159-599: 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 1707, and then a colony of Great Britain until the American Revolution in 1776, when it became the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations . The land
318-517: A cash crop. In 1632, King Charles I granted the charter for the Province of Maryland to Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore . Calvert's father had been a prominent Catholic official who encouraged Catholic immigration to the English colonies. The charter offered no guidelines on religion. The Province of Carolina was the second attempted English settlement south of Virginia, the first being
477-603: A desire to enlist Mohawk aid in the conflict. New York was a non-belligerent, but Governor Edmund Andros was nonetheless concerned at the arrival of the Wampanoag sachem. Either with Andros' sanction, or of their own accord, the Mohawk—traditional rivals of the Algonquian people—launched a surprise assault against a 500-warrior band under Metacomet's command the following February. The coup de main resulted in
636-610: A few small towns in the interior between Boston and the Connecticut River settlements. Meanwhile, with the death of Ousamequin, Native diplomacy with the settlers fell apart, as colonists tried negotiating with Wamsutta in the same role they did with Ousamequin, but slighted female Native rulers ( saunkswkas ) of the land and erroneously claimed Sakonnet and Pocasset land as freely given. This created further tension between colonists and Natives, as colonial Puritan beliefs did not recognize female leaders as legitimate, despite
795-574: A force of 400, composed of 300 Connecticut colonial militia and about 100 Mohegan and Pequot warriors, and Quaiapen was killed along with the leaders as they sought refuge in Mattekonnit (Mattity) Swamp in North Smithfield , while the remainder of the survivors were sold into slavery. Metacomet's allies began to desert him, and more than 400 had surrendered to the colonists by early July. Metacomet took refuge back at Assawompset Pond ,
954-661: A full-scale attack on Swansea, killing three. On June 27, 1675, a full eclipse of the moon occurred in the New England area, and various tribes in New England thought it a good omen for attacking the colonists. Officials from the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies responded quickly to the attacks on Swansea; on June 28, they sent a punitive military expedition that destroyed the Wampanoag town at Mount Hope in Bristol, Rhode Island . The war quickly spread and soon involved
1113-483: A great fear that any of their people "should be called or forced to be Christian Indians". Metacom began negotiating with the other Algonquian tribes against the Plymouth Colony in the winter of 1674–1675, soon after the death of his father and, within a year, of his brother Wamsutta. However, conflict abounded, even amidst tribes and families. Two months before the outbreak of the war, Awashonk's, leader of
1272-657: A group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America during the 17th and 18th centuries. Grievances against the imperial government led the 13 colonies to begin uniting in 1774, and expelling British officials by 1775. Assembled at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia , after armed conflict had broken out in April, they appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief of
1431-544: A group of 13 other men bought Aquidneck Island from the Narragansett Indians in 1639, and the population of Newport, Rhode Island grew from 96 in 1640 to 7,500 in 1760 (making Newport the fifth-largest city in the Thirteen Colonies at the time), and Newport grew further to 9,209 by 1774. The black population in the colony grew from 25 in 1650 to 3,668 in 1774 (ranging between 3 and 10 percent of
1590-516: A long-standing dispute concerning the former Narragansett lands which were also claimed by Connecticut and Massachusetts, although the dispute continued until 1703, when the arbitration award was upheld. After repeated surveys, a mutually agreeable line was defined and surveyed in 1728. The eastern boundary was an area of dispute with Massachusetts Bay Colony . Overlapping charters had awarded an area extending three miles inland to both Plymouth Colony and Rhode Island east of Narragansett Bay; this area
1749-585: A massive fort in a frozen swamp. The cold weather in December froze the swamp so that it was relatively easy to traverse. The colonial force found the Narragansett fort on December 19, 1675 near South Kingstown, Rhode Island . About 1,000 troops attacked, including about 150 Pequot and Mohegan allies. It is believed that the militia killed about 600 Narragansetts. They burned the fort (occupying over 5 acres (20,000 m ) of land) and destroyed most of
SECTION 10
#17327731111361908-476: A part of Massachusetts until achieving statehood in 1820. In 1685, King James II of England closed the legislatures and consolidated the New England colonies into the Dominion of New England , putting the region under the control of Governor Edmund Andros . In 1688, the colonies of New York, West Jersey, and East Jersey were added to the dominion. Andros was overthrown and the dominion was closed in 1689, after
2067-648: A proprietary colony of Quaker William Penn . The main population elements included the Quaker population based in Philadelphia, a Scotch-Irish population on the Western frontier, and numerous German colonies in between. Philadelphia became the largest city in the colonies with its central location, excellent port, and a population of about 30,000. The Pilgrims were a small group of Puritan separatists who felt that they needed to distance themselves physically from
2226-634: A sanctuary for religious and intellectual freedom. On May 4, 1776, Rhode Island became the first of the 13 colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, and it was the fourth to ratify the Articles of Confederation among the newly sovereign states on February 9, 1778. It boycotted the 1787 convention that drew up the United States Constitution , and initially refused to ratify it. It relented after Congress sent
2385-513: A series of constitutional amendments to the states for ratification, the Bill of Rights guaranteeing specific personal freedoms and rights, clear limitations on the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and explicit declarations that all powers not specifically delegated to Congress by the Constitution are reserved for the states or the people. On May 29, 1790, Rhode Island became
2544-500: A settlement near Providence Plantations which they called Shawomet. However, Massachusetts Bay attempted to seize the land and put it under their own authority, so Gorton travelled to London to gain a charter from the King. Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick assisted him in gaining the charter, so he changed the name of the settlement to Warwick. Roger Williams secured a Royal Charter from the King in 1663 which united all four settlements into
2703-477: A sign of goodwill. The Wabanakis began raiding trading posts and attacking settlers. The Wabanakis decimate the colonial settlements east of the Saco River under the leadership of Androscoggin sagamore Mogg Hegon and Penobscot sagamore Madockawando . The Indians made three major attacks in 1675 , 1676 , and 1677 , most of which led to a massive colonial response. Richard Waldron and Charles Frost led
2862-520: A time of increased English immigration. The colonists progressively expanded throughout the territories of the several Algonquian -speaking tribes in the region. Prior to King Philip's War, tensions fluctuated between Native tribes and the colonists. The Narragansetts fought alongside the English colonists in the Pequot War and participated in the Mystic massacre but were horrified afterwards. With
3021-406: A train of wagons carrying the harvest from Deerfield to Hadley . They killed at least 40 militia men and 17 teamsters out of a company that included 79 militia. The Natives next attacked Springfield, Massachusetts on October 5, 1675, the Connecticut River's largest settlement at the time. They burned to the ground nearly all of Springfield's buildings, including the town's grist mill. Most of
3180-591: A war that served European interests more than their own. This dispute was a link in the chain of events that soon brought about the American Revolution. The British were left with large debts following the French and Indian War, so British leaders decided to increase taxation and control of the Thirteen Colonies. They imposed several new taxes, beginning with the Sugar Act of 1764. Later acts included
3339-848: A year before the more famous Boston Tea Party . Leading figures in the colony were involved in the 1776 launch of the American Revolutionary War which brought American independence from the British Empire . This included Governors Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Ward , as well as John Brown , Nicholas Brown , William Ellery , the Reverend James Manning , and the Reverend Ezra Stiles , each of whom had played an influential role in founding Brown University in Providence in 1764 as
