Providence Plantations was the first permanent European American settlement in the

Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by Roger Williams. It was an English colony from 1636 until 1 ...

. It was established by a group of colonists led by

Roger Williams Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantatio ...

and Dr. John Clarke who left

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as th ...

in order to establish a colony with greater religious freedom. Providence Plantations became the

, which became the State of Rhode Island after the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

History

The

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

s were established along the Providence River with the main settlement at

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

in 1636 by

, Dr. John Clarke and a small band of followers who had left the

to seek freedom of worship, and two paramount chiefs (''

sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...

s'') of the

Narragansett people The Narragansett people are an Algonquian American Indian tribe from Rhode Island. Today, Narragansett people are enrolled in the federally recognized Narragansett Indian Tribe. They gained federal recognition in 1983. The tribe was nearly la ...

, named

Canonicus Canonicus (c. 1565 – June 4, 1647) was a chief of the Narragansett Indigenous Peoples. He was wary of the colonial settlers, but he ultimately befriended Roger Williams and other settlers. Biography Canonicus was born around 1565,Benjami ...

and

Miantonomi Miantonomoh (1600? – August 1643), also spelled Miantonomo, Miantonomah or Miantonomi, was a chief of the Narragansett people of New England Indians. Biography He was a nephew of the Narragansett grand sachem, Canonicus (died 1647), with whom h ...

, granted them a sizable tract of land. The settlers adopted a covenant which stressed the separation of religious and civil affairs. Williams purchased Pawtuxet on the north side of the Pawtuxet River from the Narragansett sachems in 1638. He sold the land that same year to William Arnold and William Harris for the price of a cow.

Samuel Gorton Samuel Gorton (1593–1677) was an early settler and civic leader of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and President of the towns of Providence and Warwick. He had strong religious beliefs which differed from Puritan theol ...

had settled in Newport and in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

, but he had left each of them due to disagreements with his fellow settlers. He finally left the Providence settlement in January 1643 and founded a new settlement named

Shawomet Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, southwest of Boston, Massachu ...

. Meanwhile, the settlers at Pawtuxet were also not getting along well with the other settlements. Arnold even attempted to take control of Providence by altering Williams' original land deed. Arnold ultimately asked

to govern Pawtuxet and the surrounding communities. Massachusetts Bay attempted to extend its authority over Providence Plantations and the settlements in Newport, Portsmouth, and Shawomet during the 1630s and 1640s. (Portsmouth and Newport were on

Aquidneck Island Aquidneck Island, also known as Rhode Island, is an island in Narragansett Bay in the state of Rhode Island. The total land area is , which makes it the largest island in the bay. The 2020 United States Census reported its population as 60,109. ...

, which was called Rhode Island at the time.) Williams traveled to London in 1643 to settle the matter, and in 1644 he received a parliamentary Commission for Plantations patent, uniting Providence with Portsmouth and Newport as "The Incorporation of Providence Plantations in the Narraganset Bay in New England". In May 1647, the three towns plus Shawomet (now named Warwick) formed a government under this charter in Providence. Dr. John Clarke sailed to England in November 1651 along with Roger Williams. Williams sailed back to America the following year while Dr. Clarke stayed in London as the Agent for Rhode Island. After 11 years and many drafts, Dr. Clarke wrote and secured the Rhode Island Royal Charter of 1663 from King Charles II on July 8, 1663, which provided a "Full Concernment" in Religious Liberties and Civil Freedoms for the Colony of Rhode Island.

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* {{Navboxes , title = Articles Related to Rhode Island and The Providence Plantations
''The Ocean State'' , list = {{Rhode Island, expanded {{Christian History, state=collapsed Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Colonial settlements in North America 1636 establishments in Rhode Island Populated places established in 1636 Plantations (settlements or colonies)

History

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References

Sources