Rhode Island
Rhode Island ( )}}}} is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound; and shares a small maritime border with New York, east of Long Island. Rhode Island is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020; but it has grown at every decennial count since 1790 and is the second-most densely populated state, after New Jersey. The state takes its name from the eponymous island, though nearly all its land area is on the mainland. Providence is its capital and most populous city.Native Americans lived around Narragansett Bay for thousands of years before English settlers began arriving in the early 17th century. 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, creating the first settlement in North America with an explicitly secular government. 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".
Rhode Island was the first colony to call for a Continental Congress, in 1774, and the first to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, on May 4, 1776. After the American Revolution, during which it was heavily occupied and contested, Rhode Island became the fourth state to ratify the Articles of Confederation, on February 9, 1778. Because its citizens favored a weaker central government, it boycotted the 1787 convention that had drafted the United States Constitution, which it initially refused to ratify; it finally ratified it on May 29, 1790, the last of the original 13 states to do so.
The state was officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations since the colonial era but came to be commonly known 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. Its official nickname is the "Ocean State", a reference to its of coastline and the large bays and inlets that make up about 14% of its area. Provided by Wikipedia
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1Published 1719Boston, in New-England : Printed by John Allen, for Nicholas Boone, at the Sign of the Bible in Cornhill, 1719.1 online resource (2 unnumbered pages, 8 pages, 6 unnumbered pages, 91 pages, pages 94-102, 4 unnumbered pages)“...Rhode Island...”
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2Published 1798Providence : Carter and Wilkinson : And sold at their Bookstore, 1798.1 online resource (652 [that is, 646] pages)“...Rhode Island...”
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3Published 1767[Rhode Island] : [publisher not identified], [1767]1 online resource (1 sheet)“...Rhode Island...”
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4Published 1763Newport [R.I.] : Printed and sold by Samuel Hall, [1763]1 online resource (4 pages)“...Rhode Island...”
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5Published 1896Providence : E.L. Freeman & son, printers to the state, 1896.1 online resource (xvi, 1447 p.)“...Rhode Island...”
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6Published 1741[London] : [publisher not identified], [1741]1 online resource (14 pages)“...Rhode Island...”
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7Published 1810Providence : Printed by Jones & Wheeler, printers to the state, for Henry Cushing, 1810.1 online resource (144 pages)“...Rhode Island...”
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8Published 1767Newport [R.I.] : Printed and sold by Samuel Hall, printer to the Honorable General Assembly, 1767.1 online resource (15 pages)“...Rhode Island...”
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9Published 1663[1663-1705]1 online resource (120 leaves)“...Rhode Island...”
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10Published 1777[Providence] : [Printed by John Carter], [1777]1 online resource (1 page)“...Rhode Island...”
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12Published 1840[Providence] : [publisher not identified], [1840?]1 online resource (32 pages)“...Rhode Island...”
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13Published 1923Pawtucket : Eugene T. Dion, printer, 1923.1 online resource (xviii, 1893 p.)“...Rhode Island...”
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14Published 1842Providence : Printed by Knowles and Vose, 1842.1 online resource (24 pages)“...Rhode Island...”
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15Published 1789Providence : Printed by Bennett Wheeler., [1789]1 online resource (1 sheet)“...Rhode Island. General Assembly...”
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16Published 1882Providence : E.L. Freeman & Co., printers to the State, 1882.1 online resource (xv, 986 p.)“...Rhode Island...”
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17[Providence, R.I. : s.n.]Online version of the print publication.“...Rhode Island...”
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18Published 1803Providence [R.I.] : J. Carter, 1803.1 online resource (12 pages)“...Rhode Island...”
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19Published 1768[Newport, R.I.] : [Printed by Solomon Southwick], [1768]1 online resource (1 sheet)“...Rhode Island. General Assembly...”
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20Published 1872Cambridge [Mass.] : Printed at the Riverside Press, 1872.1 online resource (xiii, 770 p.)“...Rhode Island...”
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