SECTION 20
#17327731111363498-699: Is named for Metacom , the Pokanoket chief and sachem of the Wampanoag who adopted the English name Philip because of the friendly relations between his father Massasoit and the Plymouth Colony . The war continued in the most northern reaches of New England until the signing of the Treaty of Casco Bay on April 12, 1678. Massasoit had maintained a long-standing alliance with the colonists and Metacom ( c. 1638–1676 ), his younger son, became
3657-454: Is today Canada . The Thirteen Colonies were separate entities under the Crown, but had similar political, constitutional, and legal systems, and each was dominated by Protestant English-speakers. The first of the colonies, Virginia, was established at Jamestown , in 1607. The New England Colonies, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, were substantially motivated by their founders' concerns related to
3816-570: The Algonquian family . John Sassamon was a Native convert to Christianity, commonly referred to as a " praying Indian ". He played a key role as a cultural mediator, negotiating with both colonists and Natives while belonging to neither party. He was an early graduate of Harvard College and served as a translator and adviser to Metacomet. He reported to the governor of Plymouth Colony that Metacomet planned to gather allies for Native attacks on widely dispersed colonial settlements. Metacomet
3975-491: The Appalachian Mountains , as this was designated an Indian Reserve . Some groups of settlers disregarded the proclamation, however, and continued to move west and establish farms. The proclamation was modified and was no longer a hindrance to settlement, but the fact angered the colonists that it had been promulgated without their prior consultation. Parliament had directly levied duties and excise taxes on
4134-582: The Boston Tea Party in 1773 when the Sons of Liberty dumped thousands of pounds of tea into the water. Tensions escalated in 1774 as Parliament passed the laws known as the Intolerable Acts , which greatly restricted self-government in the colony of Massachusetts. These laws also allowed British military commanders to claim colonial homes for the quartering of soldiers, regardless of whether
4293-534: The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations . Other colonists settled to the north, mingling with adventurers and profit-oriented settlers to establish more religiously diverse colonies in New Hampshire and Maine . Massachusetts absorbed these small settlements when it made significant land claims in the 1640s and 1650s, but New Hampshire was eventually given a separate charter in 1679. Maine remained
4452-709: The Continental Army to fight the American Revolutionary War . In 1776, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence as the United States of America and, asserting its sovereignty, the United States allied with Britain's enemy, France. Defeating British armies with its French ally, the former Thirteen Colonies had its sovereignty recognized by Britain in the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The Thirteen Colonies in their traditional groupings were:
4611-691: The Currency Act of 1764 , the Stamp Act of 1765 , and the Townshend Acts of 1767. Colonial newspapers and printers in particular took strong exception against the Stamp Act which imposed a tax on newspapers and official documents, and played a central role in disseminating literature among the colonists against such taxes and the idea of taxation without colonial representation. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 restricted settlement west of
4770-715: The Glorious Revolution deposed King James II; the former colonies were re-established. According to Guy Miller, the Rebellion of 1689 was the "climax of the 60-year-old struggle between the government in England and the Puritans of Massachusetts over the question of who was to rule the Bay colony." In 1702, East and West Jersey were combined to form the Province of New Jersey . The northern and southern sections of
4929-824: The Great Swamp Fight . An estimated 600 Narragansetts were killed, and their coalition was taken over by Narragansett sachem Canonchet . They pushed back the borders of the Massachusetts Bay , Plymouth, and Rhode Island colonies, burning towns as they went, including Providence in March 1676. However, the colonial militia overwhelmed the Native coalition. By the end of the war, the Wampanoags and their Narragansett allies were almost completely destroyed. On August 12, 1676, Metacom fled to Mount Hope where he
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations - Misplaced Pages Continue
5088-725: The New England Colonies ( New Hampshire , Massachusetts , Rhode Island , and Connecticut ); the Middle Colonies ( New York , New Jersey , Pennsylvania , and Delaware ); and the Southern Colonies ( Maryland , Virginia , North Carolina , South Carolina , and Georgia ). These colonies were part of British America , which also included territory in The Floridas , the Caribbean , and what
5247-596: The New England Confederation in 1643, and all New England colonies were included in the Dominion of New England (1686–1689). The Province of Carolina was initially chartered in 1629 and initial settlements were established after 1651. That charter was voided in 1660 by Charles II and a new charter was issued in 1663, making it a proprietary colony. The Carolina province was divided into separate proprietary colonies, north and south in 1712, before both became royal colonies in 1729. Earlier, along
5406-574: The New Haven , Saybrook , and Connecticut colonies. During the 17th century, the New Haven and Saybrook colonies were absorbed by Connecticut. Roger Williams established Providence Plantations in 1636 on land provided by Narragansett sachem Canonicus . Williams was a Puritan who preached religious tolerance, separation of Church and State , and a complete break with the Church of England. He
5565-777: The Plymouth Company and the London Company for the purpose of establishing permanent settlements in America. The London Company established the Colony of Virginia in 1607, the first permanently settled English colony on the continent. The Plymouth Company founded the Popham Colony on the Kennebec River , but it was short-lived. The Plymouth Council for New England sponsored several colonization projects, culminating with Plymouth Colony in 1620 which
5724-635: The Podunk and Nipmuc tribes. During the summer of 1675, the Natives attacked at Middleborough and Dartmouth, Massachusetts (July 8), Mendon, Massachusetts (July 14), Brookfield, Massachusetts (August 2), and Lancaster, Massachusetts (August 9). In early September, they attacked Deerfield , Hadley , and Northfield, Massachusetts . Wheeler's Surprise and the ensuing Siege of Brookfield were fought in August 1675, between Nipmucs under Muttawmp and
5883-546: The Rhode Island General Assembly passed a gradual emancipation law that increased the ratio of the free black population in Rhode Island to 78 percent by the 1790 U.S. Census; slavery was completely eliminated in Rhode Island by 1842. 41°32′38″N 71°22′37″W / 41.544°N 71.377°W / 41.544; -71.377 Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were
6042-582: The Sakonnet , son Mammanuah signed a deed granting English colonizers the right to all the land from Pocasset Neck south to the sea. At the start of planting season, conflict erupted while new settlers began to plant on lands tenured under the rule of Awashonks, who did not approve her son's selling of the land. Mammanuah was confronted by his mother and other members of his tribe. He was stripped of his title by his relatives but allowed to leave with his life. Mammanuah sought restitution at Plymouth, where his title
6201-479: The Wampanoag Confederacy in 1662 after the death of his older brother Grand Sachem Wamsutta (called "Alexander" by the colonists), who had succeeded their father Massasoit (d. 1661) as chief. Metacom was well known to the colonists before his ascension as paramount chief to the Wampanoags. But, he ultimately distrusted the colonists. Conflict increased between the Wampanoags and settlers due to
6360-610: The Wampanoags , Nipmucs , Narragansetts , Mohegans , Pequots , and other tribes of New England, whose territories historically had differing boundaries. Many of the neighboring tribes had been traditional competitors and enemies. As the colonial population increased, the New Englanders expanded their settlements along the region's coastal plain and up the Connecticut River valley. By 1675, they had established
6519-612: The War of the Austrian Succession , but most colonists called it King George's War . In 1745, British and colonial forces captured the town of Louisbourg , and the war came to an end with the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle . However, many colonists were angered when Britain returned Louisbourg to France in return for Madras and other territories. In the aftermath of the war, both the British and French sought to expand into
