Native Cultures and First Contacts

First we must understand that Rhode Island and Massachusetts are almost inseparable in their history, European and Native. As for the English, Providence’s founders were in fact Plymouth’s and Salem’s cast-offs. Rhode Island was first thought a convenient banishment-ground then a growing threat to Massachusetts, and a cold war brooded between the colonies throughout the colonial era.

Furthermore, many of the tribes who lived in Rhode Island also lived in and/or heavily interacted with Massachusetts. The indigenous inhabitants of area were several tribes of the Algonquian Indians, including the Wampanoag, the Narragansett, and the Pequot, among others. Memorably, the names of cities, rivers, etc. reflect the predominant thriving Indian culture in the early years of colonization, including the following: Narragansett Bay, Massachusetts, Massasoit, Nantucket, Mashpee, Natick, and I could go on. One has but to view a map of the area and be overwhelmed by everything from gold courses to creeks that bear names which are obviously Algonquian. When the English arrived just east of Rhode Island in Massachusetts, they were certainly not alone.

The entire Massachusetts May and Narragansett Bay areas were heavily populated with Algonquian speaking peoples. The various tribes had different dialects but seemed able to easily communicate among themselves. The tribes shared many aspects of their culture. They were hunters, fishers, and farmers. They had already cleared much of the land just inland, where they had built a multitude of villages boasting tens of thousands of people in total. They had a complex government system, and even a road system. Though previous bouts with European sicknesses had reduced the numbers of some tribes, the result was hardly a vacuum domicilian in general, but simply the opportunity for other tribes to increase their power over of the others (I am referring here chiefly to the rise of the Narragansett as the dominant tribe in Rhode Island.)

As for the English settlers in Providence, I'll focus on the "first contact" of Roger Williams and his group of immigrants with the native tribes. Of course, the Indians had previous contact with the English, French, and Dutch, some of it relatively fair trade, and some of it unfriendly. There had been occasional kidnapping on both sides, and even a few deaths. Both sides were still trying to maintain some form of civility however, mainly as they both sought trade with each other, and at any rate Williams' little band seemed to have little trouble living alongside the Indians. Surely this was largely owing to the fact that that group of people were not seeking gold or glory, and while they were in a way seeking God, their main objective was not evangelicalism. They were not seeking territory expansion, only a home for their small company; their leader did not consider the King of England to be sovereign over the land, and therefore only lived on land they had fairly purchased from the natives; and also, Williams himself being a brilliant linguist, he soon required no interpreter when speaking with the various tribes.

The founding of Providence by Roger Williams and his “twelve friends,” however, hardly represents the whole of Rhode Island’s history. As the colony grew, and England’s interest was piqued, greed from various directions began to overtake the colony’s once peaceful and almost unnoticed beginnings.

SOURCES:

Conforti, Joseph A. Saints and Strangers: New England in British North America. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. 2006.

http://www.wampanoagtribe.net/Pages/index

Roger's Religious Refugees

To find the most prevalent popular stories about Rhode Island’s heritage, I read information listed on the popular websites listed below. Most of this information seems to be true, thought of course simplified and lacking some credentials.

The most famous colonist associated with Rhode Island is Roger Williams, a Puritan dissenter who advocated fair trade with the Indians. Williams was a Baptist-turned-Seeker of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A zealous man, he loved to debate theology and civil convictions. Three issues – favoring freedom and non-conformity in religion, complete separation of church and state, and disapproval of the English practice claiming American lands for the King despite any native population already inhabiting it – set him at odds with the Church of England that the Puritans brought to America. Williams was hardly popular in Plymouth when he proclaimed that he believed the colonies charters to be invalid, seeing they had never been approved by the Indians. Williams eventually moved to Salem, but his views there were hardly any better received. In 1635 Williams was banished from the church, and subsequently, from the colony.

This banishment was a civilized as possible: Williams was given several months to get his affairs in order and return to England. Instead he chose the life of an exile, and embarked alone on a 105-mile trek into the northern Massachusetts woods.  There he lived 3 months with the native Wampanoag tribe, whom he seems to have been friends with previously, and reportedly he was well-received by their chief Massasoit also. It is a bit unclear where his wife was at this point, though eventually she and their 2 children ended up living with Roger again. Within a few months, several other banished people and a few friends had joined Williams and it seemed reasonable to built a settlement together. But this Williams would not do without permission from the Indians. So the tiny group of 12 people pooled their money and in 1636 purchased a plot of land from the Narragansett Indian tribe. Williams named the village Providence, after the provision and good providence of God. By this time his wife and children had joined him, and he had a third child born, the first baby ever born in Providence, whom he named Providence also.

By 1637 some more Puritan dissenters had been sent to Williams; banishment becoming the Puritans new favorite treatment of dissenters, as compared to execution it called less attention and gave less of an appearance of failure to the King back at home. Between 1637 and 1640 the colony grew somewhat, town agreements were signed, and thus Roger Williams founded the first American city based on the principles of complete liberty of conscience concerning religion, the government restricted to civil matters only. The colonists had expanded their territory also, having now purchased Aquidneck Island – present day Rhode Island.

Though mainly focused on religious freedom, Williams was no fool politically. Although he regarded the Kings authority over American lands as ludicrous, he knew to successfully prosper the colonists would need England’s stamp of approval. Therefore Williams traveled to London and in 1644 he obtained a charter from the King granting him the land.

Williams was also a gifted linguist, and while in London in 1643 he had published his first book entitled “A Key into the Languages of America.” This remarkable book detailed his studies of several native American languages, particularly Narragansett. Amazingly, after the language died out later due to the later British take-over, it was Williams’ book that preserved it, at least partially.

The next year (the year in which Williams obtained the charter) he published his most famous book, “The Bloody Tenet of Persecution, for Cause of Conscience”. It is worth mentioning that in 1652 on his second trip to England, Williams published a sequel in which he detailed the recent historical conflicts over religion, and the millions of martyrs who had died on each side simply for insisting upon “liberty of conscience,” and idea particularly dear to Williams.

 

The peace between the Rhode Island settlers and the Indians was so remarkable for several decades, that the neighboring colonies began to fear their friendship as an alliance, and for almost a hundred years after the original founding of Providence the other colonies sought to uproot the settlement altogether. They obviously did not succeed, however war did arise in 1675-76 between Massasoit’s son Metacomet, dubbed King Philip by the British, and the Massachusettes and Connecticut colonies. Eventually the Narragansetts joined the Wampanoags in not only attacking the Massachusetts Bay cities but even burning Providence itself, though they cook care to warn the settlers first so there was no loss of life. Sadly the efforts made by Roger Williams could not forge a lasting bond, as King Philip was naturally distrustful of the European settlers, foreseeing that what the English had once traded for in a time of need, when stronger and greater in numbers, they would eventually take by force. It turned out King Philip was right.

SOURCES:

Mormul, Michelle M. and Morse , Jarvis M. “Providence Plantations, Rhode Island and.” Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. Vol. 6. 3rd ed. Page 519. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. p519. Accessed online: Gale, Cengage Learning.

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h584.html

Welcome to Rhode Island!

Hi there, I'm Molly Gault and I'm researching colonial Rhode Island. I'm from Pennsylvania originally, and growing up in that historically-rich area I have always been interested in the founding of the New England and Middle Colonies especially. We were constantly touring landmarks such as Philadelphia's Liberty Bell, Civil War battlefields, etc. however I never learned very much about Rhode Island. The only thing I remember in reading in school reading was that its founder, Roger Williams,  founded the colony to create a "safe zone" for the religiously persecuted. I'll be learning more as I work on this blog!