Providence Plantations was the first permanent European American settlement in present-day Rhode Island. It was established at Providence in 1636 by English clergyman Roger Williams and a small band of followers who had left the repressive atmosphere of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to seek freedom of worship. Narragansett sachems Canonicus and Miantonomi granted Williams a sizable tract of land for his new village.
"Providence Plantations" refers to the mainland portion of the state which was originally all part of the town of Providence and "Rhode Island" referring to Aquidneck Island on which Newport is located. Today, the state is officially named "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations," although "Providence Plantations" is little used.
Famous quotes containing the words providence and/or plantations:
“Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon;
The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide;
They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow
Through Eden took their solitary way.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“The greater speed and success that distinguish the planting of the human race in this country, over all other plantations in history, owe themselves mainly to the new subdivisions of the State into small corporations of land and power.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)