   #copyright

Rhode Island

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: North American Geography

   CAPTION: The State of Rhode Island
   and Providence Plantations


   Flag of Rhode Island State seal of Rhode Island
   Flag of Rhode Island Seal of Rhode Island
   Nickname(s): The Ocean State, Little Rhody
   Motto(s): Hope
   Map of the United States with Rhode Island highlighted
   Official language(s) None
   Capital Providence
   Largest city Providence
   Area^  Ranked 50^th
    - Total 1,214* sq mi
   (3,144* km²)
    - Width 37 miles (60 km)
    - Length 48 miles (77 km)
    - % water 32.4
    - Latitude 41°18'N to 42°1'N
    - Longitude 71°8'W to 71°53'W
   Population^  Ranked 43^rd
    - Total ( 2000) 1,048,319
    - Density 1,003.2/sq mi
   387.34/km² (2^nd)
   Elevation
    - Highest point Jerimoth Hill
   812 ft  (247 m)
    - Mean 200 ft  (60 m)
    - Lowest point Atlantic Ocean
   0 ft  (0 m)
   Admission to Union^  May 29, 1790 (13^th)
   Governor Donald Carcieri (R)
   U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D)
   Lincoln Chafee (R) (Outgoing)
   Sheldon Whitehouse (D) (Senator Elect)
   Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/ -4
   Abbreviations RI US-RI
   Web site www.ri.gov
   * Total area in acres is approximately 776,957 acres

   The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (commonly known as
   Rhode Island) is a state in the New England region of the northeastern
   United States. It is the smallest state by area, and it is also the
   state with the longest official name. Rhode (pronounced "Road") Island
   was the first of the thirteen original American colonies to declare
   independence from British rule, signaling the start of the American
   Revolution.

   The state's common name, Rhode Island, actually refers only to the
   largest island in Narragansett Bay, also known as Aquidneck Island.
   Some historians think the name owes its origins to Italian explorer
   Giovanni da Verrazzano, upon discovering nearby (present-day) Block
   Island named it Rhode Island because of its similarity in shape to the
   Greek island of Rhodes. Later settlers, mistaking which island
   Verrazzano was referring to, gave the name to Aquidneck Island instead.
   Other historians believe that the name is derived from Roodt Eylandt,
   old Dutch for "red island," given to the island by Dutch explorer
   Adriaen Block due to the red clay on the island's shore.

   Despite most of the state being part of the mainland, the name Rhode
   Island leads some out-of-staters to mistakenly believe that the entire
   state is an island, sometimes confusing it with Long Island. Rhode
   Island is nicknamed "Little Rhody" traditionally but the state
   officially adopted the nickname "The Ocean State".

Geography

   Bluffs-Block island, Rhode Island
   Enlarge
   Bluffs-Block island, Rhode Island

   Rhode Island covers an area of approximately 1,214  square miles
   (3,144  km²) 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. It shares a water border with New York. The mean
   elevation of the state is 200  feet (60  m). Located within the New
   England province of the Appalachian Region, Rhode Island 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. Narragansett Bay is a major feature of the state's
   topography. Block Island lies approximately 12 miles (19 km) off the
   southern coast of the mainland. Within the Bay, there are over 30
   islands. The largest is Aquidneck Island, shared by the municipalities
   of Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth. Among the other islands in the
   Bay are Hope and Prudence.

   Nicknamed the Ocean State, Rhode Island has the most oceanfront per
   capita as well as per land area of any United States state, and is home
   to a number of oceanfront beaches

   Rhode Island is mostly flat with no real mountains. Rhode Island's
   highest natural point is Jerimoth Hill, only 812 feet (247 m) above sea
   level.

Climate

   Rhode Island is an example of a warm summer humid continental climate
   with hot rainy summers and cold snowy winters. The highest temperature
   recorded in Rhode Island was 105 F (40° C), recorded on August 2, 1975
   at Providence. The lowest temperature in Rhode Island, -13 °F (-25 °C),
   was recorded on February 6, 1996 at Greene. Monthly average
   temperatures range from a high of 82 °F (28 °C) to a low of 20 °F (-7
   °C). Average yearly precipitation for Rhode Island, from 1961 to 1991,
   is shown on from Oregon State University.

