History Of Rhode Island

Hidden History of Rhode Island delivers the best Ocean State stories you've never heard before. Surprising tales and unexpected anecdotes color Rhode Island's legacy, from the accounts of its three brave Titanic survivors to the whirlwind Revolutionary War romance between a Smithfield girl and a French viscount. Rhode Island historian Glenn Laxton uncovers the exceptional citizens whom history has forgotten, like Robert the Hermit, a man who endured three escapes from slavery before finding liberty and peace in Rumford; the illustrious Lippitt family, who spearheaded advancements in deaf education; and Christiana Bannister, a Narragansett tribe member, nineteenth-century entrepreneur and wife to the most successful African American artist of the time. With moments of tragedy, as in the Lexington steamboat disaster, as well as triumph, as in the case of small-town boy turned baseball hero Joe Connolly, Laxton reveals Rhode Island beneath the surface.

With a Historical Guide prepared by the editors of the American Association for State and Local History. High atop the Rhode Island capitol in Providence, a bronze likeness of "The Independent Man" keeps watch over a state that historically has put the ideal of individual liberty before all others. Like many ideals, this one was freighted with many meanings. As the colony grew in the seventeenth century, the belief in religious liberty and freedom of conscience espoused by its founder, Roger Williams, led to the development of political liberty and practical democracy. In the eighteenth century, that dedication to individualism made Rhode Islanders into businessmen of the first order, willing to take the big risk in hope of a bigger reward. Their land being poor in natural resources, Rhode Islanders turned to trade; accumulating wealth from traffic in rum and slaves, they built in Newport and Providence small but elegant copies of Georgian England, and worried more about taxes and currency than about religion. When they felt poorly served by British policies, they became ready revolutionaries and led in the founding of a new nation. After the Civil War, their children took individual liberty to mean economic laissez-faire, ushering in the state's golden age when Rhode Island senator Nelson Aldrich became known as the "general manager" of the United States. Through countless changes in the twentieth century, the ideal still survives and asks old questions of new generations of Rhode Islanders from many ethnic backgrounds: How best to reconcile the rights of minorities with the rule of the majority, and how best to secure the individual liberty and economic opportunity that Roger Williams and Moses Brown would have understood so well?

Embark on a historical journey through Rhode Island with George Washington Greene's comprehensive account. "A short history of Rhode Island" chronicles the state's rich heritage, from its early beginnings to its pivotal moments. Greene's meticulous research and engaging writing style make this a valuable addition to any history enthusiast's collection.

In a book as intriguing as its subject, authors George H. Kellner and J. Stanley Lemons have successfully blended an innovative, forceful text with extraordinary images to produce a lively historical canvas of the state of Rhode Island. Rhode Island began when dissenters like Roger Williams, Ann Hutchinson, William Coddington, and Samuel Gorton established the four original towns on Narragansett Bay in the 1630s and 1640s. As a haven for religious freedom, the colony was harshly criticized by its neighbors and denounced as the "Isle of Errors." And when resentment against Britain turned to war, Rhode Island was the first colony to renounce its allegiance to George III -- but the last of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution, stubbornly holding out because the new Constitution restricted state's rights. Boldly deserting the limitations of the more traditional history book, the authors have included topical themes selected for their intrinsic interest, such as recreation and the spirit of patriotism, plus a fascinating segment about Newport's "High Society." And they take a penetrating look at Rhode Island's institutions and controversial figures of the last three centuries.

A True Book-The Thirteen Colonies Are you thrilled by true adventure stories? do you wonder how our founding fathers conquered the wilds of North America to create the United States? You'll experience it all in these books that tell the story of the brave men and women who escaped tyranny from across the ocean to forge a new world in 13 colonies that led to the birth of the United States of America.