Editing Rhode Island (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Rhode Island}}

===Colonial era: 1636–1770===
{{Main|Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations}}
[[File:Alonzo_Chappel_-_The_Landing_of_Roger_Williams_in_1636_-_43.003_-_Rhode_Island_School_of_Design_Museum.jpg|thumb|In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations.]]
At the onset of European colonization what is now Rhode Island was inhabited mainly by five Native American tribes — by far most of the state's territory was inhabited by the [[Narragansett people|Narragansett]], eastern borderlands were occupied by the [[Wampanoag]], south-western coast by the [[Niantic people|Niantic]], western borderlands by the [[Pequots|Pequot]] and northern borderlands by the [[Nipmuc]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rhode Island Indian Tribes and Languages |url=https://www.native-languages.org/rhode.htm |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=www.native-languages.org}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|date=September 2024}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Swanton |first=John Reed |title=The Indian Tribes of North America |pages=27–29}}</ref> In 1636, [[Roger Williams]] was banished from the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] for his religious views, and he settled at the top of Narragansett Bay on land sold or given to him by Narragansett sachem [[Canonicus]]. He named the site Providence, "having a sense of God's merciful providence unto me in my distress",<ref name="Conley">An Album of Rhode Island History by Patrick T. Conley</ref> and it became a place of religious freedom where all were welcome.

[[File:Rhode Island statehood Tercentenary, 3c, 1936 issue.jpg |thumb|upright|left|In 1936, on the 300th anniversary of the settlement of Rhode Island in 1636, the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp, depicting Roger Williams]]
In 1638 (after conferring with Williams), [[Anne Hutchinson]], [[William Coddington]], [[John Clarke (Baptist minister)|John Clarke]], [[Philip Sherman (settler)|Philip Sherman]], and other religious dissenters were allowed to settle on [[Aquidneck Island]] (also known as Rhode Island), by the Narragansett Sachems [[Canonicus]] and [[Miantonomi]]. They were given a few items in reciprocity for their generosity. However, as Roger Williams made clear in a letter to John Winthrop in June 1638: "Sir, concerning the islands Prudence and…Aquedenick…neither of them were sold properly, for a thousand fathom would not have bought either, by strangers. The truth is, not a penny was demanded for either, and what was paid was only gratuity, though I chose, for better assurance and form, to call it sale."<ref>{{cite web |title=Roger Williams to John Winthrop |url=https://www.masshist.org/publications/winthrop/index.php/view/PWF04d035#sn=6 |website=Winthrop Family Papers |publisher=[[Massachusetts Historical Society]] |access-date=6 September 2023}}</ref> This settlement was first called Pocasset and then changed in 1639 to [[Portsmouth, Rhode Island|Portsmouth]]. The town was governed by the [[Portsmouth Compact]]. The island's southern part became the separate settlement of [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]] after disagreements among the founders.

[[Samuel Gorton]] purchased lands at [[Warwick, Rhode Island|Shawomet]] in 1642 from the Narragansetts, precipitating a dispute with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1644, Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport united for their common independence as the [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations]], governed by an elected council and "president". Gorton received a separate charter for his settlement in 1648 which he named [[Warwick, Rhode Island|Warwick]] after his patron.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lonang.com/exlibris/organic/1663-cri.htm |title=Charter of Rhode Island (1663) |publisher=Lonang.com |access-date=July 31, 2010 |archive-date=November 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126053349/http://lonang.com/exlibris/organic/1663-cri.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Metacomet]] was the [[Wampanoag people|Wampanoag]] tribe's war leader, whom the colonists called King Philip. They invaded and burned down several of the towns in the area during [[King Philip's War]] (1675–1676), including Providence which was attacked twice.<ref name="Conley"/> A force of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Plymouth militia under General [[Josiah Winslow]] invaded and destroyed the fortified Narragansett Indian village in the [[Great Swamp Fight|Great Swamp]] in [[South Kingstown, Rhode Island]], on December 19, 1675.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyplace.com/specials/kingphilip.htm |title=King Philip's War in New England |year=1997 |author=Michael Tougias |website=The History Place |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608035001/http://www.historyplace.com/specials/kingphilip.htm |archive-date=June 8, 2010 }}</ref> In one of the final actions of the war, an Indian associated with [[Benjamin Church (ranger)|Benjamin Church]] killed King Philip in [[Bristol, Rhode Island]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/horsemusket/kingphilip/default.aspx |title=King Philip's War |publisher=Military History Online |date=July 17, 2004 |access-date=January 26, 2013 |archive-date=May 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516191654/http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/horsemusket/kingphilip/default.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Touro_Park,_Newport,_Rhode_Island.jpg|thumb|right|In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Purvis |first=Thomas L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BZRJSx3uMYEC |title=Colonial America To 1763 |date=2014-05-14 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-0799-8 |page=227 |language=en |access-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-date=October 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016225430/https://books.google.com/books?id=BZRJSx3uMYEC |url-status=live}}</ref>]]