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations - Misplaced Pages Continue
6678-415: The 13 colonies. During the 1750s, the colonies began collaborating with one another instead of dealing directly with Britain. With the help of colonial printers and newspapers , these inter-colonial activities and concerns were shared and led to calls for protection of the colonists' " Rights as Englishmen ", especially the principle of " no taxation without representation ". Late 18th century conflicts with
6837-406: The 13th state and the last of the former colonies to ratify the Constitution. The boundaries of Rhode Island underwent numerous changes from early Colonial times well after American independence, including repeated disputes with Massachusetts and Connecticut who contested for control of territory that ultimately belonged to Rhode Island. Rhode Island's early compacts did not stipulate the boundary on
6996-407: The 1740s, the Thirteen Colonies underwent the First Great Awakening . In 1738, an incident involving a Welsh mariner named Robert Jenkins sparked the War of Jenkins' Ear between Britain and Spain. Hundreds of North Americans volunteered for Admiral Edward Vernon 's assault on Cartagena de Indias , a Spanish city in South America. The war against Spain merged into a broader conflict known as
7155-425: The 1754 Albany Congress , Pennsylvania colonist Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan which would have created a unified government of the Thirteen Colonies for coordination of defense and other matters, but the plan was rejected by the leaders of most colonies. In the Treaty of Paris (1763) , France formally ceded to Britain the eastern part of its vast North American empire, having secretly given to Spain
7314-430: The 1777 Articles of Confederation . King Philip%27s War Northern New England: King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War , Metacom's War , Metacomet's War , Pometacomet's Rebellion , or Metacom's Rebellion ) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands against the English New England Colonies and their indigenous allies. The war
7473-448: The 18th century. Mass migration from New England to the Province of New York and the Province of New Jersey began following the surrender of New Netherland by the Dutch Republic at Fort Amsterdam in 1664, and the population of New York continued to expand by families moving from New England in the 18th century rather than from natural increase. Most Puritan immigrants to New England moved as families, as approximately two-thirds of
7632-427: The American civilians were willing or not to have soldiers in their homes. The laws further revoked colonial rights to hold trials in cases involving soldiers or crown officials, forcing such trials to be held in England rather than in America. Parliament also sent Thomas Gage to serve as Governor of Massachusetts and as the commander of British forces in North America. By 1774, colonists still hoped to remain part of
7791-457: The Atlantic coast supplied the Atlantic market with beaver fur and deerskins. America had an advantage in natural resources and established its own thriving shipbuilding industry, and many American merchants engaged in the transatlantic trade. Improved economic conditions and easing of religious persecution in Europe made it more difficult to recruit labor to the colonies, and many colonies became increasingly reliant on slave labor, particularly in
7950-497: The British Empire, but discontentment was widespread concerning British rule throughout the Thirteen Colonies. Colonists elected delegates to the First Continental Congress , which convened in Philadelphia in September 1774. In the aftermath of the Intolerable Acts, the delegates asserted that the colonies owed allegiance only to the king; they would accept royal governors as agents of the king, but they were no longer willing to recognize Parliament's right to pass legislation affecting
8109-464: The British force at the April 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord , then lay siege to Boston . By spring 1775, all royal officials had been expelled, and the Continental Congress hosted a convention of delegates for the Thirteen Colonies. It raised an army to fight the British and named George Washington its commander, made treaties, declared independence, and recommended that the colonies write constitutions and become states, later enumerated in
SECTION 50
#17327731111368268-485: The British government over taxes and rights led to the American Revolution , in which the Thirteen Colonies joined together for the first time to form the Continental Congress and raised the Continental Army , declaring independence in 1776. They fought the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) with the aid of the Kingdom of France and, to a much lesser degree, the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of Spain . In 1606, King James I of England granted charters to both
8427-419: The Carolina colony operated more or less independently until 1691 when Philip Ludwell was appointed governor of the entire province. From that time until 1708, the northern and southern settlements remained under one government. However, during this period, the two halves of the province began increasingly to be known as North Carolina and South Carolina, as the descendants of the colony's proprietors fought over
8586-436: The Church of England, which they perceived as corrupted. They initially moved to the Netherlands, but eventually sailed to America in 1620 on the Mayflower . Upon their arrival, they drew up the Mayflower Compact , by which they bound themselves together as a united community, thus establishing the small Plymouth Colony . William Bradford was their main leader. After its founding, other settlers traveled from England to join
8745-448: The Coddington Commission, which made him life governor of the islands of Rhode Island and Conanicut in a federation with Connecticut Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony . Protest, open rebellion, and a further petition to Oliver Cromwell in London led to the reinstatement of the original 1643 Patent. Following the 1660 restoration of royal rule in England, it was necessary to gain a Royal Charter from King Charles II . Charles
8904-504: The English population migrated to America after 1700, but the colonies attracted new immigrants from other European countries. These immigrants traveled to all of the colonies, but the Middle Colonies attracted the most and continued to be more ethnically diverse than the other colonies. Numerous settlers immigrated from Ireland, both Catholic and Protestant—particularly " New Light " Ulster Presbyterians . Protestant Germans also immigrated in large numbers, particularly to Pennsylvania. In
9063-471: The Great Lakes and Ohio valley. The French and Indian War took on a new significance for the British North American colonists when William Pitt the Elder decided that major military resources needed to be devoted to North America in order to win the war against France. For the first time, the continent became one of the main theaters of what could be termed a world war . During the war, it became increasingly apparent to American colonists that they were under
9222-409: The Lords combined their remaining capital and financed a settlement mission to the area led by Sir John Colleton . The expedition located fertile and defensible ground at Charleston , originally Charles Town for Charles II of England . Beginning in 1609, Dutch traders established fur trading posts on the Hudson River , Delaware River , and Connecticut River , seeking to protect their interests in
9381-541: The Massachusett and Pawtucket tribes living around Massachusetts Bay and extending northwest to Maine. The Wampanoags and Pokanokets of Plymouth and eastern Rhode Island are thought to have numbered fewer than 1,000. About one in four were considered to be warriors. By then, the Natives had almost universally adopted steel knives, tomahawks, and flintlock muskets as their weapons. The various tribes had no common government. They had distinct cultures and often warred among themselves, although they all spoke related languages from
9540-432: The Massachusetts Bay General Court, Gorton traveled to London to enlist the help of Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick , head of the Commission for Foreign Plantations. Damon returned in 1648 with a letter from Rich ordering Massachusetts to cease molesting him and his people. In gratitude, he changed the name of Shawomet Plantation to Warwick . In 1651, William Coddington obtained a separate charter from England setting up
