Finances. The paper money system, which was prevalent throughout all the oolonies, kept Rhode Island's finances in a continual state of disorder. The Revolution left the State with a large debt and heavy taxes, and this condition of affairs was not remedied until Rhode Island joined the Union. In 1789 the Revolutionary debt was repudiated by the passage of the compulsory tender act compelling creditors to accept paper money at an arbitrary rate. On January 1, 1902, the balance on hand in the treasury amounted to $158,272.71. The total receipts during the year were $1,490,621.90 and the expenditures $1,537,502.41. There was a balance on hand of $111,392.26 on January 1, 1903. The total debt was $2,998,000. From this sum, however, there should be deducted a sinking fund of $444,451.50.
Militia. In 1900 there were 95,737 men of militia age. The militia in 1901 numbered 1413.
Population. The population increased from 68,825 in 1790 to 147,545 in 1850, 345,506 in 1890, and 428,556 in 1900. As to population, the State stood 34th in rank in 1900. There were in that year 407 inhabitants to the square mile, which figure exceeded that for any other State. There was a foreign-born population (1900) of 134,519, Ireland, Canada, and England being chiefly represented. The percentage of city population is very large. In 1900 Providence had a population of 175,597; Pawtucket, 39,231; Woonsocket, 28,204; Newport, 22,034; and Central Falls, 18,167.
The State sends two members to the National House of Representatives.
Religion. The principal Protestant denominations are the Baptist, with one-third of the total Protestant church membership, and the Protestant Episcopalians, with about one-fifth. The Roman Catholics have about one-fourth of the population.
Education. The public school system was established in 1828 and was greatly improved under the administration of Henry Barnard (q.v.). The proportion of illiteracy, due in large part to the numbers of foreigners, is greater than in any other of the North Atlantic States—8.4 per cent. in 1900. In 1900-01 the school population (5-15 inclusive) of the State was 85,084, of whom 69,067 were enrolled in schools. Of the 1960 teachers employed in the public schools in 1900-01 the male teachers constituted only 9.1 per cent. The average monthly salaries of male and female teachers in the same year were $115.32 and $51.14 respectively. The school fund is insignificant. The State has only one normal school. It is situated at Providence. The State maintains a college of agriculture and mechanic arts. For Brown University, see article.
Charitable and Penal Institutions. There are a State hospital at Providence and a soldiers' home at Bristol. There are two insane hospitals, one at Providence and the other at the State farm, Cranston. Other State institutions located at the State farm are the almshouse, workhouse, reformatory, and penitentiary. In 1901 the State appropriated $259,000 for the maintenance of the State institutions and $136,891 for construction.
History. The stories of Norse exploration within the present limits of the State rest upon slight foundation. True history begins when Roger Williams (q.v.) was banished from Massachusetts Bay, and settled with a few companions, at ‘Providence Plantations,’ on land purchased from the Narraganset Indians, probably in June, 1636. Already, however, William Blackstone, who had fled from the tyranny of the ‘lords brethren’ in Massachusetts, as he had left England to escape the ‘lords bishops,’ had settled near Pawtucket River. In March, 1638, a band of Antinomians banished from Massachusetts Bay, under the leadership of William Coddington and John Clark, made a settlement at Pocasset (Portsmouth), on Aquidneck Island (Rhode Island). The next year a secession from this settlement founded Newport, but in 1640 these two towns were united under William Coddington as Governor. In 1643 Samuel Gorton (q.v.) founded Warwick upon the mainland. At Providence the government was at first a pure democracy, “ignoring any power in the body politic to interfere with those matters which alone concern man and his maker.” Each of these settlements was at first independent. In 1642 it was determined to seek a patent from England, and the next year Roger Williams went to England for this purpose. Through the influence of the Earl of Warwick, Parliament granted (1644) a charter uniting the settlements as the “Incorporation of Providence Plantations in the Narragansett Bay in New England.”
The towns, at first, from jealousy and exaggerated ideas of individual importance, refused to enter into the confederation, but finally through fear of revolutions within, and of Massachusetts without, the union was formed in 1647. This jealousy lasted well into the nineteenth century and explains much of the peculiar conduct of the colony and of the State. Complete religious toleration was granted together with the largest measure of political freedom. William Coddington sought to bring the Island into relations with the United Colonies of New England, while President. In 1650 he went to England, and in 1651 secured a grant of the islands within the colony. Williams was able to have this grant vacated in 1652, but not until 1654 were the settlements again united. In 1663 the charter of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was secured, and this served as a constitution until 1843. During the war waged on charters by James II., the charter of Rhode Island was abrogated by Sir Edmund Andros (q.v.), 1686-89, but on his deposition the old government was quietly renewed under it, though a property qualification for suffrage was added in 1724.
Relations with the other New England colonies were unpleasant. The colony suffered severely in the war with King Philip (q.v.), though opposed to the policy which caused it. Connecticut and Massachusetts claimed practically all of the territory included in the charter limits. The Connecticut boundary, after much wrangling, was finally settled in 1727, and the Massachusetts boundary was confirmed in 1746-47, but was not finally settled until 1862. Both of these colonies looked on Rhode Island as a nest of heretics and a refuge for the disaffected. The colony was shut out from the United Colonies of New England, and in every way made to feel her slight influence. Nevertheless the growth of the colony in population and wealth was steady, and many of the inhabitants turned to the sea for a livelihood. In the colonial wars Rhode Island privateers inflicted much damage, and some of her
