered in the Providence area emerged during a wave of Jewish immigration predominantly from Eastern Europeans shtetls between 1880 and 1920 The presence of the Touro Synagogue in Newport the oldest existing synagogue in the United States emphasizes that these second wave immigrants did not create Rhode Island s first Jewish community a comparatively smaller wave of Spanish and Portuguese Jews immigrated to Newport during the colonial era The religiously unaffiliated since 2014 were 20 of the population though the separate study by the Public Religion Research Institute determined the irreligious increased to 29 of the adult population 112 Economy EditSee also Rhode Island locations by per capita income The Rhode Island economy had a colonial base in fishing Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States 113 The Blackstone River Valley was a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution It was in Pawtucket that Samuel Slater set up Slater Mill in 1793 114 using the waterpower of the Blackstone River to power his cotton mill For a while Rhode Island was one of the leaders in textiles However with the Great Depression most textile factories relocated to southern U S states The textile industry still constitutes a part of the Rhode Island economy but does not have the same power Other important industries in Rhode Island s past included toolmaking costume jewelry and silverware An interesting by product of Rhode Island s industrial history is the number of abandoned factories many of which are now condominiums museums offices and low income and elderly housing Today much of Rhode Island s economy is based on services particularly healthcare and education and still manufacturing to some extent 115 The state s nautical history continues in the 21st century in the form of nuclear submarine construction Per the 2013 American Communities Survey Rhode Island has the highest paid elementary school teachers in the country with an average salary of 75 028 adjusted to inflation 116 The headquarters of Textron and Citizens Financial Group in Downtown Providence The headquarters of Citizens Financial Group the 14th largest bank in the United States is in Providence 117 The Fortune 500 companies CVS Caremark and Textron are based in Woonsocket and Providence respectively FM Global GTECH Corporation Hasbro American Power Conversion Nortek and Amica Mutual Insurance are all Fortune 1000 companies based in Rhode Island 118 Rhode Island s 2000 total gross state production was 46 18 billion adjusted to inflation placing it 45th in the nation Its 2000 per capita personal income was 41 484 adjusted to inflation 16th in the nation Rhode Island has the lowest level of energy consumption per capita of any state 119 120 121 Additionally Rhode Island is rated as the 5th most energy efficient state in the country 122 123 In December 2012 the state s unemployment rate was 10 2 124 This has gradually reduced to 3 5 in November 2019 however the coronavirus pandemic brought the unemployment rate to a high of 18 1 in April 2020 This has since reduced to 10 5 in September 2020 and is projected to further decrease to 7 in October 2020 125 126 Health services are Rhode Island s largest industry Second is tourism supporting 39 000 jobs with tourism related sales at 4 56 billion adjusted to inflation in the year 2000 The third largest industry is manufacturing 127 Its industrial outputs are submarine construction shipbuilding costume jewelry fabricated metal products electrical equipment machinery and boatbuilding Rhode Island s agricultural outputs are nursery stock vegetables dairy products and eggs The largest single product is milk which in 2017 totalled 4 563 000 in sales 128 Invasive weeds here are monitored by the Invasive Plant Atlas of New England 81 Rhode Island s taxes were appreciably higher than neighboring states 129 because Rhode Island s income tax was based on 25 of the payer s federal income tax payment 130 Former Governor Donald Carcieri claimed the higher tax rate had an inhibitory effect on business growth in the state and called for reductions to increase the competitiveness of the state s business environment In 2010 the Rhode Island General Assembly passed a new state income tax structure that Governor Carcieri signed into law on June 9 2010 131 The income tax overhaul has made Rhode Island competitive with other New England states by lowering its maximum tax rate to 5 99 and reducing the number of tax brackets to three 132 The state s first income tax was enacted in 1971 133 Largest employers Edit As of March 2011 update Rhode Island s largest employers excluding employees of municipalities are 134 Rank Employer Employees Notes1 State of Rhode Island 14 904 Full time equivalents2 Lifespan Hospital Group 11 869 Rhode Island Hospital 7 024 employees The Miriam Hospital 2 410 Newport Hospital 919 Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital 800 Lifespan Corporate Services 580 Newport Alliance Newport 68 Lifespan MSO 53 and Home Medical 15 3 U S federal government 11 581 Excludes 3 000 active duty military personnel and 7 000 reservists but includes 250 employees of the Naval War College 4 Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence 6 2005 Care New England 5 953 Employees at Women amp Infants Hospital of Rhode Island 3 134 Kent County Memorial Hospital 1 850 Butler Hospital 800 VNA of Care New England 140 and Care New England 29 6 CVS Caremark 5 800 The corporate headquarters are at Woonsocket 5 630 employees The corporation also has 170 employees at Pharmacare7 Citizens Financial Group 4 991 The corporate headquarters are in Johnston 8 Brown University 4 800 