The colony was amalgamated into the [[Dominion of New England]] in 1686, as [[James II of England|King James II]] attempted to enforce royal authority over the autonomous colonies in [[British North America]], but the colony regained its independence under the Royal Charter after the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688. Slaves were introduced in Rhode Island at this time, although there is no record of any law legalizing slave-holding. The colony later prospered under the slave trade, distilling rum to sell in Africa as part of a profitable [[triangular trade]] in slaves and sugar with the Caribbean.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.projo.com/extra/2006/slavery/day1/ |title=The Unrighteous Traffick |website=[[The Providence Journal]] |date=March 12, 2006 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912032147/http://www.projo.com/extra/2006/slavery/day1/ |archive-date=September 12, 2009 }}</ref> Rhode Island's legislative body passed an act in 1652 abolishing the holding of slaves (the first British colony to do so), but this edict was never enforced and Rhode Island continued to be heavily involved in the [[Slave trade in the United States|slave trade]] during the post-revolution era.<ref>{{cite web |author=Ricardo Howell |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Info/Slavery.html |title=Slavery, the Brown Family of Providence, and Brown University |publisher=The Brown University News Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615153948/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Info/Slavery.html |archive-date=June 15, 2009}}</ref> In 1774, the slave population of Rhode Island was 6.3% of the total (nearly twice the ratio of other [[New England]] colonies).<ref>{{cite report |author=The General Assembly of the Governor and Company of the English Colony of the Rhode Island |date=June 14, 1774 |title=The Rhode Island Census of 1774 |url=https://www.brown.edu/Facilities/John_Carter_Brown_Library/exhibitions/jcbexhibit/Pages/item_6.html |publisher=Hon. General Assembly |access-date=September 20, 2016 |archive-date=September 23, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160923030151/https://www.brown.edu/Facilities/John_Carter_Brown_Library/exhibitions/jcbexhibit/Pages/item_6.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=24 June 2020 |author=Kenya Evelyn |title=Rhode Island Moves To Change Official Name Over Slavery Ties |website=The Guardian – US Edition |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/24/rhode-island-official-name-change-governor-slavery |access-date=25 June 2020 |archive-date=November 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119144659/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/24/rhode-island-official-name-change-governor-slavery |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Brown University]] was founded in 1764 as the College in the British Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. It was one of nine [[Colonial colleges]] granted charters before the American Revolution and was the first college in America to accept students regardless of religious affiliation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Widmer |first=Ted |title=Brown: The History of An Idea |location=New York |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2015 |page=42}}</ref>