9699-432: The Massachusetts Bay colony, which then included the southwestern portion of Maine and southern New Hampshire until 1679. The towns had about 16,000 men of military age who were almost all part of the militia, as universal training was prevalent in all colonial New England towns. Many towns had built strong garrison houses for defense, and others had stockades enclosing most of the houses. All of these were strengthened as
SECTION 60
#17327731111369858-524: The Narragansett Bay after Christian virtues: Patience , Prudence , and Hope Islands . In 1637, another group of Massachusetts dissenters settled on Aquidneck Island , which was called Rhode Island at the time. They established a settlement called Pocasset at the northern end of the island. The group included William Coddington , John Clarke , and Anne and William Hutchinson , among others. That settlement, however, quickly split into two separate settlements. Samuel Gorton and others remained to establish
10017-475: The Narragansetts counterattacked under Canonchet, assembling an army of 2,000 men. They burned Providence, including Roger William's house. The Narragansetts were finally defeated when Canonchet was captured and executed in April 1676; then female sachem Queen Quaiapen and approximately 138 supporters were killed in an ambush. In December 1675, Metacomet established a winter camp in Schaghticoke , New York. His reason for moving into New York has been attributed to
10176-434: The Natives. The next colonial expedition was to recover crops from abandoned fields along the Connecticut River for the coming winter and included almost 100 farmers and militia, plus teamsters to drive the wagons. The Battle of Bloody Brook was fought on September 12, 1675, between militia from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and a band of Natives led by Nipmuc sachem Muttawmp . The Natives ambushed colonists escorting
10335-549: The Natives; Captain Samuel Wadsworth lost his life and half of a 70-man militia in such an ambush. It was the last major victory by the indigenous coalition of the war. On May 19, 1676, Captain William Turner of the Massachusetts Militia and about 150 militia volunteers (mostly minimally trained farmers) attacked a Native fishing camp at Peskeopscut on the Connecticut River now called Turners Falls, Massachusetts . The colonists killed approximately 200 Natives. The warriors were camped upstream at Smeads Island. Turner and nearly 40 of
10494-587: The New England Colonies (including those without resident clergy), while there was a small Jewish enclave in Newport by 1658. Following the First Great Awakening (1730–1755), the number of regular places of worship in Rhode Island grew to 50 in 1750 (30 Baptist, 12 Congregational, 7 Anglican , and 1 Jewish), with the colony gaining an additional 5 regular places of worship by 1776 (26 Baptist, 11 Friends , 9 Congregational , 5 Episcopal , 1 Jewish, 1 New Light Congregational , 1 Presbyterian , and 1 Sandemanian ). Puritan mass migration to New England began following
10653-489: The New World. In fact, Rowlandson’s captivity narrative is largely the basis of many understanding’s about Weetamoo’s role in the war. The Lancaster raid in February 1676 was a Native attack on the community of Lancaster, Massachusetts . Philip led a force of 1,500 Wampanoag , Nipmuc , and Narragansett men in a dawn attack on the isolated village, which then included the neighboring communities of Bolton and Clinton . They attacked five fortified houses. They set fire to
10812-458: The Ohio River valley. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was the American extension of the general European conflict known as the Seven Years' War . Previous colonial wars in North America had started in Europe and then spread to the colonies, but the French and Indian War is notable for having started in North America and spread to Europe. One of the primary causes of the war was increasing competition between Britain and France, especially in
10971-422: The Pequot War, became a part of the colony in 1664, and was incorporated in 1672 as New Shoreham . The western boundary with Connecticut Colony was defined ambiguously as the "Narragansett River" in the Connecticut charter, which was decided by arbitrators in 1663 to be the Pawcatuck River from its mouth to the Ashaway River mouth, from which a northward line was drawn to the Massachusetts line. This resolved
11130-478: The South. The population of slaves in America grew dramatically between 1680 and 1750, and the growth was driven by a mixture of forced immigration and the reproduction of slaves. Slaves supported vast plantation economies in the South, while slaves in the North worked in a variety of occupations. There were a few local attempted slave revolts, such as the Stono Rebellion and the New York Conspiracy of 1741 , but these uprisings were suppressed. A small proportion of
11289-409: The Wampanoag settlement near which John Sassamon had been found dead before the outset of the war, but the colonists formed raiding parties with indigenous allies, and he retreated southwest towards Rhode Island . Metacomet was killed by one of these teams when Captain Benjamin Church and Captain Josiah Standish of the Plymouth Colony militia tracked him to Mount Hope in Bristol, Rhode Island . He
11448-574: The Wampanoags and their allied tribes spread word of English locations, encampments, and attacks in order to warn other resisting Native Americans. Weetamoo later formed an alliance at Narragansett with the Nipmuc in order to create a larger Native cause. The account written and published by Mary Rowlandson after the war gives a colonial captive's perspective on the conflict. Rowlandson was captured by Nipmucs and led miles through surrounding wilderness, keeping her captured through her lack of knowledge of
11607-512: The ambush was an attack on Brookfield, Massachusetts , and the consequent besieging of the remains of the colonial force. The Nipmucs harried the settlers for two days, until they were driven off by a newly arrived force of colonial soldiers under the command of Major Simon Willard . The siege took place at Ayers' Garrison in West Brookfield , but the location of the initial ambush was a subject of extensive controversy among historians in
11766-526: The area south of the Carolinas be colonized with the "worthy poor" of England to provide an alternative to the overcrowded debtors' prisons. Oglethorpe and other English philanthropists secured a royal charter as the Trustees of the colony of Georgia on June 9, 1732. Oglethorpe and his compatriots hoped to establish a utopian colony that banned slavery and recruited only the most worthy settlers, but by 1750
11925-678: The assault, but the Natives had demonstrated their ability to penetrate deep into colonial territory. They attacked three more settlements; Longmeadow (near Springfield), Marlborough, and Simsbury were attacked two weeks later. They killed Captain Pierce and a company of Massachusetts soldiers between Pawtucket and the Blackstone's settlement. They tortured several colonial men to death and buried them at Nine Men's Misery in Cumberland as part of their ritual torture of enemies. They also burned
12084-400: The authority of the British Empire , as British military and civilian officials took on an increased presence in their lives. The war also increased a sense of American unity in other ways. It caused men to travel across the continent who might otherwise have never left their own colony, fighting alongside men from decidedly different backgrounds who were nonetheless still American. Throughout
12243-495: The base for extensive trade with the English colonies, and many products from New England and Virginia were carried to Europe on Dutch ships. The Dutch also engaged in the burgeoning Atlantic slave trade , bringing some enslaved Africans to the English colonies in North America, although many more were sent to Barbados and Brazil. The West India Company desired to grow New Netherland as it became commercially successful, yet
12402-430: The bread basket of New England, but they had to limit their plantings and work in large armed groups for self-protection. Towns such as Springfield , Hatfield , Hadley , and Northampton, Massachusetts fortified themselves, reinforced their militias, and held their ground, though attacked several times. The small towns of Northfield , Deerfield , and several others were abandoned as the surviving settlers retreated to
12561-480: The cities of Philadelphia, New York, and Boston had a population of more than 16,000, which was small by European standards. By 1770, the economic output of the Thirteen Colonies made up forty percent of the gross domestic product of the entire British Empire. As the 18th century progressed, colonists began to settle far from the Atlantic coast. Pennsylvania, Virginia, Connecticut, and Maryland all laid claim to
12720-584: The coast eastward to the Kennebec River. These communities were scattered and lacked fortifications. The defenseless posture of English settlements reflected the amicable relationship between Wabanakis and colonists up to that time. Upon hearing news of the Wampanoag attack on Swansea, colonists in York marched up the Kennebec River in June 1675 and demanded that Wabanakis turn over their guns and ammunition as