Excludes student employees 9 Stop amp Shop Supermarket subsidiary of Ahold 3 63210 Bank of America 3 50011 Fidelity Investments 2 934 2 434 employees in Smithfield and 500 in Providence12 Rhode Island ARC 2 851 Employees at James L Maher Center 700 The Homestead Group 650 Cranston Arc 374 The ARC of Blackstone Valley 350 Kent County ARC 500 The Fogarty Center 225 and Westerly Chariho ARC 52 13 MetLife Insurance Co 2 60414 General Dynamics Corp 2 243 2 200 employees at General Dynamics Electric Boat in North Kingstown and 43 employees at General Dynamics Information Technology Newport in Middletown adjacent to the Naval Undersea Warfare Center 135 15 University of Rhode Island 2 15516 Wal Mart 2 07817 The Jan Companies 2 050 Employees at Jan Co Burger King 1 500 Burger King franchiser Newport Creamery LLC 400 Quidnessett Country Club 100 and The Country Inn 50 18 Shaw s Supermarkets subsidiary of Albertsons LLC 1 90019 St Joseph Health Services and Hospitals of Rhode Island CharterCARE Health Partners 1 865 Employees at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital 1 343 and St Joseph Hospital for Specialty Care 522 20 The Home Depot Inc 1 780Transportation EditFurther information Rhode Island Department of Transportation Bus Edit The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority RIPTA operates statewide intra and intercity bus transport from its hubs at Kennedy Plaza in Providence Pawtucket and Newport RIPTA bus routes serve 38 of Rhode Island s 39 cities and towns New Shoreham on Block Island is not served RIPTA operates 58 routes including daytime trolley service using trolley style replica buses in Providence and Newport Ferry Edit From 2000 through 2008 RIPTA offered seasonal ferry service linking Providence and Newport already connected by highway funded by grant money from the United States Department of Transportation Though the service was popular with residents and tourists RIPTA was unable to continue after the federal funding ended Service was discontinued as of 2010 update 136 The service resumed in 2016 and has been successful The privately run Block Island Ferry 137 links Block Island with Newport and Narragansett with traditional and fast ferry service while the Prudence Island Ferry 138 connects Bristol with Prudence Island Private ferry services also link several Rhode Island communities with ports in Connecticut Massachusetts and New York Rail Edit A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station See also List of Rhode Island railroads The MBTA Commuter Rail s Providence Stoughton Line links Providence and T F Green Airport with Boston s South Station The line was later extended southward to Wickford Junction with service beginning April 23 2012 The state hopes to extend the MBTA line to Kingston and Westerly as well as explore the possibility of extending Connecticut s Shore Line East to T F Green Airport 139 Amtrak s Acela Express stops at Providence Station the only Acela stop in Rhode Island linking Providence to other cities in the Northeast Corridor Amtrak s Northeast Regional service makes stops at Providence Station Kingston and Westerly Aviation Edit See also Aviation in Rhode Island and List of airports in Rhode Island Rhode Island s primary airport for passenger and cargo transport is T F Green Airport in Warwick though Rhode Islanders who wish to travel internationally on direct flights and those who seek a greater availability of flights and destinations often fly through Logan International Airport in Boston Limited access highways Edit The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge foreground and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge background Interstate 95 I 95 runs southwest to northeast across the state linking Rhode Island with other states along the East Coast I 295 functions as a partial beltway encircling Providence to the west I 195 provides a limited access highway connection from Providence and Connecticut and New York via I 95 to Cape Cod Initially built as the easternmost link in the now cancelled extension of I 84 from Hartford Connecticut a portion of U S Route 6 US 6 through northern Rhode Island is limited access and links I 295 with downtown Providence Several Rhode Island highways extend the state s limited access highway network Route 4 is a major north south freeway linking Providence and Warwick via I 95 with suburban and beach communities along Narragansett Bay Route 10 is an urban connector linking downtown Providence with Cranston and Johnston Route 37 is an important east west freeway through Cranston and Warwick and links I 95 with I 295 Route 99 links Woonsocket with Providence via Route 146 Route 146 travels through the Blackstone Valley linking Providence and I 95 with Worcester Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Turnpike Route 403 links Route 4 with Quonset Point Several bridges cross Narragansett Bay connecting Aquidneck Island and Conanicut Island to the mainland most notably the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge and the Jamestown Verrazano Bridge Bicycle paths Edit The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside The East Bay Bike Path stretches from Providence to Bristol along the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay while the Blackstone River Bikeway will eventually link Providence and Worcester In 2011 Rhode Island completed work on a marked on road bicycle path through Pawtucket and Providence connecting the East Bay Bike Path with the Blackstone River Bikeway completing a 33 5 miles 54 km bicycle route through the eastern side of the state 140 The William C O Neill Bike Path commonly known