History

Colonial Era

   In 1614, the Dutch explorer Adriaen Block visited the island that is
   now called Block Island. Native American inhabitants included the
   Narragansett tribe, occupying most of the area, and the closely related
   Niantic tribe. Most of the Native Americans were decimated by
   introduced diseases, intertribal warfare, and the disastrous King
   Philip's War, but remnants of the Niantic merged into the Narragansett
   tribe, where they remain on a federally recognized reservation.

   In 1636, Roger Williams, after being banished from the Massachusetts
   Bay Colony for his religious views, settled at the tip of Narragansett
   Bay. He called the site Providence and declared it a place of religious
   freedom. This is the article of agreement Roger Williams and others
   made, and every person who decided to live in Providence had to sign
   it: “We, whose names are hereunder written, being desirous to inhabit
   the town of Providence, do promise to submit ourselves, in active or
   passive obedience, to all such orders or agreements as shall be made
   for public good by the body in an orderly way by the major consent of
   the inhabitance, masters of families, incorporated together into a
   township, and such others as they shall admit into the same only in
   civil things.” Rhode Island was a charter colony, Roger Williams
   received a charter to build the colony.

   In 1637, Anne Hutchinson was banished from Massachusetts for
   criticizing the clergy there. She and some others, including William
   Coddington and John Clarke, founded the town of Portsmouth on Aquidneck
   Island. In 1639, Coddington left Portsmouth and founded Newport on
   Aquidneck Island.

   In that same year a formal government was established for the island.
   William Coddington was the first governor and Philip Sherman was the
   first Secretary. In 1643, Samuel Gorton founded Shawomet, which is now
   called Warwick. In 1644, the name of Aquidneck Island was changed to
   Rhode Island.

   John Clarke was granted a Charter in 1663 for Rhode Island and
   Providence Plantations, which effectively united the two colonies into
   one. Under the terms of the charter, only landowners could vote. Before
   the Industrial Revolution, when most people were employed as farmers,
   this was considered democratic. The original charter was used as the
   state constitution until 1842.

   In 1664, the seal of the colony was adopted. It pictured an anchor and
   the word HOPE.

   The relationship between the New Englanders and the Native Americans
   was at first strained, but did not result in much bloodshed. The
   largest tribes that lived near Rhode island were the Wampanoag,
   Pequots, Narragansett, and Nipmuck. One native named Squanto, from the
   Wampanoag tribe, stayed with the pilgrims and taught them many valuable
   skills needed to survive in the area. He also helped greatly with the
   eventual peace between the colonists and the natives.

   Roger Williams had won the respect of his colonial neighbors for his
   skill in keeping the powerful Narragansett on friendly terms with local
   white settlers. In 1637, the Narragansett were even persuaded to form
   an alliance with the English in carrying out an attack that nearly
   extinguished the warlike Pequots. However, this peace did not last
   long. By 1670 even the friendly tribes who had greeted Williams and the
   Pilgrims became estranged from the colonists, and smell of war began to
   cover the New England countryside.

   The most important and traumatic event in 17th century Rhode Island was
   King Philip's War, which occurred during 1675–1676. King Philip (his
   British nickname, his real name was Metacomet) was the chief of the
   Wampanoag Indians. The settlers of Portsmouth had purchased their land
   from his father, Massasoit. King Philip rebelled against the English.
   The first attacks were around Narrangansett Bay but spread throughout
   New England.

