EHODE ISLAND 297 butchered. Providence, among others, was burned. The war only terminated with the death of Philip, king of the Wampanoags, a powerful tribe which dwelt on the eastern shore of Narragansett bay, in August, 1676. But the great contest in this war, and which decided the fate of the Indians, took place in December previous in the " Narragansett coun- try," so called, in the S. part of the state, the seat of the great and powerful tribe of Narra- gansetts. Here the Indians had collected in great numbers and fortified themselves, on a rising ground in the centre of a dense swamp. A considerable force was sent against them from Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecti- t. The Indians were defeated with great oss, many perishing in the flames that de- royed their village. The loss of the colonists was also severe. Khode Island was opposed to this exterminating war, and was not even con- sulted in regard to it by the other colonies. In January, 1687, Sir Edmund Andros, hav- ing been commissioned as governor of New England, New York, &c., abrogated the char- ter of Khode Island, with those of other colo- nies, which then became a mere county, gov- erned by civil officers appointed by him, till he was seized and sent to England in 1689. Rhode Island took a prominent part in the struggle between Great Britain and France for empire in America. She furnished large numbers of troops for the expeditions against Louisburg, Crown Point, Oswego, and Cana- da ; but it was on the ocean that she rendered the most important service. In 1756 she had 50 privateers at sea, manned by upward of 1,500 men, which cruised along the coast and among the West India islands, making many cap- tures. In the war of the revolution the first naval squadron sent against the enemy was fitted out and sailed from Providence under command of Commodore Hopkins, who was styled admiral. Commodores Whipple and Talbot also sailed from and belonged to Rhode Island. Gen. Nathanael Greene was a native of and began his military career in this state. In December, 1776, Rhode Island was invaded by the British, who occupied Newport several years. Gen. Sullivan, aided by a French fleet under Count d'Estaing, made several unsuc- cessful attempts to dislodge the enemy, and in the autumn of 1778 laid siege to Newport, but was finally obliged to abandon the project. Toward the close of 1779 the British troops were withdrawn, and the following year Ro- chambeau arrived with 6,000 French auxilia- ries. Rhode Island was the last of the thirteen colonies that accepted the constitution of the United States, her assent being given on May 29, 1790. In the war of 1812 with Great Britain the state was made conspicuous by the victory on Lake Erie of Commodore O. H. Perry, a native of this state, won by the aid of a party of seamen and shipwrights from Rhode Island. Under the charter as in force at the breaking out of the revolution the low- er house of the legislature consisted of six deputies from Newport, four each from Prov- idence, Portsmouth, and Warwick, and two from each of the other towns. The right of suffrage was restricted to owners of a free- hold worth 40 or $134, or renting for 40#. or $7 a year, and to their eldest sons. In pro- cess of time the property qualification and the inequality of representation, which continu- ed to increase, caused much dissatisfaction. In 1840 Providence with only four represen- tatives had 23,171 inhabitants, while New- port with six representatives had only 8,333 inhabitants. Of the 72 representatives elect- ed in that year, 38 were chosen from towns having only 29,026 inhabitants and 2,846 vo- ters, while the remaining 34 were chosen from towns having 79,804 inhabitants and 5,776 voters. Various attempts to obtain reform from the legislature having failed, suffrage associations were organized in the latter part of 1840 and the early part of 1841, which, at a mass convention held at Providence on July 5 of the latter year, authorized their state committee to call a convention to frame a con- stitution. Delegates were elected on Aug. 28, and on Oct. 4 the convention assembled at Providence. A constitution was framed and submitted to the people on Dec. 27, 28, and 29, when, it was asserted, about 14,000 votes were cast for its adoption, being a majority of the adult male citizens of the state. It was also asserted that a majority of those entitled to vote under the charter voted in its favor. An election for state officers under this constitu- tion was held on April 18, 1842, when Thomas Wilson Dorr, the most prominent leader in the movement, was chosen governor. On May 3 Mr. Dorr's government attempted to organ- ize at Providence and to seize the reins of power. They were resisted by the legal state government, at the head of which was Gov. Samuel W. King. On May 18 a portion of the suffrage party assembled at Providence under arms, and attempted to seize the arsenal, but dispersed on the approach of Gov. King with a military force. They assembled again to the number of several hundred, June 25, at Che- pachet, 10 m. from Providence, but upon the approach of the state forces they dispersed without resistance, and the affair was over on the 28th. Mr. Dorr was arrested, tried, and convicted of high treason, and on June 25, 1844, sentenced to imprisonment for life. In 1847 he was released under an act of general amnesty, and in 1851 he was restored to his civil and political rights. In 1854 an act was passed to reverse and annul the judgment in his case, on the ground that the proceedings against him had been illegal and unjust; but the supreme court subsequently declared it unconstitutional, as an assumption of judicial authority by the legislature. In the mean time the legislature on Feb. 6, 1841, called a con- vention to frame a new constitution. The del- egates were elected in August, and the con-