as the South County Bike Path is an 8 mi 13 km path through South Kingstown and Narragansett The 19 mi 31 km Washington Secondary Bike Path stretches from Cranston to Coventry and the 2 mi 3 2 km Ten Mile River Greenway path runs through East Providence and Pawtucket Future Edit In late 2019 the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority released a draft of the Rhode Island Transit Master Plan documenting and describing a variety of proposed improvements and additions to be made to the state s public transit network by 2040 Several different proposals were offered and still under consideration as of December 2020 141 including implementation of a bus rapid transit system express bus routes expansion of Amtrak and MBTA services throughout the state and construction of a new light rail network through downtown Providence 141 142 Media EditMain article Media in Rhode IslandEducation Edit University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States 143 Primary and secondary schools Edit Further information Rhode Island schools Colleges and universities Edit Main article List of colleges and universities in Rhode Island Rhode Island has several colleges and universities Brown University Bryant University Community College of Rhode Island Johnson amp Wales University Naval War College New England Institute of Technology Providence College Rhode Island College Rhode Island School of Design Roger Williams University Salve Regina University of Newport University of Rhode IslandCulture EditLocal accent Edit Main article Eastern New England English Rhode Island English Some Rhode Islanders speak with the distinctive non rhotic traditional Rhode Island accent linguists describe as a cross between New York City and Boston accents e g water sounds like watuh ˈwɔeɾe 144 Many Rhode Islanders distinguish a strong aw sound ɔe i e resist the cot caught merger of Boston much like one might hear in New Jersey or New York City for example the word coffee is pronounced ˈkʰɔefi 145 Rhode Islanders sometimes refer to drinking fountains as bubblers milkshakes as cabinets and overstuffed foot long sandwiches of whatever kind as grinders 146 Food and beverages Edit This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed December 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message Rhode Island like the rest of New England has a tradition of clam chowder Both the white New England and the red Manhattan varieties are popular but there is also a unique clear broth chowder known as Rhode Island Clam Chowder available in many restaurants A culinary tradition in Rhode Island is the clam cake also known as a clam fritter outside of Rhode Island a deep fried ball of buttery dough with chopped bits of clam inside They are sold by the half dozen or dozen in most seafood restaurants around the state and the quintessential summer meal in Rhode Island is chowder and clam cakes The quahog is a large local clam usually used in a chowder It is also ground and mixed with stuffing or spicy minced sausage and then baked in its shell to form a stuffie Calamari squid is sliced into rings and fried as an appetizer in most Italian restaurants typically served Sicilian style with sliced banana peppers and marinara sauce on the side In 2014 calamari became the official state appetizer 147 Clams Casino originated in Rhode Island invented by Julius Keller the maitre d in the original Casino next to the seaside Towers in Narragansett 148 Clams Casino resemble the beloved stuffed quahog but are generally made with the smaller littleneck or cherrystone clam and are unique in their use of bacon as a topping The official state drink of Rhode Island is coffee milk 149 a beverage created by mixing milk with coffee syrup This unique syrup was invented in the state and is sold in almost all Rhode Island supermarkets as well as its bordering states Johnnycakes have been a Rhode Island staple since Colonial times made with corn meal and water then pan fried much like pancakes Submarine sandwiches are called grinders throughout Rhode Island and the Italian grinder made with cold cuts such as ham prosciutto capicola salami and Provolone cheese is especially popular Linguica or chourico is a spicy Portuguese sausage that the state s large Portuguese community often serves with peppers and eats with hearty bread Rhode Island state symbols Edit The template below Infobox U S state symbols is being considered for merging See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus Rhode Island state symbols Flag of Rhode Island Living insigniaBirdRhode Island Red chickenGallus gallus domesticusFishStriped bassFlowerVioletViola sororiaInsectAmerican burying beetleNicroforus americanusMammalMorgan horseReptilePainted turtleTreeRed MapleAcer rubrumInanimate insigniaBeverageCoffee milkMineralBoweniteRockCumberlanditeShipUSS ProvidenceTartanRhode Island State TartanOtherFruit Rhode Island GreeningState route marker State quarter Released in 2001Lists of United States state symbolsIn popular culture Edit The Farrelly brothers and Seth MacFarlane depict Rhode Island in popular culture often making comedic parodies of the state MacFarlane s television series Family Guy is based in a fictional Rhode Island city named Quahog and notable local events and celebrities are regularly lampooned Peter Griffin is seen working at the Pawtucket brewery and other state locations are mentioned The 1956 film High Society starring Bing Crosby Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra was set in Newport Rhode Island The 1974 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby was also filmed in Newport Jacqueline Bouvier and John F Kennedy