[Other than a
weeklong series inspired by a visit to Newport’s historic mansion The Breakers, I
haven’t had the chance to write much in this space about my neighbor to the
south. Well, Little Rhody, that changes this week! Leading up to a special post
on some of my many wonderful RI colleagues!]
Two debates over
the Ocean State’s name, and why we should better remember it in any case.
I don’t think
it’s common knowledge, even up here in New England, but Little Rhody’s full
name is the State of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations. That lengthy appellation is due to the combination of two initially
separate English colonies, the Rhode Island colony (which included Newport,
Narragansett Bay, and Portsmouth) and Roger Williams’ Providence Plantations
(which evolved into the city of Providence). While the word “plantation” in the
latter name likely originated (as it did for William Bradford’s naming of Plimoth
Plantation to the north) in the concept of the “plantations of God” (a
phrase still in use in the 1830s, as illustrated by a
quote from Emerson’s “Nature”), it nonetheless conjures up unfortunately histories
of oppression and slavery (of both Native and African Americans), ones to which
Rhode Island like
all New England was certainly linked. Because of those echoes, the Rhode
Island General Assembly in 2009 initiated a
referendum to drop the Providence Plantations part of the state’s official
name—but by a wide majority (78% to 22%) Rhode Islanders voted in November 2010
to keep the full name as is.
The history of
the Rhode Island part of the state’s name is less controversial, but still a
source of uncertainty and debate. The phrase initially referred to a specific
area known by its Native American name, Aquidneck
Island, and settled by English followers of Anne Hutchinson in 1636; Roger
Williams first used the name “Rhode Island” for that region in 1637, and in 1644
the Rhode Island General Court decreed that “Aquethneck shall be henceforth
called the Isle of Rodes or Rhode-Island.” But the origins of the “Rhode” part remain
in doubt, with at least two competing historical theories: that it was derived
from Italian
explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano’s likening the island to the Greek isle of
Rhodes during his 1524 voyage through Narragansett Bay, and the English
utilized his comparison in naming the island upon their arrival; or that it
derives instead from Dutch
explorer Adriaen Block’s description of the area as “an island of Reddish appearance”
in a 1625 account of his own voyage through the region, which the Dutch word “rodlich”
transformed into “Rhode” in English. It’s of course entirely possible that both
of these moments and perspectives played a role in the English take, and that
even by the 1630s (much less in our own far more distant era) the name
represented a murky combination of factors.
It’s precisely
those multiple factors and histories that make it so important for us to better
remember every part of the name “the State of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations,” though. As I wrote in Monday’s post, Roger Williams’ role in
founding the English colony is I believe relatively familiar, although there’s
plenty more we can and should remember about that inspiring individual. But if
we can recognize that even America’s smallest state represents a combination of
the journeys and followers of Williams and Anne Hutchinson, of the native
histories of Aquidneck and Narragansett (a 30,000 year
old Native American tribe that played a key role in every colonial New England
history and continues to evolve in
our own era), and of Italian and Dutch explorers and perspectives, among
other moments and influences, then we can start to truly appreciate the
cross-cultural origins and evolutions of each and every part of our nation. Not
so little at all, Rhody.
Next RI history
tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you
think? Histories and stories from RI (or any state) you’d highlight?
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