June 11, 2024: Ocean State Histories: The Name

[250years ago this week, Rhode Island bannedthe slave trade. That significant moment was just one of many in this littleststate’s story, so this week I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of Ocean Statehistories, leading up to a special post on works through which you can learnmore about Rhode Island!]

Two debates overthe Ocean State’s name, and why we should better remember it in any case.

I don’t thinkit’s common knowledge, even up here in New England, but up until 2020 LittleRhody’s full name was the Stateof Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. That lengthy appellation wasdue to the combination of two initiallyseparate 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 thelatter name likely originated (as it did for William Bradford’s naming of PlimothPlantation to the north) in the concept of the “plantations of God” (aphrase still in use in the 1830s, as illustrated by aquote from Emerson’s “Nature”), it nonetheless conjures up unfortunatelyhistories of oppression and slavery (of both Native and African Americans),ones to which Rhode Island likeall New England was certainly linked. Because of those echoes, the RhodeIsland General Assembly in 2009 initiated of the state’s officialname—but by a wide majority (78% to 22%) Rhode Islanders voted in November 2010to keep the full name as is. (It was finally changed after .)

The history ofthe Rhode Island part of the state’s name is less controversial, but still asource of uncertainty and debate. The phrase initially referred to a specificarea known by its Native American name, AquidneckIsland, and settled by English followers of Anne Hutchinson in 1636; RogerWilliams first used the name “Rhode Island” for that region in 1637, and in 1644the Rhode Island General Court decreed that “Aquethneck shall be henceforthcalled the Isle of Rodes or Rhode-Island.” But the origins of the “Rhode” part remainin doubt, with at least two competing historical theories: that it was derivedfrom Italianexplorer Giovanni da Verrazzano’s likening the island to the Greek isle ofRhodes during his 1524 voyage through Narragansett Bay, and the Englishutilized his comparison in naming the island upon their arrival; or that itderives instead from Dutchexplorer Adriaen Block’s description of the area as “an island of Reddishappearance” in a 1625 account of his own voyage through the region, which theDutch word “rodlich” transformed into “Rhode” in English. It’s of courseentirely possible that both of these moments and perspectives played a role inthe English take, and that even by the 1630s (much less in our own far moredistant era) the name represented a murky combination of factors.

It’s preciselythose multiple factors and histories that make it so important for us to betterremember every part of the name “the State of Rhode Island and ProvidencePlantations,” though. As I wrote in Monday’s post, Roger Williams’ role infounding the English colony is I believe relatively familiar, although there’splenty more we can and should remember about that inspiring individual. But ifwe can recognize that even America’s smallest state represents a combination ofthe journeys and followers of Williams and Anne Hutchinson, of the nativehistories of Aquidneck and Narragansett (a 30,000 yearold Native American tribe that played a key role in every colonial NewEngland history and continues toevolve in our own era), and of Italian and Dutch explorers andperspectives, among other moments and influences, then we can start to trulyappreciate the cross-cultural origins and evolutions of each and every part ofour nation. Not so little at all, Rhody.

Next RhodeIsland history tomorrow,

Ben

PS. Whatdo you think? Other Ocean State stories you’d highlight?