===Revolutionary to Civil War period: 1770–1860===
[[File:Destruction_of_the_schooner_Gaspé_in_the_waters_of_Rhode_Island_1772_(NYPL_b12349146-422875)_(cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.35 |Providence Revolutionaries burned [[Gaspee Affair|HMS ''Gaspee'']] in Warwick in protest of British customs laws.]]
Rhode Island's tradition of independence and dissent gave it a prominent role in the [[American Revolution]]. At approximately 2 a.m. on June 10, 1772, a band of Providence residents [[Gaspee Affair|attacked]] the grounded revenue schooner ''[[HMS Gaspée (1773)|HMS Gaspée]]'', burning it to the waterline for enforcing [[Navigation Acts|unpopular trade regulations]] within Narragansett Bay.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gaspee.org/ |title=Welcome|website=Gaspee Virtual Archives|publisher=Gaspee Days Committee|access-date=August 20, 2012|archive-date=August 30, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120830164847/http://www.gaspee.org/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown on May 4, 1776.<ref name="KnowRhode">{{cite web |url=http://sos.ri.gov/library/history/independence/ |title=Know Rhode Island, RI Secretary of State |publisher=Sos.ri.gov |access-date=February 26, 2014 |archive-date=October 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022010441/http://sos.ri.gov/library/history/independence/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was also the last of the thirteen colonies to ratify the [[United States Constitution]] on May 29, 1790, and only under threat of heavy trade tariffs from the other former colonies and after assurances were made that a [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]] would become part of the Constitution.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usconstitution.net/rat_ri.html |title=Rhode Island Ratification of the U.S. Constitution |publisher=Usconstitution.net |date=January 8, 2010 |access-date=January 26, 2013 |archive-date=September 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906161642/https://www.usconstitution.net/rat_ri.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Recto Rhode Island 9 pence 1786 urn-3 HBS.Baker.AC 1104484.jpeg|alt=A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 with the inscription: ""STATE OF RHODE-ISLAND, &c. THIS Bill is equal to NINE PENCE in Lawful Silver Money, and shall be received in all Payments within this State, agreeable to an Act passed by the GENERAL ASSEMBLY of said State, at their May Sessions, holden at the City of Newport, A. D. 1786. 9d." ; "Committee" is written vertically, to the right of the signatures. ; Within seal: "DOMINE SPERAMUS IN TE".|thumb|A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786]]
During the Revolution, the British occupied Newport in December 1776. A combined Franco-American force fought to drive them off Aquidneck Island. Portsmouth was the site of the first African-American military unit, the [[1st Rhode Island Regiment]], to fight for the U.S. in the unsuccessful [[Battle of Rhode Island]] of August 29, 1778.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dearden|first=Paul F|title=The Rhode Island Campaign of 1778|publisher=Rhode Island Bicentennial Federation |year=1980 |location=Providence, RI|isbn=978-0-917012-17-4|oclc=60041024}}</ref> A month earlier, the appearance of a French fleet off Newport caused the British to scuttle some of their own ships in an attempt to block the harbor. The British abandoned Newport in October 1779, concentrating their forces in New York City. An [[Expédition Particulière|expedition of 5,500 French troops]] under [[Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau|Count Rochambeau]] arrived in Newport by sea on July 10, 1780.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Duchesneau|first1=John T. |last2=Troost-Cramer|first2=Kathleen |date=2014 |title=Fort Adams: A History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cY-ACQAAQBAJ&q=Fort+Adams+A+History&pg=PT153 |publisher=The History Press |pages=16–19 |access-date=March 15, 2017 |isbn=9781625850584 |archive-date=February 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220153334/https://books.google.com/books?id=cY-ACQAAQBAJ&q=Fort+Adams+A+History&pg=PT153 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route|celebrated march]] to [[Yorktown, Virginia]], in 1781 ended with the defeat of the British at the [[Siege of Yorktown]] and the [[Battle of the Chesapeake]].