were married at St Mary s church in Newport Their reception took place at Hammersmith Farm the Bouvier summer home in Newport Cartoonist Don Bousquet a state icon has made a career out of Rhode Island culture drawing Rhode Island themed gags in The Providence Journal and Yankee magazine These cartoons have been reprinted in the Quahog series of paperbacks I Brake for Quahogs Beware of the Quahog and The Quahog Walks Among Us Bousquet has also collaborated with humorist and Providence Journal columnist Mark Patinkin on two books The Rhode Island Dictionary and The Rhode Island Handbook The 1998 film Meet Joe Black was filmed at Aldrich Mansion in the Warwick Neck area of Warwick Body of Proof s first season was filmed entirely in Rhode Island 150 The show premiered on March 29 2011 151 The 2007 Steve Carell and Dane Cook film Dan in Real Life was filmed in various coastal towns in the state The sunset scene with the entire family on the beach takes place at Napatree Point Jersey Shore star Pauly D filmed part of his spin off The Pauly D Project in his hometown of Johnston The Comedy Central cable television series Another Period is set in Newport during the Gilded Age Notable firsts in Rhode Island Edit Rhode Island has been the first in a number of initiatives The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations enacted the first law prohibiting slavery in America on May 18 1652 152 The first act of armed rebellion in America against the British Crown was the boarding and burning of the Revenue Schooner Gaspee in Narragansett Bay on June 10 1772 The idea of a Continental Congress was first proposed at a town meeting in Providence on May 17 1774 Rhode Island elected the first delegates Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Ward to the Continental Congress on June 15 1774 The Rhode Island General Assembly created the first standing army in the colonies 1 500 men on April 22 1775 On June 15 1775 the first naval engagement took place in the American Revolution between an American sloop commanded by Capt Abraham Whipple and an armed tender of the British Frigate Rose The tender was chased aground and captured Later in June the General Assembly created the American Navy when it commissioned the sloops Katy and Washington armed with 24 guns and commanded by Abraham Whipple who was promoted to Commodore Rhode Island was the first Colony to declare independence from Britain on May 4 1776 152 Slater Mill in Pawtucket was the first commercially successful cotton spinning mill with a fully mechanized power system in America and was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the US 153 The oldest Fourth of July parade in the country is still held annually in Bristol Rhode Island The first Baptist church in America was founded in Providence in 1638 154 Ann Smith Franklin of the Newport Mercury was the first female newspaper editor in America August 22 1762 152 Touro Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in America founded in Newport in 1763 152 Pelham Street in Newport was the first in America to be illuminated by gaslight in 1806 152 The first strike in the United States in which women participated occurred in Pawtucket in 1824 152 Watch Hill has the nation s oldest flying horses carousel that has been in continuous operation since 1850 152 The motion picture machine was patented in Providence on April 23 1867 152 The first lunch wagon in America was introduced in Providence in 1872 152 The first nine hole golf course in America was completed in Newport in 1890 152 The first state health laboratory was established in Providence on September 1 1894 152 The Rhode Island State House was the first building with an all marble dome to be built in the United States 1895 1901 152 The first automobile race on a track was held in Cranston on September 7 1896 152 The first automobile parade was held in Newport on September 7 1899 on the grounds of Belcourt Castle 152 Miscellaneous local culture Edit Rhode Island is nicknamed The Ocean State and the nautical nature of Rhode Island s geography pervades its culture Newport Harbor in particular holds many pleasure boats In the lobby of T F Green the state s main airport is a large life sized sailboat 155 and the state s license plates depict an ocean wave or a sailboat 156 Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches The large number of beaches in Washington County lures many Rhode Islanders south for summer vacation 157 The state constitution protects shore access including swimming and gathering of seaweed 158 159 The 1982 Rhode Island Supreme Court decision in State v Ibbison 160 161 defines the end of private land as the mean high tide line which is difficult to determine in day to day activities and has resulted in beach access conflicts 162 Underfunding of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council has resulted in lax enforcement against encroachment on public access and building of illegal structures 163 The state was notorious for organized crime activity from the 1950s into the 1990s when the Patriarca crime family held sway over most of New England from its Providence headquarters Rhode Islanders developed a unique style of architecture in the 17th century called the stone ender 164 Rhode Island is the only state to still celebrate Victory over Japan Day which is officially named Victory Day but is sometimes referred to as VJ Day 165 It is celebrated on the second Monday in August 166 Nibbles Woodaway more commonly referred to as The Big Blue Bug is a 58 foot long termite mascot for a Providence extermination business Since its construction in 1980 it has been featured in several