12879-666: The coast, the Roanoke Colony was established in 1585, re-established in 1587, and found abandoned in 1590. The first British colony was Jamestown , established on May 14, 1607 near Chesapeake Bay . The business venture was financed and coordinated by the London Virginia Company , a joint-stock company looking for gold. Its first years were extremely difficult, with very high death rates from disease and starvation, wars with local Indians, and little gold. The colony survived and flourished by turning to tobacco as
13038-723: The colonial forces in the northern region. Waldron sent forces that attacked the Mi'kmaq in Acadia . Mogg Hegon repeatedly attacked towns such as Black Point ( Scarborough ), Wells, and Damariscove , building a flotilla out of the approximately 40 sloops and a dozen 30-ton ships previously armed by militia. Maine's fishing industry was completely destroyed by the Wabanaki flotilla. Records from Salem record 20 ketches stolen and destroyed in one raid in Maine. The Wabanakis sued for peace in 1677, and
13197-496: The colonies formed bodies of elected representatives known as Provincial Congresses , and colonists began to boycott imported British merchandise. Later in 1774, 12 colonies sent representatives to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia . During the Second Continental Congress , the remaining colony of Georgia sent delegates as well. Massachusetts Governor Thomas Gage feared a confrontation with
13356-479: The colonies of East and West Florida . In removing a major foreign threat to the thirteen colonies, the war also largely removed the colonists' need for colonial protection. The British and colonists triumphed jointly over a common foe. The colonists' loyalty to the mother country was stronger than ever before. However, disunity was beginning to form. British Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder had decided to wage
13515-554: The colonies, bypassing the colonial legislatures, and Americans began to insist on the principle of " no taxation without representation " with intense protests over the Stamp Act of 1765 . They argued that the colonies had no representation in the British Parliament, so it was a violation of their rights as Englishmen for taxes to be imposed upon them. Parliament rejected the colonial protests and asserted its authority by passing new taxes. Colonial discontentment grew with
13674-455: The colonies. In the 18th century, the British government operated under a policy of mercantilism , in which the central government administered its colonies for Britain's economic benefit. The 13 colonies had a degree of self-governance and active local elections , and they resisted London's demands for more control over them. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) against France and its Indian allies led to growing tensions between Britain and
13833-624: The colonies. Most delegates opposed an attack on the British position in Boston, and the Continental Congress instead agreed to the imposition of a boycott known as the Continental Association . The boycott proved effective and the value of British imports dropped dramatically. The Thirteen Colonies became increasingly divided between Patriots opposed to British rule and Loyalists who supported it. In response,
13992-624: The colonists of Massachusetts Bay under the command of Thomas Wheeler and Captain Edward Hutchinson . The battle consisted of an initial ambush on August 2, 1675 by the Nipmucs against Wheeler's unsuspecting party. Eight men from Wheeler's company died during the ambush: Zechariah Phillips of Boston, Timothy Farlow of Billerica, Edward Coleborn of Chelmsford, Samuel Smedly of Concord, Shadrach Hapgood of Sudbury, Sergeant Eyres, Sergeant Prichard, and Corporal Coy of Brookfield. Following
14151-486: The colonists' distrust remained. On November 2, Plymouth Colony Governor Josiah Winslow led a combined force of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Connecticut militia against the Narragansett tribe. The colonists distrusted the tribe and their various alliances. As the colonial forces went through Rhode Island, they found and burned several Native towns which had been abandoned by the Narragansetts, who had retreated to
14310-458: The colonists; he requested reinforcements from Britain, but the British government was not willing to pay for the expense of stationing tens of thousands of soldiers in the Thirteen Colonies. Gage was instead ordered to seize Patriot arsenals. He dispatched a force to march on the arsenal at Concord, Massachusetts , but the Patriots learned about it and blocked their advance. The Patriots repulsed
14469-578: The colony failed to attract the same level of settlement as the English colonies did. Many of those who did immigrate to the colony were English, German, Walloon , or Sephardim . In 1638, Sweden established the colony of New Sweden in the Delaware Valley . The operation was led by former members of the Dutch West India Company, including Peter Minuit. New Sweden established extensive trading contacts with English colonies to
14628-474: The colony remained sparsely populated. The proprietors gave up their charter in 1752, at which point Georgia became a crown colony. The population of the Thirteen Colonies grew immensely in the 18th century. According to historian Alan Taylor , the population was 1.5 million in 1750, which represented four-fifths of the population of British North America . More than 90 percent of the colonists lived as farmers, though some seaports also flourished. In 1760,
14787-486: The colony's population. The Rhode Island merchants also profited by distilling rum as part of the triangular trade in slaves and sugar between Africa, America, and the Caribbean . Rhode Island was the first of the Thirteen Colonies to take up arms against Great Britain in the Gaspee Affair , when an armed group of men attacked and burned a British Navy ship. This impromptu attack occurred in June, 1772, more than
14946-407: The colony, dominating the rural areas between Manhattan and Albany, while people from New England started moving in as well as immigrants from Germany. New York City attracted a large polyglot population, including a large black slave population. In 1674, the proprietary colonies of East Jersey and West Jersey were created from lands formerly part of New York. Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 as
15105-643: The colony. More Puritans immigrated in 1629 and established the Massachusetts Bay Colony with 400 settlers. They sought to reform the Church of England by creating a new, ideologically pure church in the New World. By 1640, 20,000 had arrived ; many died soon after arrival, but the others found a healthy climate and an ample food supply. The Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies together spawned other Puritan colonies in New England, including
15264-466: The conflict. Hundreds of Wampanoags and their allies were publicly executed or enslaved, and the Wampanoags were left effectively landless. King Philip's War began the development of an independent American identity. The New England colonists faced their enemies without support from any European government or military, and this began to give them a group identity separate and distinct from Britain. The early Plymouth Colony claimed preemptive rights to
15423-506: The conflict. Captives who had participated in attacks on the many settlements were hanged, enslaved, or put to indentured servitude, depending upon the colony involved. The Second Battle of Nipsachuck occurred on July 2, 1676 and included a rare use of a cavalry charge by the English colonists. In the summer of 1676, a band of over 100 Narragansetts led by female sachem Quaiapen returned to northern Rhode Island, apparently seeking to recover cached seed corn for planting. They were attacked by
15582-701: The context of the American Revolution . In London, beginning in 1660, all colonies were governed through a state department known as the Southern Department , and a committee of the Privy Council called the Board of Trade and Plantations . In 1768, a specific state department was created for America, but it was disbanded in 1782 when the Home Office took responsibility. Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven Colonies formed
15741-445: The continual intrusion of settlers' livestock onto Wampanoag farms and food stores, with few colonists taking more than half-hearted steps to prevent this in spite of regular complaints by the Wampanoags. Another grievance held by many Wampanoags was the attempts by colonial missionaries to convert them to Christianity; among those who expressed such grievances was Metacom himself, who declared that he and other Wampanoag leaders possessed