Rhode Island was also heavily involved in the [[Industrial Revolution]], which began in America in 1787 when [[Thomas Somers (investor)|Thomas Somers]] reproduced textile machine plans which he imported from England. He helped to produce the [[Beverly Cotton Manufactory]], in which [[Moses Brown (Providence)|Moses Brown]] of Providence took an interest. Moses Brown teamed up with [[Samuel Slater]] and helped to create the second cotton mill in America, a water-powered textile mill. The [[Industrial Revolution#Belgium|Industrial Revolution]] moved large numbers of workers into the cities. With the 1663 [[Rhode Island Royal Charter|colonial charter]] still in effect, voting was restricted to landowners holding at least $134 in property. At the time of the revolution, 80% of White men in Rhode Island could vote; by 1840, only 40% were still eligible.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wills |first=Matthew |date=2022-02-17 |title=The Dorr Rebellion for Voting Rights |url=https://daily.jstor.org/the-dorr-rebellion-for-voting-rights/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=JSTOR Daily |language=en-US}}</ref> The charter apportioned legislative seats equally among the state's towns, over-representing rural areas and under-representing the growing industrial centers. Additionally, the charter disallowed landless citizens from filing civil suits without endorsement from a landowner.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bolles|first1=John Augustus|date=1842|title=The Affairs of Rhode Island, Being a Review of President Wayland's Discourse, a Vindication of the Sovereignty of the People, and a Refutation of the Doctrines and Doctors of Despotism|publisher=B.T. Albro |location=Boston |url=http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/MOML?dd=0&locID=cornell&d1=19005833400&srchtp=a&c=1&an=19005833400&df=f&d2=1&docNum=F3704667622&h2=1&af=RN&d6=1&d3=1&ste=10&stp=Author&d4=0.33&d5=d6&ae=F104667622|access-date=June 9, 2015|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728110128/http://galeapps.gale.com/apps/auth?cause=http%3A%2F%2Fgalenet.gale.com%2Fservlet%2FMOML%3Fdd%3D0%26locID%3Dcornell%26d1%3D19005833400%26srchtp%3Da%26c%3D1%26an%3D19005833400%26df%3Df%26d2%3D1%26docNum%3DF3704667622%26h2%3D1%26af%3DRN%26d6%3D1%26d3%3D1%26ste%3D10%26stp%3DAuthor%26d4%3D0.33%26d5%3Dd6%26ae%3DF104667622%26finalAuth%3Dtrue&prodId=MOML&sw_aep=cornell|url-status=live}}</ref> Bills were periodically introduced in the legislature to expand suffrage, but they were invariably defeated.

In 1841, activists led by [[Thomas W. Dorr]] organized an extralegal convention to draft a state constitution,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Webster |first1=Daniel|title=The Rhode Island Question: Mr. Webster's Argument in the Supreme Court of the United States in the Case of Martin Luther vs. Luther M. Borden and Others, January 27th, 1848|date=1848|publisher=J. and G.S. Gideon |location=Washington, D.C. |url=http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.trials/rhodislq0001&id=1&collection=trials&index=alpha/R_trials#1|access-date=June 9, 2015 |archive-date=September 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919230636/http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.trials%2Frhodislq0001&id=1&collection=trials&index=alpha%2FR_trials#1|url-status=live}}</ref> arguing the charter government violated the [[Guarantee Clause]] in Article Four, Section Four of the [[United States Constitution]]. In 1842, the charter government and Dorr's supporters held separate elections, and two rival governments claimed sovereignty over the state. Dorr's supporters led an armed [[Dorr rebellion|rebellion]] against the charter government, and Dorr was arrested and imprisoned for treason against the state.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pitman|first1=Joseph S.|title=Report on the Trial of Thomas Wilson Dorr, for Treason Against the State of Rhode Island, Containing the Arguments of Counsel, and the Charge of Chief Justice Durfee|date=1844|publisher=Tappan & Dennet |location=Boston |url=http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.trials/aaga0001&id=1&size=2&collection=trials&index=alpha/R_trials#1|access-date=June 9, 2015 |archive-date=September 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919231641/http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.trials%2Faaga0001&id=1&size=2&collection=trials&index=alpha%2FR_trials#1|url-status=live}}</ref>

