- Rhode Island Fast Facts -

Rhode Island is the smallest U.S. state having a total area of only 1,545 square miles. It is also the second most densely populated state, after New Jersey. Providence is the capital and largest city. Providence was founded in 1636 on land purchased from local tribes by Roger Williams who had fled religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Early on it earned the moniker "Rogue's Island" because it had become so popular with others fleeing religious persecution, politcal dissenters and social outcasts.

In 1643 Williams traveled to England and was granted a Patent to the "incorporation of Providence Plantations in Narragansett Bay in New England." In 1663 a Royal Charter was granted which gave the colony the official name of "English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." Increased awareness in slavery made the word "Plantation" a contested issue that was debated for decades and finally settled in 2020 when the racially offensive wording was dropped from the name.

In 1774 Rhode Island became the first colony to call for a Continental Congress, and on May 4, 1774, was the first to renounce allegiance to the British Crown. Although it was the fourth state to ratify the Articles of Confederation, it initially refused to ratify the United States Constitution and had actually boycotted the 1787 convention.

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