Revolution and Industrialization: 1770-1860

   Rhode Island's tradition of independence and dissent gave it a
   prominent role in the American Revolution. In 1772, the first bloodshed
   of the American Revolution took place in Rhode Island when a band of
   Providence residents attacked a grounded British ship for enforcing
   unpopular British trade regulations in the incident which would be come
   to known as the Gaspee Affair. Keeping with its culture of defiance,
   Rhode Island was the first of the original thirteen colonies to declare
   its independence from England ( May 4, 1776,) and the last to ratify
   the Constitution (which replaced the Articles of Confederation)( May
   29, 1790)—doing the latter only after being threatened with having its
   exports taxed as a foreign nation.

   As the Industrial Revolution moved large numbers of workers into the
   cities, a permanently landless, and therefore voteless, class
   developed. By 1829, 60% of the state's free white males were ineligible
   to vote.

   Several attempts had been made to address this problem, but none
   passed. In 1842, Thomas Dorr drafted a liberal constitution which was
   passed by popular referendum. However, the conservative sitting
   governor, Samuel Ward King, opposed the people's wishes, leading to the
   Dorr Rebellion. Although this collapsed, a modified version of the
   constitution was passed in November, which allowed any white male to
   vote that he owned land or could pay a US $1 poll tax.

   In addition to industrialization, Rhode Island was heavily involved in
   the slave trade during the post-revolution era. Slavery was extant in
   RI as early as 1652, and by 1774, the slave population of RI was 6.3%,
   nearly twice as high as any other New England Colony. In the late
   Eighteenth century, several Rhode Island merchant families began
   actively engaging in the triangle slave trade. Notable among these was
   the Brown family, for whom Brown University is named, although some
   important Browns became prominent abolitionists. In the years after the
   Revolution, Rhode Island merchants controlled between 60 and 90% of the
   American trade in African slaves.

Civil War to Progressive Era: 1860-1929

   During the Civil War, Rhode Island was one of the Union states. Rhode
   Island furnished 25,236 fighting men, of which 1,685 died. On the home
   front, Rhode Island, along with the other northern states, used its
   industrial capacity to supply the Union Army with the materials it
   needed to win the war. Rhode Island's continued growth and
   modernization led to the creation of an urban mass transit system, and
   improved health and sanitation programs. After the war, in 1866, Rhode
   Island abolished racial segregation throughout the state. Post-war
   immigration increased the population. From the 1860s to the 1880s, most
   of the immigrants were from England, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, and
   Quebec. Towards the end of the century however, most immigrants were
   from South and Eastern Europe, and the Mediterranean. At the turn of
   the century, Rhode Island had a booming economy, which fed the demand
   for immigration. In the years that lead up to World War I, Rhode
   Island's constitution remained reactionary, in contrast to the more
   progressive reforms that were occurring in the rest of the country. The
   state never ratified the 18th Amendment establishing national
   Prohibition of alcohol. During World War I, Rhode Island furnished
   28,817 troops, of whom 612 died. After the war, the state was hit hard
   by the Spanish Influenza.

Great Depression to Present: 1929-

   Since the Great Depression, the Rhode Island Democratic Party has
   dominated local politics. For years, the Speaker of the House, always a
   Democrat, has been one of the most powerful figures in government. The
   Republican Party has been restricted to the rural and suburban parts of
   the state, and occasional "good government" reform candidates, who
   criticize the state's high taxes and the excesses of Democratic
   domination. Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey, Governor Donald Carcieri of
   East Greenwich, and former Mayor Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci of
   Providence ran as Republican reform candidates.

Law and government

   The capital of Rhode Island is Providence and its current governor is
   Donald Carcieri (R). Its United States Senators are Jack Reed (D) and
   Lincoln Chafee (R). In the 2006 election for U.S. Senate on November 7,
   2006, Senator Chafee was defeated by Attorney General Sheldon
   Whitehouse. Senator-elect Whitehouse will replace Senator Chafee as
   United States Senator from Rhode Island after the swearing in of the
   one hundred and tenth United States Congress on January 3, 2007. Rhode
   Island's two United States Congressmen are Patrick J. Kennedy (D-1) and
   Jim Langevin (D-2).