movies and television shows and has come to be recognized as a cultural landmark by many locals 167 In more recent times the Big Blue Bug has been given a mask to remind locals and visitors to mask up during the COVID 19 pandemic 168 Sports Edit Professional Edit Rhode Island s only professional minor league team is the Providence Bruins ice hockey team of the American Hockey League who are a top level minor league affiliate of the Boston Bruins They play in the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence and won the AHL s Calder Cup during the 1998 99 AHL season The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium The Pawtucket Red Sox baseball team was a Triple A International League affiliate of the Boston Red Sox from 1973 to 2020 They played at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket and had won four league titles the Governors Cup in 1973 1984 2012 and 2014 McCoy Stadium also has the distinction of being home to the longest professional baseball game ever played 33 innings The Providence Reds were a hockey team that played in the Canadian American Hockey League CAHL between 1926 and 1936 and the American Hockey League AHL from 1936 to 1977 the last season of which they played as the Rhode Island Reds The team won the Calder Cup in 1938 1940 1949 and 1956 The Reds played at the Rhode Island Auditorium on North Main Street in Providence Rhode Island from 1926 through 1972 when the team affiliated with the New York Rangers and moved into the newly built Providence Civic Center The team name came from the rooster known as the Rhode Island Red They moved to New York in 1977 then to Connecticut in 1997 and are now called the Hartford Wolf Pack The Reds are the oldest continuously operating minor league hockey franchise in North America having fielded a team in one form or another since 1926 in the CAHL It is also the only AHL franchise to have never missed a season The AHL returned to Providence in 1992 in the form of the Providence Bruins 1884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays Before the great expansion of athletic teams all over the country Providence and Rhode Island in general played a great role in supporting teams The Providence Grays won the first World Championship in baseball history in 1884 The team played their home games at the old Messer Street Field in Providence The Grays played in the National League from 1878 to 1885 They defeated the New York Metropolitans of the American Association in a best of five game series at the Polo Grounds in New York Providence won three straight games to become the first champions in major league baseball history Babe Ruth played for the minor league Providence Grays of 1914 and hit his only official minor league home run for them before the Grays parent club the Boston Red Stockings recalled him The now defunct professional football team the Providence Steam Roller won the 1928 NFL title They played in a 10 000 person stadium called the Cycledrome 169 The Providence Steamrollers played in the Basketball Association of America which became the National Basketball Association Rhode Island is also home to a top semi professional soccer club the Rhode Island Reds which compete in the National premier soccer league in the fourth division of U S Soccer Rhode Island is home to one top level non minor league team the Rhode Island Rebellion rugby league team a semi professional rugby league team that competes in the USA Rugby League the Top Competition in the United States for the Sport of Rugby League 170 171 The Rebellion play their home games at Classical High School in Providence 172 Current professional teams Edit Professional Team League Sport Venue City Established ChampionshipsProvidence Bruins American Hockey League AHL Ice hockey Amica Mutual Pavilion Providence Rhode Island 1987 1USLC Rhode Island USL Championship USLC Soccer Riptide Stadium Pawtucket Rhode Island 2020 0Current semi professional teams Edit Semi Professional Team League Sport Venue City Established ChampionshipsRhode Island Rebellion USA Rugby League USARL Rugby League Marvel Field Providence Rhode Island 2011 0Rhode Island Reds FC National Premier Soccer League NPSL Soccer Brown University Providence Rhode Island 2012 0Rhode Island Reds FC Women s Premier Soccer League WPSL Soccer Bayside Field Bristol Rhode Island 2012 0Collegiate and amateur sports Edit University of Rhode Island s Meade Stadium in Kingston There are four NCAA Division I schools in Rhode Island All four schools compete in different conferences The Brown University Bears compete in the Ivy League the Bryant University Bulldogs compete in the America East Conference the Providence College Friars compete in the Big East Conference and the University of Rhode Island Rams compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference Three of the schools football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision the second highest level of college football in the United States Brown plays FCS football in the Ivy League Bryant plays FCS football in the Big South Conference before that league merges its football operations with those of the Ohio Valley Conference in 2023 and Rhode Island plays FCS football in CAA Football the technically separate football league of the Colonial Athletic Association All four Division I schools in the state compete in an intrastate all sports competition known as the Ocean State Cup with Bryant winning the most recent cup in 2011 12 academic year From 1930 to 1983 America s Cup races were sailed off Newport and the extreme sport X Games and Gravity Games were founded and hosted in the state s capital city