In response, the legislature drafted a state constitution which replaced property requirements for American-born citizens with a $1 [[Poll tax (United States)|poll tax]], {{Inflation|index=US|value=1|start_year=1842|fmt=eq}}. In a heavily boycotted election in November 1842, voters approved the constitution.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} Voters also declined to limit the change to "white" men, thus re-enfranchising Black men—Black men meeting the property requirements had been able to vote in Rhode Island until 1822. The constitution also ended slavery. Immigrants remained subject to the property requirement, effectively disenfranchising many Irish-Americans and maintaining urban under-representation.<ref>{{cite book |last=King |first=Dan |date=1859 |title=The Life and Times of Thomas Wilson Dorr, with Outlines of the Political History of Rhode Island |url=http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/MOML?dd=0&locID=cornell&d1=19003605000&srchtp=a&c=1&an=19003605000&df=f&d2=2&docNum=F3702905342&h2=1&vrsn=1.0&af=RN&db=Title+Page&d6=2&d3=0&ste=10&d4=0.33&stp=Author&d5=d6&ae=F102905341 |publisher=Dan King |location=Boston |access-date=June 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728110135/http://galeapps.gale.com/apps/auth?cause=http%3A%2F%2Fgalenet.gale.com%2Fservlet%2FMOML%3Fdd%3D0%26locID%3Dcornell%26d1%3D19003605000%26srchtp%3Da%26c%3D1%26an%3D19003605000%26df%3Df%26d2%3D2%26docNum%3DF3702905342%26h2%3D1%26vrsn%3D1.0%26af%3DRN%26db%3DTitle%2BPage%26d6%3D2%26d3%3D0%26ste%3D10%26d4%3D0.33%26stp%3DAuthor%26d5%3Dd6%26ae%3DF102905341%26finalAuth%3Dtrue&prodId=MOML&sw_aep=cornell |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=In 1843, slavery was banned in Rhode Island |website=Newport Daily News |url=https://www.newportri.com/story/lifestyle/columns/2018/05/28/looking-back-at-our-history-in-1843-slavery-was-banned-in-rhode-island/12119944007/ |access-date=2023-11-11}}</ref> In 1849, in [[Luther v. Borden]], the US Supreme Court declined to rule on the constitutional question raised in Dorr's rebellion, holding that it was a political question outside its jurisdiction.

In the early 19th century, Rhode Island was subject to a tuberculosis outbreak which led to [[Rhode Island vampire panic|public hysteria about vampirism]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hallenbeck |first=Brent |date=August 2, 2022 |title=Vampires in Vermont? That's what some people thought in 1792 |work=Burlington Free Press |url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/vermont/2022/08/02/vampires-vermont-some-people-thought-1792/65388252007/ |access-date=May 14, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Milligan |first=Markus |date=May 11, 2022 |title=The New England vampire panic |work=HeritageDaily |url=https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/05/the-new-england-vampire-panic/143567 |access-date=May 14, 2023}}</ref>

===Civil War===
[[File:Fort_Adams_02.jpg|thumb|The [[United States Naval Academy]] was moved to [[Fort Adams]] in Newport during the Civil War.]]
{{Main|Rhode Island in the American Civil War}}

During the [[American Civil War]], Rhode Island was the first Union state to send troops in response to [[Abraham Lincoln|President Lincoln]]'s request for help from the states. Rhode Island furnished 23,700 fighting men, of whom 1,685 died.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ri.ng.mil/History/ |title=History |publisher=Rhode Island National Guard |access-date=2023-05-19}}</ref>  On the home front, Rhode Island and the other northern states used their industrial capacity to supply the Union Army with the materials it needed to win the war. The [[United States Naval Academy]] moved to Rhode Island temporarily during the war.

In 1866, Rhode Island abolished racial segregation in the public schools throughout the state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/studteaguide/RhodeIslandHistory/chapt5.html |title=Rhode Island History: CHAPTER V: Change, Controversy, and War, 1846–1865 |access-date=March 28, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060203064148/http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/studteaguide/RhodeIslandHistory/chapt5.html |archive-date=February 3, 2006 }}</ref>