   The state legislature is the Rhode Island General Assembly, consisting
   of the 75-member state House of Representatives and the 38-member
   Senate. Both houses of the bicameral body are currently dominated by
   the Democratic Party.

   Federally, Rhode Island is one of the most reliably Democratic states
   during presidential elections, regularly giving the Democratic nominees
   one of their best showings. In 1980, Rhode Island was one of only 6
   states to vote against Ronald Reagan. In the 1984 Reagan landslide,
   Rhode Island provided Walter Mondale with his 3rd best performance.
   Rhode Island was the Democrats' best state in 1988 and 2000 and 2nd
   best in 1996 and 2004. The state was devoted to Republicans until 1908,
   but has only strayed from the Democrats 7 times in the 24 elections
   that followed. In 2004, Rhode Island gave John Kerry a greater than 20
   percentage point margin of victory (the third highest of any state)
   with 59.4% of its vote. All but two of Rhode Island's 39 cities and
   towns voted for the Democratic candidate. The only exceptions were East
   and West Greenwich.

Economy

   Rhode Island is known as the "birthplace of the American Industrial
   Revolution". It was in Pawtucket, Rhode Island that Samuel Slater set
   up his first mill in 1790, using the waterpower of the Blackstone River
   to power his mill. For a while, Rhode Island was one of the leaders in
   textiles. However, with the Great Depression, most textile factories
   relocated to the American South. Textiles still constitute a part of
   the Rhode Island economy, but does not have the same power that it once
   had. An interesting by-product of the textile industry is the amount of
   abandoned factories - many of them now are used for low-income or
   elderly housing or have been converted into offices. In Pawtucket,
   these abandoned mills are used as housing for artists.

   The Fortune 500 companies CVS and Textron are based in Woonsocket,
   Rhode Island and Providence, Rhode Island respectively. FM Global,
   Hasbro, American Power Conversion, Nortek, and Amica Mutual Insurance
   are all Fortune 1000 companies based in Rhode Island. The GTECH
   Corporation is headquartered in Providence.

   Rhode Island's 2000 total gross state product was $33 billion, placing
   it 45^th in the nation. Its 2000 per capita Personal Income was
   $29,685, 16^th in the nation.

   Health services are Rhode Islands largest industry. Second is tourism,
   supporting 39,000 jobs, with tourism related sales at $3.26 billion in
   the year 2000. The third largest industry is manufacturing. Its
   industrial outputs are fashion jewelry, fabricated metal products,
   electric equipment, machinery, shipbuilding and boatbuilding. Rhode
   Island's agricultural outputs are nursery stock, vegetables, dairy
   products, and eggs.

Demographics

                             Historical populations
       Census
         year                                                   Population
       __________________________________________________________________

        1790                                                        68,825
        1800                                                        69,122
        1810                                                        76,931
        1820                                                        83,059
        1830                                                        97,199
        1840                                                       108,830
        1850                                                       147,545
        1860                                                       174,620
        1870                                                       217,353
        1880                                                       276,531
        1890                                                       345,506
        1900                                                       428,556
        1910                                                       542,610
        1920                                                       604,397
        1930                                                       687,497
        1940                                                       713,346
        1950                                                       791,896
        1960                                                       859,488
        1970                                                       946,725
        1980                                                       947,154
        1990                                                     1,003,464
        2000                                                     1,048,319

   The centre of population of Rhode Island is located Providence County,
   in the city of Cranston .

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2005, Rhode Island has an
   estimated population of 1,076,189, which is a decrease of 3,727, or
   0.3%, from the prior year and an increase of 27,870, or 2.7%, since the
   year 2000. 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.
   Rhode Island Population Density Map
   Enlarge
   Rhode Island Population Density Map
   Demographics of Rhode Island (csv)
   By race White Black AIAN Asian NHPI
   [AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native   -   NHPI is Native
   Hawaiian or Pacific Islander]
   2000 (total population) 90.96% 6.45% 1.07% 2.74% 0.19%
   2000 (Hispanic only) 7.14% 1.42% 0.18% 0.08% 0.07%
   2005 (total population) 90.16% 7.07% 1.09% 3.07% 0.21%
   2005 (Hispanic only) 9.12% 1.49% 0.22% 0.08% 0.08%
   Growth 2000-2005 (total population) 1.76% 12.52% 4.91% 15.09% 9.93%
   Growth 2000-2005 (non-Hispanic only) -0.75% 13.80% 1.03% 15.44% 8.90%
   Growth 2000-2005 (Hispanic only) 31.21% 7.98% 24.03% 3.78% 11.64%