The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport The International Tennis Hall of Fame is in Newport at the Newport Casino site of the first U S National Championships in 1881 The Hall of Fame and Museum were established in 1954 by James Van Alen as a shrine to the ideals of the game Rhode Island is also home to the headquarters of the governing body for youth rugby league in the United States the American Youth Rugby League Association or AYRLA The AYRLA has started the first ever Rugby League youth competition in Providence Middle Schools a program at the RI Training School in addition to starting the first High School Competition in the US in Providence Public High School 173 Government EditMain article Government of Rhode Island Gubernatorial election results 174 Year Democratic Republican1950 59 3 176 125 40 7 120 6831954 57 7 189 595 41 7 137 1311958 49 1 170 275 50 9 176 5051962 49 9 163 554 50 1 163 9521966 36 7 121 862 63 3 210 2021970 50 1 173 420 49 5 171 5491974 78 5 252 436 21 5 69 2241978 62 8 197 386 30 7 96 5961982 73 3 247 208 23 6 79 6021986 32 4 104 504 64 7 208 8221990 74 1 264 411 25 9 92 1771994 43 6 157 361 47 4 171 1941998 42 1 129 105 51 0 156 1802002 45 2 150 229 54 7 181 8272006 49 0 189 503 51 0 197 3062010 23 1 78 896 33 6 114 9112014 40 7 131 452 36 2 117 1062018 52 6 198 122 37 2 139 932United States presidential election results for Rhode Island 175 Year Republican Whig Democratic Third partyNo No No 2020 199 922 38 61 307 486 59 39 10 349 2 00 2016 180 543 38 90 252 525 54 41 31 076 6 70 2012 157 204 35 24 279 677 62 70 9 168 2 06 2008 165 391 35 06 296 571 62 86 9 804 2 08 2004 169 046 38 67 259 760 59 42 8 328 1 91 2000 130 555 31 91 249 508 60 99 29 049 7 10 1996 104 683 26 82 233 050 59 71 52 551 13 46 1992 131 601 29 02 213 299 47 04 108 578 23 94 1988 177 761 43 93 225 123 55 64 1 736 0 43 1984 212 080 51 66 197 106 48 02 1 306 0 32 1980 154 793 37 20 198 342 47 67 62 937 15 13 1976 181 249 44 08 227 636 55 36 2 285 0 56 1972 220 383 53 00 194 645 46 81 780 0 19 1968 122 359 31 78 246 518 64 03 16 123 4 19 1964 74 615 19 13 315 463 80 87 13 0 00 1960 147 502 36 37 258 032 63 63 1 0 00 1956 225 819 58 23 161 970 41 77 2 0 00 1952 210 935 50 89 203 293 49 05 270 0 07 1948 135 787 41 44 188 736 57 59 3 179 0 97 1944 123 487 41 26 175 356 58 59 433 0 14 1940 138 653 43 17 182 182 56 73 313 0 10 1936 125 031 40 18 165 238 53 10 20 909 6 72 1932 115 266 43 31 146 604 55 08 4 300 1 62 1928 117 522 49 55 118 973 50 16 699 0 29 1924 125 286 59 63 76 606 36 46 8 223 3 91 1920 107 463 63 97 55 062 32 78 5 456 3 25 1916 44 858 51 08 40 394 46 00 2 564 2 92 1912 27 703 35 56 30 412 39 04 19 779 25 39 1908 43 942 60 76 24 706 34 16 3 669 5 07 1904 41 605 60 60 24 839 36 18 2 212 3 22 1900 33 784 59 74 19 812 35 04 2 952 5 22 1896 37 437 68 33 14 459 26 39 2 889 5 27 1892 26 975 50 71 24 336 45 75 1 885 3 54 1888 21 969 53 88 17 530 42 99 1 276 3 13 1884 19 030 58 07 12 391 37 81 1 350 4 12 1880 18 195 62 24 10 779 36 87 261 0 89 1876 15 787 59 29 10 712 40 23 128 0 48 1872 13 665 71 94 5 329 28 06 0 0 00 1868 12 993 66 49 6 548 33 51 0 0 00 1864 13 962 62 24 8 470 37 76 0 0 00 1860 12 244 61 37 7 707 38 63 0 0 00 1856 11 467 57 85 6 680 33 70 1 675 8 45 1852 7 626 44 85 8 735 51 37 644 3 79 1848 6 779 60 77 3 646 32 68 730 6 54 1844 7 322 59 55 4 867 39 58 107 0 87 1840 5 278 61 22 3 301 38 29 42 0 49 1836 2 710 47 76 2 964 52 24 0 0 00 The capital of Rhode Island is Providence The state s governor is Daniel McKee D and the lieutenant governor is Sabina Matos D Gina Raimondo became Rhode Island s first female governor with a plurality of the vote in the November 2014 state elections 176 Its United States senators are Jack Reed D and Sheldon Whitehouse D Rhode Island s two United States representatives are David Cicilline D 1 and Jim Langevin D 2 See congressional districts map Rhode Island is one of a few states that do not have an official governor s residence See List of Rhode Island Governors The state legislature is the Rhode Island General Assembly consisting of the 75 member House of Representatives and the 38 member Senate The Democratic Party dominates both houses of the bicameral body the Republican Party s presence is minor in the state government with Republicans holding a handful of seats in both the Senate and House of Representatives Elections EditFurther information Politics of Rhode Island and Political party strength in Rhode Island Treemap of the popular vote by county 2016 presidential election Rhode Island s population barely crosses the threshold beyond the minimum of three for additional votes in both the federal House of Representatives and Electoral College it is well represented relative to its population with the eighth highest number of electoral votes and second highest number of House Representatives per resident Based on its area Rhode Island has the highest density of electoral votes of any state 177 Federally Rhode Island is a reliably Democratic state during presidential elections usually supporting the Democratic presidential nominee The state voted for the Republican presidential candidate until 1908 Since then it has voted for the Republican nominee for president seven times and the Democratic nominee 17 times The last 16 presidential elections in Rhode Island have resulted in the Democratic Party winning the Ocean State s Electoral College votes 12 times In the 1980 presidential election Rhode Island was one of six states to vote against Republican Ronald Reagan Reagan was the last Republican to win any of the state s counties in a Presidential election until Donald Trump won Kent County in 2016 In 1988 George H W Bush won over 