Rhode Island's Founders: From Settlement to Statehood

by Patrick T. Conley

Take a journey with us back to early America, where Rhode Island's founders laid the groundwork for America's policy of religious freedom.
Dr. Patrick T. Conley, Rhode Island's preeminent historian, is our guide for this expedition, teaching us about the individuals and events that shaped Rhode Island's identity. Learn what led Roger Williams to write The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution and discover how James Franklin, older brother of Benjamin, left a lasting impact on the future of American publishing. Find out why Mary Dyer fought for her religious beliefs until she became one of the "Boston martyrs"; how Anne Hutchinson overcame a male-dominated society to allow women the right to preach and teach; and how General Nathanael Greene helped to liberate the South during the American Revolution. These colorful biographies of political, military and religious leaders, artists and craftsmen, scientists and philanthropists illuminate the beginning of America's smallest state, but one that has always exhibited remarkable diversity.

Genres: History

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 19, 2010

About the author

Patrick Thomas Conley was professor of history and constitutional law at Providence College, Rhode Island.

Reviews

[Matt]

A very interesting read. Who knew that Little Rhody was home to so many important people?

[Robert]

Somehow when I first looked at this I was disappointed that it appeared to be nothing more than warmed over aged biographies from decades ago. When I finally committed myself to reading it through as a part of my genealogical research, I was very pleased to find how wrong I was in that first judgment. To be fair, this is 164 pages covering the stories of more than 50 individuals who were noted or should have been for their contributions to life in and/or the development of Rhode Island "from settlement to statehood". The main text is supported by an essay at the end on sources and recommended readings. I'm shelving my copy amongst my genealogical sources as I keep working on a family tree that starts its American journey in colonial Rhode Island.

[Jim Blessing]

I picked this book up at the Roger Williams National Park site in Providence. I thought it might be an interesting read. Unfortunately, I found out that I was 100% WRONG.

[Marie]

Due to the fact that may people overlap, there is a lot of repeated information. Not sure how that can be helped, but it makes for dull reading, if reading straight through.

[Nick Rojas]

As a Rhode Islander, I really enjoyed reading this book. While it’s a quick scan through these individuals’ lives, it really gets to the heart of what made these folks so relevant to the Rhode Island story. You could tell the gentleman who wrote this had a passion for sharing these stories.

[Bill]

This book consists of short biographies, a few pages each, of important colonial Rhode Island people. These are the people that all the streets and villages are named after in this state. And it proves that Rhode Island has not changed much in 200 years. Greed and nepotism ran the state then as it does now. The author is especially good at explaining obscure philosphies very clearly in a few sentences such as antinomianism. Many of these colonials were religious thinkers hence there is a lot of this going on. I would have liked more than a page or two on most of these folk.

[Jovy]

Traveling is one of my favorite hobbies...why? You see new places, meet interesting people, learn things that you have no idea before, eating and shopping all wrapped up in one... I always get informative books about the place.

Reading this book take me back to the week I spent in Newport last year!

Newport is one of the amazing places I've ever visited...grand mansions, awesome food, nice people and astonishing history. Oops I forgot, magnificent shopping experience.

[Steve]

This book is available as an ebook. Gives short bios for some of RI's famous and not so famous individuals who founded the state, fought for independence and led the way pass the constitution.