   The five largest ancestry groups in Rhode Island are: Italian (19%),
   Irish (18.4%), French-Canadian (17.3%), English (12%), Portuguese
   (8.7%).

   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.

   Rhode Island has a higher percentage of Italian-Americans (concentrated
   in the city of Providence) and a higher percentage of Americans of
   Portuguese ancestry (who dominate Bristol county) than any other state
   in the nation. French Canadians form a large part of Northern
   Providence county whereas Irish-Americans have a strong presence in
   Newport and Kent counties. Yankees of English ancestry still have a
   presence in the state as well, especially in Washington county, and are
   often referred to as " Swamp Yankees."

Religion

   The religious affiliations of the people of Rhode Island are:
     * Christian – 81%
          + Roman Catholic – 56%
          + Protestant – 28%
               o Episcopal – 8%
               o Baptist – 6%
               o Other Protestant – 10%
          + Other Christian – 1%
     * Jewish – 2%
     * Other Religions – 1%
     * Non-Religious – 16%

   Rhode Island is home to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence and
   the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island.

   Rhode Island has the highest percentage of Catholics in the nation
   mainly due to large Irish, Italian and French Canadian immigration and
   to a lesser extent Portuguese, Puerto Rican, and Cape Verdean
   communities in the state.

Culture

   Rhode Island has a unique and fascinating culture that distinguishes
   its people not only from other regions, but also from neighboring New
   England states.

   Rhode Islanders speak with a distinct accent that many compare to a
   "Brooklyn" or a cross between a New York and Boston accent. The
   residents of this state also speak with a unique vernacular that many
   have dubbed "Rhode Islandese" or "Rhode Islander". The letter 'r' is
   often dropped at the end of a word, ("water" becomes "wata"). The
   letter 'r' is also added in to the ending of words ("soda" becomes
   "soder", "idea" becomes "idear"). Utilization of the word "wicked" is
   also very common among Rhode Islanders, especially young ones, to
   provide greater emphasis on something (e.g., "That's wicked funny" is a
   relatively common phrase).

   It is a fairly common stereotype that Rhode Islanders are very
   superstitious, although this has not been scrutinized statistically.
   However, the belief in vampires, especially in the rural parts of the
   state, was widespread up until the late 19th century. There are several
   well-documented cases in which families disenterred deceased relatives,
   then removed and burned their hearts in the belief that the deceased
   was a vampire who was responsible for illness and misfortune that the
   family had been suffering. The most famous of these cases is that of
   19-year-old Mercy Brown who died in Exeter, Rhode Island in 1892. It is
   believed that this widely-reported event inspired much of Bram Stoker's
   novel Dracula.

   The Fox show Family Guy takes place in a fictional town in Rhode Island
   named Quahog.

   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 their Providence headquarters. Although the power of
   organized crime has greatly diminished in Rhode Island over the last 20
   years, its residents are still stigmatized by popular perceptions of
   rampant graft and corruption that have haunted the state for decades.

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

Food

   Rhode Island is known for being one of the biggest coffee-drinking
   states. According to a Providence Journal article, Providence features
   the highest number of coffee/donut shops per capita in the country,
   with over 100 Dunkin' Donuts locations in the state alone. It is common
   belief that more coffee ice cream is sold here per-capita than any
   other state. The Official State Drink of Rhode Island is coffee milk, a
   beverage created by mixing milk with coffee syrup. This unique syrup
   was invented in the state and is bottled and sold in most Rhode Island
   supermarkets. Frozen lemonade, a mixture of ice-slush, lemons and sugar
   is also immensely popular in the summer, especially Del's Frozen
   Lemonade, a company based in Cranston.
   Wein-O-Rama is a popular Cranston restaurant which serves weiners.
   Enlarge
   Wein-O-Rama is a popular Cranston restaurant which serves weiners.