40 of the state s popular vote something no Republican has done since Party registration as of March 2022 178 Party Total voters PercentageUnaffiliated 318 449 44 93 Democratic 292 539 41 28 Republican 97 730 13 79 Total 708 718 100 Rhode Island was the Democrats leading state in 1960 1964 1968 1988 and 2000 and second best in 1968 1972 1996 and 2004 Rhode Island s most one sided Presidential election result was in 1964 with over 80 of Rhode Island s votes going for Lyndon B Johnson In 2004 Rhode Island gave John Kerry more than a 20 percentage point margin of victory the third highest of any state with 59 4 of its vote All but three of Rhode Island s 39 cities and towns voted for the Democratic candidate The exceptions were East Greenwich West Greenwich and Scituate 179 In 2008 Rhode Island gave Barack Obama a 28 percentage point margin of victory the third highest of any state with 63 of its vote All but one of Rhode Island s 39 cities and towns voted for the Democratic candidate the exception being Scituate 180 In a 2020 study Rhode Island was ranked as the 19th easiest state for citizens to vote in 181 Legislation and taxes EditRhode Island is one of 21 states that have abolished capital punishment it was second do so just after Michigan and carried out its last execution in the 1840s Rhode Island was the second to last state to make prostitution illegal Until November 2009 Rhode Island law made prostitution legal provided it took place indoors 182 In a 2009 study Rhode Island was listed as the 9th safest state in the country 183 In 2011 Rhode Island became the third state in the United States to pass legislation to allow the use of medical marijuana On May 25 2022 Rhode Island fully legalized recreational use of marijuana becoming the nineteenth state to do so 184 Additionally the Rhode Island General Assembly passed legislation that allowed civil unions which Governor Lincoln Chafee signed into law on July 2 2011 Rhode Island became the eighth state to fully recognize either same sex marriage or civil unions 185 Same sex marriage became legal on May 2 2013 and took effect August 1 186 Rhode Island has some of the highest taxes in the country particularly its property taxes ranking seventh in local and state taxes and sixth in real estate taxes 129 Notable people EditMain article List of people from Rhode Island Thomas Angell 1618 1694 co founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Joshua Babcock 1707 1783 physician American Revolution general state Supreme Court justice and postmaster John Clarke 1609 1676 Baptist minister co founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations author of its influential charter and a leading advocate of religious freedom in America William Coddington 1601 1678 magistrate of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Judge of Portsmouth Judge of Newport Governor of Portsmouth and Newport Deputy Governor of the entire colony and governor of the colony William Ellery 1727 1820 a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Rhode Island Samuel Gorton 1593 1677 settled Warwick Nathanael Greene 1742 1786 Continental Army officer considered George Washington s most gifted officer Esek Hopkins 1718 1802 Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War Stephen Hopkins 1707 1785 Governor of Rhode Island RI Supreme Court justice Signatory of the Declaration of Independence Anne Hutchinson 1591 1643 early settler of Newport the catalyst of the Antinomian Controversy H P Lovecraft 1890 1937 author Oliver Hazard Perry 1785 1819 naval commander and hero of the War of 1812 the best known and most prominent member of the Perry family naval dynasty Samuel Slater 1768 1835 industrialist father of the industrial revolution Gilbert Stuart 1755 1828 painter one of America s foremost portraitists James Mitchell Varnum 1748 1789 general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War Samuel Ward 1725 1776 Supreme Court Justice Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and a delegate to the Continental Congress Samuel Ward Jr 1756 1832 American Revolutionary War soldier and delegate to the secessionist Hartford Convention Roger Williams 1603 1684 founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations influential author considered the first proponent of separation of church and state Abraham Whipple 1733 1819 Continental Navy commander in chiefSee also EditIndex of Rhode Island related articles Outline of Rhode IslandNotes Edit Approximately 776 957 acres Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988 This island is the largest of several islands in Narragansett Bay Giovanni da Verrazzano named a place on Rhode Island Puntum Iovianum in honor of his friend Paolo Giovio Jovium in Latin 1483 1542 humanist and historian Giovio owned the Cellere Codex of Verrazzano containing the text of his first 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termite near cult status in R I southcoasttoday com Archived from the original on July 22 2019 Retrieved July 18 2019 Milkovits Amanda Fitzpatrick Edward May 1 2020 Rhode Islanders show we are all in this together even the Big Blue Bug The Boston Globe Archived from the original on August 30 2020 Retrieved September 29 2020 NFL History by Decade Nfl com Archived from the original on April 10 2016 Retrieved January 26 2013 Ian Bridge February 18 2011 Inaugural USARL Line up Announced league13 info Archived from the original on August 9 2011 Retrieved March 24 2011 USARL Constitution amp Teams announced usarl com USA Rugby League February 18 2011 Archived from the original on May 13 2011 Retrieved March 24 2011 MAIN Rebellion rugby com June 6 2012 Archived