15900-572: The course of the war, British officers trained Americans for battle, most notably George Washington , which benefited the American cause during the Revolution. Also, colonial legislatures and officials had to cooperate intensively in pursuit of the continent-wide military effort. The relations were not always positive between the British military establishment and the colonists, setting the stage for later distrust and dislike of British troops. At
16059-454: The death of between 70 and 460 of the Wampanoags. Metacomet withdrew to New England, pursued by Mohawk forces who attacked Algonquian settlements and ambushed their supply parties. Over the next several months, fear of Mohawk attack led some Wampanoags to surrender to the colonists, and one historian described the decision of the Mohawks to engage Metacomet's forces as "the blow that lost
16218-527: The defeat of the Pequots, Narragansett leader Miantonomoh gathered groups of Algonquians together in the 1640s in the hope that they could face the colonists together. He was captured by colonists in Connecticut and executed by Mohegan sachem Uncas , shattering the coalition. The Rhode Island , Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut , and New Haven colonies each developed separate relations with
16377-447: The direction of the colony. The colonists of Charles Town finally deposed their governor and elected their own government. This marked the start of separate governments in the Province of North-Carolina and the Province of South Carolina . In 1729, the king formally revoked Carolina's colonial charter and established both North Carolina and South Carolina as crown colonies. In the 1730s, Parliamentarian James Oglethorpe proposed that
16536-455: The dominion collapsed and Rhode Island resumed its previous government. The bedrock of the economy continued to be fishing and agriculture, especially dairy farming; lumber and shipbuilding also became major industries. The Rhode Island General Assembly legalized African and Native American slavery throughout the colony in 1703, and the slave trade fueled the growth of Providence and Newport into major ports. By 1755, enslaved people made up 10% of
16695-529: The eastern shore of Narrangansett Bay, and did not include any of Washington County , land that belonged to the Narragansett people . The original settlements were at Providence , Warwick, Newport, and Portsmouth, and the territory was expanded by purchasing land from the Narragansetts westward toward Connecticut and the smaller islands in Narrangasett Bay. Block Island was settled in 1637 after
16854-521: The entirety of Wampanoag country through early alliances with some Native leaders, like Squanto (Tisquantam) and Massasoit (Ousamequin). However, English claim to the land relied entirely on misinterpretations of Native leadership, which viewed Ousamequin as the Native "king" of the land, despite the existence of other territorial claims under local leaders like Namumpum ( Weetamoo ). Subsequent colonists founded Salem , Boston , and many small towns around Massachusetts Bay between 1628 and 1640, during
17013-453: The execution of the men convicted of Sassamon’s murder, the proverbial first shots of the war were shot. A band of Pokanokets attacked several isolated homesteads in the small Plymouth colony settlement of Swansea on June 20, 1675, likely against Phillip's approval. They burned several homes. On June 23, a local boy saw a Pokanoket in front of his home and was instructed to fire, killing him. Pokanokets became enraged and on June 24 launched
17172-401: The failed attempt at Roanoke . It was a private venture, financed by a group of English Lords Proprietors who obtained a Royal Charter to the Carolinas in 1663, hoping that a new colony in the south would become profitable like Jamestown. Carolina was not settled until 1670, and even then the first attempt failed because there was no incentive for emigration to that area. Eventually, however,
17331-423: The final decision, a portion of Tiverton was awarded to Massachusetts to become part of Fall River, and two-thirds of Seekonk (now eastern Pawtucket and East Providence) was awarded to Rhode Island in 1862. Rhode Island's northern border with Massachusetts also underwent a number of changes. Massachusetts surveyed this line in 1642, but subsequent surveys by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut agreed that it
17490-539: The first months of the war, Wampanoags employed the strategy of tactical retreat. As English colonists marched through Native settlements, many Natives sought safety by hiding in the swamps surrounding Nemasket. Led by Weetamoo, mothers and their children were marched silently away from encapments and sought protection in the thickest part of the swamps. In their wake, settled along the outskirts of emptied Native villages, Wampanoag protectors ambushed English troops as they marched through Rhode Island. Utlizing kinship networks,
17649-542: The fortified Narragansett village in the Great Swamp . The Narragansetts also invaded and burned several towns in Rhode Island, including Providence. Roger Williams had known both Metacom (Philip) and Canonchet since they were children. He was aware of the tribe's activities and promptly sent letters informing the Governor of Massachusetts of enemy movements. Providence Plantations made some efforts at fortifying
17808-646: The fur trade. The Dutch West India Company established permanent settlements on the Hudson River, creating the Dutch colony of New Netherland . In 1626, Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from the Lenape Indians and established the outpost of New Amsterdam . Relatively few Dutch settled in New Netherland, but the colony came to dominate the regional fur trade. It also served as
17967-523: The global British trading network, as the value tripled for exports from America to Britain between 1700 and 1754. The colonists were restricted in trading with other European powers, but they found profitable trade partners in the other British colonies, particularly in the Caribbean. The colonists traded foodstuffs, wood, tobacco, and various other resources for Asian tea, West Indian coffee, and West Indian sugar, among other items. American Indians far from
18126-408: The great power they held within Native societies. On one such occasion of land dispute, saunkswkas Weetamoo and Awashonks appeared in a colonial court to protest illegitimate deeds signed by Wamsutta that gave colonists lands that were not his to give. This conflict strengthened complaints among natives while simultaneously bolstering Plymouth claims to the land and served as an omen for conflict that
18285-434: The house of Rev. Joseph Rowlandson and slaughtered most of its occupants—more than 30 people. Rowlandson's wife Mary was taken prisoner, and afterward wrote a best-selling narrative of her experiences. Many of the community's other houses were destroyed before the Natives retreated northward. The spring of 1676 marked the high point for the combined tribes when they attacked Plymouth Plantation on March 12. The town withstood
18444-551: The issuance of the royal charter for the Massachusetts Bay Company by Charles I of England in 1629 and continued until the beginning of the English Civil War in 1642. The immigration leveled off following the war's conclusion in 1651, and the population growth owed almost entirely to natural increase rather than immigration or slave importations for the remainder of the 17th century and through
18603-591: The land in the Ohio River valley. The colonies engaged in a scramble to purchase land from Indian tribes, as the British insisted that claims to land should rest on legitimate purchases. Virginia was particularly intent on western expansion, and most of the elite Virginia families invested in the Ohio Company to promote the settlement of the Ohio Country . The British American colonies became part of
18762-490: The land. Rowlandson was 'gifted' to Weetamoo and her husband Quinnapin following their wedding, as a gift for their role in securing Native alliances and allies in the war. Rowlandson’s captivity narrative and the following explosion of the Puritan captivity narrative genre, is largely where historical information regarding the inner workings of Native society comes from, as primary sources from white colonial entrepreneurs in
18921-518: The larger towns. The towns of the Connecticut colony were largely unharmed in the war, although more than 100 Connecticut militia died in their support of the other colonies. The Sudbury Fight took place in Sudbury, Massachusetts on April 21, 1676. The town was surprised by Native raiders at dawn, who besieged a local garrison house and burned several unoccupied homes and farms. Reinforcements that arrived from nearby towns were drawn into ambushes by
19080-416: The late nineteenth century. The New England Confederation consisted of the Massachusetts Bay Colony , Plymouth Colony , New Haven Colony , and Connecticut Colony ; they declared war on the Natives on September 9, 1675. The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations tried to remain neutral, but much of the war was fought on Rhode Island soil; Providence and Warwick suffered extensive damage from