===Gilded Age===
[[File:The_Breakers_interior_05.jpg|thumb|Interior of [[The Breakers]], a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age]]
The 50 years following the Civil War were a time of prosperity and affluence that author William G. McLoughlin calls "Rhode Island's halcyon era". Rhode Island was a center of the [[Gilded Age]] and provided a home or summer home to many of the country's most prominent industrialists. This was a time of growth in textile mills and manufacturing and brought an influx of immigrants to fill those jobs, bringing population growth and urbanization. In [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]], New York's wealthiest industrialists created a summer haven to socialize and build [[Preservation Society of Newport County|grand mansions]]. Thousands of French-Canadian, Italian, Irish, and Portuguese immigrants arrived to fill jobs in the textile and manufacturing mills in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Woonsocket.<ref name="McLoughlin" />

===World War I===
During World War I, Rhode Island furnished 28,817 soldiers, of whom 612 died. After the war, the state was hit hard by the [[Spanish Influenza]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/studteaguide/RhodeIslandHistory/chapt7.html |title=Rhode Island History: Chapter VII: Boom, Bust, and War, 1900–1945 |access-date=March 28, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060302040555/http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/studteaguide/rhodeislandhistory/chapt7.html |archive-date=March 2, 2006 }}</ref>

In the 1920s and 1930s, rural Rhode Island saw a surge in [[Ku Klux Klan]] membership, largely in reaction to large waves of [[immigrants]] moving to the state. The Klan is believed to be responsible for burning the [[Watchman Industrial School]] in [[Scituate, Rhode Island|Scituate]], which was a school for African-American children.<ref>{{cite news |author=Robert Smith |url=http://www.projo.com/specials/century/month4/426nw1.htm |title=In the 1920s the Klan Ruled the Countryside |newspaper=The Providence Journal |date=April 26, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722015159/http://www.projo.com/specials/century/month4/426nw1.htm |archive-date=July 22, 2011 }}</ref>

===Growth in the modern era: 1929–present===
Since the [[Great Depression]], the [[Rhode Island Democratic Party]] has dominated local politics. Rhode Island has comprehensive health insurance for low-income children and a large [[social safety net]]. However, many urban areas still have a high rate of child poverty. Due to an influx of residents from [[Boston]], increasing housing costs have resulted in more homelessness in Rhode Island.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://204.17.79.244/profiles/cw_pro.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060425093125/http://204.17.79.244/profiles/cw_pro.html | archive-date = April 25, 2006 | title = Providence Neighborhood Profiles }}</ref>
[[File:Downtown_Providence_Rhode_Island_2008.jpg|thumb|Downtown Providence in 2008]]
The 350th anniversary of the founding of Rhode Island was celebrated with a free concert held on the tarmac of the Quonset State Airport on August 31, 1986. Performers included [[Chuck Berry]], [[Tommy James]], and headliner [[Bob Hope]].
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In 2003, a [[The Station nightclub fire|nightclub fire]] in [[West Warwick, Rhode Island|West Warwick]] claimed 100 lives and resulted in nearly twice as many injured, catching national attention. The fire resulted in criminal sentences.<ref name="Butler">{{cite news | last= Butler | first= Brian | title= Nightclub Fire Kills 39 People | date= February 21, 2003 | publisher= CNN | url= http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0302/21/bn.09.html | access-date= August 29, 2007 | archive-date= December 4, 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071204114713/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0302/21/bn.09.html | url-status= live }}</ref>
<!--The disasters below do not seem to fit in this  section

In March, 2010, heavy rain and rising rivers caused record floods. The first period of rainy weather in mid-March caused localized flooding and, two weeks later, more rain caused more widespread flooding in many towns, especially south of Providence. Rain totals on March 29–30, 2010 exceeded 14&nbsp;inches (35.5&nbsp;cm) in many locales, resulting in the inundation of area rivers—especially the Pawtuxet River which runs through central Rhode Island. The overflow of the Pawtuxet River, nearly {{convert|11|ft|m|0}} above flood stage, submerged a sewage treatment plant and closed a five-mile (8&nbsp;km) stretch of [[Interstate 95]]. In addition, it flooded two shopping malls, numerous businesses, and many homes in the towns of Warwick, West Warwick, Cranston, and Westerly. Amtrak service was also suspended between New York and Boston during this period. Following the flood, Rhode Island was in a state of emergency for two days. The [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] (FEMA) was called in to help flood victims.-->