from the original on June 14 2012 Retrieved January 26 2013 High School Rugby League Kicks Off in USA USARL com November 14 2013 Archived from the original on November 18 2013 Retrieved November 14 2013 Leip David General Election Results Rhode Island United States Election Atlas Archived from the original on September 19 2019 Retrieved November 18 2016 Leip David Presidential General Election Results Comparison Rhode Island US Election Atlas Retrieved January 4 2023 Democrat Gina Raimondo becomes Rhode Island s first female governor Reuters Archived from the original on November 13 2015 Retrieved January 23 2015 New Jersey Presidential Election Voting History 270towin com Archived from the original on January 17 2013 Retrieved January 26 2013 Rhode Island Voter Registration Rhode Island Department of State Archived from the original on August 14 2021 Retrieved March 11 2022 Stewart Charles nationwide2004 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Archived from the original on November 4 2011 Retrieved August 28 2007 taken from web mit edu Archived August 17 2007 at the Wayback Machine CNN Election Results by town in Rhode Island Archived from the original on January 18 2009 Retrieved January 6 2009 J Pomante II Michael Li Quan December 15 2020 Cost of Voting in the American States 2020 Election Law Journal Rules Politics and Policy 19 4 503 509 doi 10 1089 elj 2020 0666 S2CID 225139517 Archived from the original on October 25 2021 Retrieved January 14 2022 Eric Tucker Rhode Island police seek stricter anti prostitution laws Union Tribune Publishing Co Archived from the original on September 5 2007 Retrieved April 13 2008 Safest States Walletpop com Archived from the original on December 5 2010 Retrieved January 26 2013 RI becomes 19th state to legalize recreational marijuana WPRI com May 25 2022 Retrieved June 15 2022 RI Gov Chafee signs bill allowing civil unions WHDH TV 7News Archived from the original on January 17 2013 Retrieved January 26 2013 David Klepper May 2 2013 Rhode Island Becomes 10th State With Gay Marriage Archived from the original on May 21 2013 General bibliography EditPrimary sources Edit Dwight Timothy Travels Through New England and New York circa 1800 4 vol 1969 Online at vol 1 Archived July 28 2020 at the Wayback Machine vol 2 permanent dead link vol 3 permanent dead link vol 4 permanent dead link McPhetres S A A political manual for the campaign of 1868 for use in the New England states containing the population and latest election returns of every town 1868 Archived July 28 2020 at the Wayback Machine Rhode Island s Geography and ClimateSecondary sources Edit Adams James Truslow The Founding of New England 1921 Adams James Truslow Revolutionary New England 1691 1776 1923 Adams James Truslow New England in the Republic 1776 1850 1926 Andrews Charles M The Fathers of New England A Chronicle of the Puritan Commonwealths 1919 Short survey by leading scholar Axtell James ed The American People in Colonial New England 1973 new social history Brewer Daniel Chauncey Conquest of New England by the Immigrant 1926 Coleman Peter J The Transformation of Rhode Island 1790 1860 1963 Conforti Joseph A Imagining New England Explorations of Regional Identity from the Pilgrims to the Mid Twentieth Century 2001 Dennison George M The Dorr War Republicanism on Trial 1831 1861 1976 Hall Donald ed Encyclopedia of New England 2005 Karlsen Carol F The Devil in the Shape of a Woman Witchcraft in Colonial New England 1998 Lovejoy David S Rhode Island Politics and the American Revolution 1760 1776 1969 McLaughlin William Rhode Island A Bicentennial History 1976 Moondancer amp Strong Woman Cultural History of the Native Peoples of Southern New England Bauu Press 2007 Palfrey John Gorham History of New England Archived July 28 2020 at the Wayback Machine 5 vol 1859 90 Slavery in Rhode Island Slavery in the North Archived from the original on April 19 2012 Retrieved July 31 2010 Sletcher Michael New England 2004 Stephenson Nathaniel Wright Nelson W Aldrich a Leader in American Politics 1930 WPA Guide to Rhode Island 1939 Zimmerman Joseph F The New England Town Meeting Democracy in Action Archived November 23 2011 at the Wayback Machine 1999 External links EditRhode Island at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons News from Wikinews Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Textbooks from Wikibooks Travel information from Wikivoyage Resources from Wikiversity Rhode Island at Curlie State of Rhode Island Government website Energy amp Environmental Data for Rhode Island USGS real time geographic and other scientific resources of Rhode Island Archived December 9 2016 at the Wayback Machine U S Census Bureau Quickfacts Rhode Island Rhode Island laws Scituate Art Festival USDA Rhode Island State Facts Rhode Island Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 23 11th ed 1911 pp 248 254 Detailed Historical Article Indian Place Names Geographic data related to Rhode Island at OpenStreetMap Rhode Island State Databases Annotated list of searchable databases produced by Rhode Island state agencies and compiled by the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association Rhode Island State Guide from the Library of Congress Rhode Island State Archives Catalog for further informationPreceded byNorth Carolina List of U S states by date of admission to the UnionRatified Constitution on May 29 1790 13th Succeeded byVermont Portals Rhode Island New England United States Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rhode Island amp oldid 1134037311, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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