19239-571: The male Puritan immigrants to New England were married rather than unmarried indentured servants. By the American Revolutionary War, only two percent of the New England colonial labor force were bonded or convict laborers and another two percent were black slaves, while nine percent of the colonial black population in New England were free, as compared with only three percent in the Southern Colonies. In February 1784,
19398-400: The men of Sassamon's murder, and they were executed by hanging on June 8, 1675 (O.S.) at Plymouth. Most importantly, the pond where Sassamon’s body was found in was at the center of a heated land claim, under which Plymouth men were attempting to purchase vast swaths of land at Nemasket . His death became the necessary pretext for Plymouth Colony’s arrest of a counselor tied to suppressing
19557-684: The militia were killed during the return from the falls. The colonists defeated an attack at Hadley on June 12, 1676 with the help of their Mohegan allies, scattering most of the survivors into New Hampshire and farther north. Later that month, a force of 250 Natives was routed near Marlborough, Massachusetts . Combined forces of colonial volunteers and their indigenous allies continued to attack, kill, capture, or disperse bands of Narragansetts , Nipmucs , and Wampanoags as they tried to plant crops or return to their traditional locations. The colonists granted amnesty to those who surrendered or who were captured and showed that they had not participated in
19716-508: The most effective. The indigenous allies of the colonists numbered about 1,000 from the Mohegans and Praying Indians , with about 200 warriors. By 1676, the regional indigenous population had decreased to about 10,000 (exact numbers are unavailable) largely because of epidemics. These included about 4,000 Narragansetts of western Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut, 2,400 Nipmucs of central and western Massachusetts, and 2,400 combined in
19875-465: The next six months, and the colonial militia retaliated. The colonies assembled the largest army that New England had yet mustered, consisting of 1,000 militia and 150 Native allies. Governor Josiah Winslow marshaled them to attack the Narragansetts in November 1675. They attacked and burned Native villages throughout Rhode Island territory, culminating with the attack on the Narragansetts' main fort in
20034-473: The passage of the 1773 Tea Act , which reduced taxes on tea sold by the East India Company in an effort to undercut the competition, and Prime Minister North's ministry hoped that this would establish a precedent of colonists accepting British taxation policies. Trouble escalated over the tea tax, as Americans in each colony boycotted the tea, and those in Boston dumped the tea in the harbor during
20193-408: The population), and like the state as a whole, declined to 2,671 (or 5 percent of the population) by 1780. In 1774, Narragansetts accounted for 1,479 of the inhabitants of the colony (or three percent). Rhode Island was the only New England colony without an established church. Rhode Island had only four churches with regular services in 1650, out of the 109 places of worship with regular services in
20352-413: The practice of religion. The other colonies were founded for business and economic expansion. The Middle Colonies were established on the former Dutch colony of New Netherland . Between 1625 and 1775, the colonial population grew from 2 thousand to 2.4 million, largely displacing the region's Native Americans . The population included people subject to a system of slavery , which was legal in all of
20511-419: The purchasing of land around Nemasket. Under captivity, the counselor and block to the signing of a land grant for the Plymouth Colony, Tobias, and the other arrested men were forced to sign the rights away of all of their land at Nemasket. With Sassamon dead and the land deed signed, the land surrounding the pond became formally acknowledged as part of the town Middlebury and was open for English settlement. With
20670-505: The relationship was more strained between other New England colonies and certain tribes. This situation frequently led to bloodshed, despite attempts by the Rhode Island leadership to broker peace. During King Philip's War (1675–1676), Colonist and Indian fighting regularly violated Rhode Island's neutrality. The war's largest battle occurred in Rhode Island on December 19, 1675 when a force of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Plymouth militia under General Josiah Winslow invaded and destroyed
20829-617: The remainder of New Netherland. The 1667 Treaty of Breda ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War and confirmed English control of the region. The Dutch briefly regained control of parts of New Netherland in the Third Anglo-Dutch War but surrendered claim to the territory in the 1674 Treaty of Westminster , ending the Dutch colonial presence in America. The British renamed the colony of New Amsterdam to "York City" or "New York". Large numbers of Dutch remained in
20988-494: The residents who escaped unharmed took cover at the house of Miles Morgan , a resident who had constructed one of the settlement's few fortified blockhouses . An indigenous servant who worked for Morgan managed to escape and alerted the Massachusetts Bay troops under the command of Major Samuel Appleton , who broke through to Springfield and drove off the attackers. The Narragansetts endeavored to remain neutral in
21147-433: The rules. However, many colonial governments refused to enforce the acts, Massachusetts principally among them, and Massachusetts took matters one step further by obstructing the activities of the Crown agents. Charles' successor James II introduced the Dominion of New England in 1686 as a means to accomplish these goals. Under its provisional president Joseph Dudley , the disputed "King's Country" (now Washington County )
21306-454: The settlement Providence Plantations because he believed that God had brought them there. (The term "plantation" was used in the 17th century to mean an agricultural colony.) Williams had been exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony under religious persecution; he and his fellow settlers agreed on an egalitarian constitution providing for majority rule "in civil things" with liberty of conscience on spiritual matters. He named three islands in
21465-439: The settlement of Portsmouth in 1638, while Coddington and Clarke established nearby Newport in 1639. Both settlements were situated on Rhode Island. The second settlement on the mainland was Damon Salvator 's Shawomet Purchase from the Narragansetts in 1642. As soon as he settled there, however, the Massachusetts Bay authorities laid claim to his territory and acted to enforce their claim. After considerable difficulties with
21624-500: The settlement of Providence to the ground on March 29. At the same time, a small band of Natives infiltrated and burned part of Springfield while the militia was away. The settlements within the Colony of Rhode Island became a literal island colony for a time as the settlements at Providence and Warwick were sacked and burned, and the residents were driven to Newport and Portsmouth on Rhode Island . The Connecticut River towns had thousands of acres of cultivated crop land known as
21783-530: The south and shipped much of the tobacco produced in Virginia. The colony was conquered by the Dutch in 1655, while Sweden was engaged in the Second Northern War . Beginning in the 1650s, the English and Dutch engaged in a series of wars , and the English sought to conquer New Netherland. Richard Nicolls captured the lightly defended New Amsterdam in 1664, and his subordinates quickly captured
21942-666: The territory of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River the previous year. Before the war, Britain held the thirteen American colonies, most of present-day Nova Scotia , and most of the Hudson Bay watershed. Following the war, Britain gained all French territory east of the Mississippi River, including Quebec, the Great Lakes, and the Ohio River valley. Britain also gained Spanish Florida , from which it formed
22101-492: The town, and Williams even started training recruits for protection. In one of the final actions of the war, troops from Connecticut killed Philip in Mount Hope , Rhode Island. In the 1680s, Charles II sought to streamline administration of the English colonies and to more closely control their trade. The Navigation Acts passed in the 1660s were widely disliked, since merchants often found themselves trapped and at odds with