   Several foods and dishes are unique to Rhode Island. " Wieners," which
   are sometimes called "gaggers" or "weenies" are smaller than a standard
   hot dog but are covered in a meat sauce, chopped onions, mustard, and
   celery salt. The most common way the word is spelt on menus is
   "weiner." Submarine sandwiches are referred to as "grinders" in Rhode
   Island with a popular version being the Italian grinder, which is made
   with Italian cold cuts (usually ham, prosciutto, capicola, salami, and
   Provolone cheese). Chouriço (a spicy Portuguese sausage) and peppers,
   eaten with hearty bread, is also popular among the state's large
   Portuguese community. "Dynamites" are most popular in Woonsocket and
   are similar to a sloppy joe, except served with peppers and onions in a
   torpedo roll.

   The Ocean State's tradition of seafood is one of the most celebrated in
   the country. Shellfish is extremely popular, with clams being used in
   multiple ways. The Quahog (whose shell is Rhode Island's state shell)
   is a large clam which is mixed with stuffing and spicy minced sausage
   and then baked in the shell to form a "Stuffie." Steamed clams are also
   a very popular dish. Fried squid, or "calamari," are fried squid rings
   and are most popular in Italian restaurants.

   Rhode Island, like the rest of New England, has a long tradition of
   clam chowder. While both the White "New England" variety and the Red
   "Manhattan" variety are popular, Rhode Island makes a clear chowder,
   affectionately known as "Rhode Island Clam Chowder."

   Perhaps the most peculiar culinary tradition in Rhode Island is the
   "clamcake." The clamcake is a deep fried ball of buttery dough with
   chopped bits of clam inside of it. They are sold in most seafood
   restaurants around the state, and usually come by the half-dozen or
   dozen. The quintessential summer meal in Rhode Island is "chowder and
   clam cakes."

   It is also said that clams casino originated in Rhode Island after
   being "invented" by Julius Keller, the maitre d' in the original Casino
   next to the seaside Towers in Narragansett. 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.

Cities and towns

   There are 39 cities and towns in Rhode Island.

   The cities are Providence, East Providence, Newport, Warwick, Cranston,
   Central Falls, Pawtucket and Woonsocket.

   The towns are Barrington, Bristol, Burrillville, Charlestown, Coventry,
   Cumberland, East Greenwich, Exeter, Foster, Glocester, Hopkinton,
   Jamestown, Johnston, Lincoln, Little Compton, Middletown, Narragansett,
   New Shoreham (Block Island), North Kingstown, North Providence, North
   Smithfield, Portsmouth, Richmond, Scituate, Smithfield, South
   Kingstown, Tiverton, Warren, West Greenwich, West Warwick, and
   Westerly.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Colleges and universities

   Rhode Island has several colleges and universities:
     * Brown University
     * Bryant University
     * Gibbs College
     * Johnson & Wales University
     * Naval War College
     * New England Institute of Technology
     * Community College of Rhode Island

                                            * Providence College
                                            * Rhode Island College
                                            * Rhode Island School of Design
                                            * Roger Williams University
                                            * Salve Regina University
                                            * University of Rhode Island
                                            * Zion Bible Institute

Professional sports teams

     * Pawtucket Red Sox, AAA (minor league baseball) affiliate of the
       Boston Red Sox
     * Providence Bruins, AHL (minor league hockey) affiliate of the
       Boston Bruins
     * Newport Gulls, NECBL (New England Collegiate Baseball League)

   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 that team before being
   recalled by the Grays parent club, the Boston Red Stockings.
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