22260-530: The tribal chief in 1662 after his father's death. Metacom, however, forsook his father's alliance between the Wampanoags and the colonists after repeated violations by the latter. The colonists insisted that the 1671 peace agreement should include the surrender of Native guns; then three Wampanoags were hanged in Plymouth Colony in 1675 for the murder of another Wampanoag, which increased tensions. Native raiding parties attacked homesteads and villages throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Maine over
22419-414: The tribe's winter stores. Most of the Narragansett warriors escaped into the frozen swamp. The colonists lost about 70 men killed and nearly 150 more wounded, including many of their officers. The surviving militia returned to their homes, lacking supplies for an extended campaign. The nearby towns in Rhode Island provided care for the wounded until they could return to their homes. In the spring of 1676,
22578-509: The war for Philip". Natives attacked and destroyed more settlements throughout the winter of 1675–1676 in their effort to annihilate the colonists. They attacked homes in Andover , Bridgewater , Chelmsford , Groton , Lancaster , Marlborough , Medfield , Medford , Portland , Providence , Rehoboth , Scituate , Seekonk , Simsbury , Sudbury , Suffield , Warwick , Weymouth , and Wrentham , including Norfolk and Plainville . In
22737-484: The war in the colonies with the use of troops from the colonies and tax funds from Britain itself. This was a successful wartime strategy but, after the war was over, each side believed that it had borne a greater burden than the other. The British elite, the most heavily taxed of any in Europe, pointed out angrily that the colonists paid little to the royal coffers. The colonists replied that their sons had fought and died in
22896-556: The war progressed. Some poorly populated towns were abandoned if they did not have enough men to defend them. Each town had local militias based on all eligible men who had to supply their own arms. Only those who were too old, too young, disabled, or clergy were excused from military service. The militias were usually only minimally trained and initially did relatively poorly against the warring Natives, until more effective training and tactics could be devised. Joint forces of militia volunteers and volunteer indigenous allies were found to be
23055-478: The war, driven partly by their relationship with Roger Williams. They were not directly involved in the war, but they had sheltered many of the Wampanoag fighters, women, and children, and there were questions about some of their warriors participating in several Native attacks. In October 1675, Narraganset sachem Canonchet signed a "Treaty of Neutrality" with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but
23214-463: Was a Catholic sympathizer in staunchly Protestant England, and he approved of the colony's promise of religious freedom. He granted the request with the Royal Charter of 1663 , uniting the four settlements together into the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations . In the following years, many persecuted groups settled in the colony, notably Quakers and Jews. The Rhode Island colony
23373-465: Was an old man at the time, though a chief captain of Metacomet . His capture marked the final event in King Philip's War, as he was also beheaded. Before the outbreak of war, English settlers in Maine and New Hampshire lived peaceably with their Wabanaki neighbors. Colonists engaged in fishing, harvesting timber, and trade with the Natives. By 1657, English towns and trading posts stretched along
23532-578: Was awarded to Rhode Island in 1741, establishing Rhode Island's jurisdiction over Barrington, Warren, Bristol, Tiverton, and Little Compton which Massachusetts had claimed. Also adjudicated in the 1741 decision was the award of most of Cumberland to Rhode Island from Massachusetts. The final establishment of the boundaries north of Barrington and east of the Blackstone River occurred almost a century after American independence, requiring protracted litigation and multiple U.S. Supreme Court decisions. In
23691-408: Was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony over theological disagreements; he founded the settlement based on an egalitarian constitution, providing for majority rule "in civil things" and "liberty of conscience" in religious matters. In 1637, a second group including Anne Hutchinson established a second settlement on Rhode Island , today called Aquidneck. Samuel Gorton and others established
23850-520: Was brought before a public court, where court officials admitted that they had no proof but warned that they would confiscate Wampanoag land and guns if they had any further reports that he was conspiring to start a war. Not long after, Sassamon's body was found in the ice-covered Assawompset Pond , and Plymouth Colony officials arrested three Wampanoags on the testimony of a Native witness, including one of Metacomet's counselors. The jury, which consisted of twelve colonists and six indigenous elders, convicted
24009-487: Was brought into the dominion, and the rest of the colony was brought under dominion control by Governor Edmund Andros . The rule of Andros was extremely unpopular, especially in Massachusetts. The 1688 Glorious Revolution deposed James II and brought William III and Mary II to the English throne; Massachusetts authorities conspired in April 1689 to have Andros arrested and sent back to England. With this event,
24168-481: Was first owned by the Narragansett Indians , which led to the name of the town of Narragansett, Rhode Island . European settlement began around 1622 with a trading post at Sowams, now the town of Warren, Rhode Island . The first four European Settlements were at Providence, Portsmouth, Newport and Warwick. Roger Williams was a Puritan theologian and linguist who founded Providence Plantations in 1636 on land given to him by Narragansett sachem Canonicus . He named
24327-581: Was killed by the militia. The war was the greatest calamity in seventeenth-century New England and is considered by many to be the deadliest war in Colonial American history. In the space of little more than a year, 12 of the region's towns were destroyed and many more were damaged, the economy of the Plymouth and Rhode Island Colonies was all but ruined and their population was decimated, losing one-tenth of all men available for military service. More than half of New England's towns were involved in
24486-429: Was placed too far south. In 1718-19, commissioners for Rhode Island and Massachusetts agreed on roughly that line anyway (except the section east of the Blackstone River, which remained disputed until 1741), and this is where the line remains today. From 1640 to 1774, the population of Rhode Island grew from 300 to 59,607, but then declined during the American Revolutionary War to 52,946 in 1780. William Coddington and
24645-561: Was reinstated by colonial authorities who had noticeably ulterior motives for wanting the land deed to remain valid. Internal conflict between native tribes and their families was motivated by competing concepts of colonial patrilineal rule and the existing matrilineal rule of many native women. As conflict mounted, native tribes turned against other tribes as well as their own people, with families taking sides across different lines. The population of New England colonists totaled about 65,000 people. They lived in 110 towns, of which 64 were in
24804-456: Was settled by English Puritan separatists, known today as the Pilgrims . The Dutch, Swedish, and French also established successful American colonies at roughly the same time as the English, but they eventually came under the English crown. The Thirteen Colonies were complete with the establishment of the Province of Georgia in 1732, although the term "Thirteen Colonies" became current only in
24963-579: Was shot and killed by an Indian named John Alderman on August 12, 1676. Metacomet's corpse was beheaded then chopped into pieces. His head was displayed in Plymouth for a generation, which was commonly done in Britain to traitors; Wampanaog memory holds that the skull was later taken by tribal members and secretly buried. Captain Church and his soldiers captured Pocasset war chief Anawan on August 28, 1676, at Anawan Rock in Rehoboth, Massachusetts . He
25122-472: Was very progressive for the time, passing laws abolishing witchcraft trials, imprisonment for debt, and most capital punishment. The colony also passed the first anti-slavery law in America on May 18, 1652, though the practice remained widespread in Rhode Island and there exists no evidence that the legislation was ever enforced. Rhode Island remained at peace with the Narragansett Indians, but
25281-480: Was yet to come. Eventually, the Wampanoag tribe under Metacomet's leadership entered into an agreement with the Plymouth Colony and believed that they could rely on the colony for protection. However, in the decades preceding the war, it became clear to them that the treaty did not mean that the Colonists were not allowed to settle in new territories. Metacom became sachem of the Pokanoket and Grand Sachem of
#135864