USA > Rhode Island > A short history of Rhode Island > Part 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
273
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
December, 1790, and on the Pawtucket River, the first factory went into operation. On that day and by the hand of Samuel Slater, the destiny of Rhode Island was decided.
In these days of mingled hope and fear, on the 19th of July, 1785, closed the long and useful career of Stephen Hopkins, whose name is closely interwoven with all that is greatest and best in Rhode Island history ; an astronomer of no mean pretensions, a statesman of broad views and deep penetration, a supreme executive, prompt, ener- getic and fearless, a genial companion when wise men relax from care, and a trusty counselor when the duties of life bear heaviest on the scrupulous conscience.
The tranquil growth of manufactures affords few materials for general history, in which it ap- pears by its results rather than by its processes. Statistics take the place of narrative, and except in controlling and inventive minds the story of man himself is the story of a machine.
Meanwhile another seed was sown in this fruit- ful ground, and another name was associated with a great public benefaction, the name of John How- land, a native of Newport, but from his ninth year a resident of Providence and a barber by trade, became, in 1799, the father of the free school system of Rhode Island. Not all at once was this good work done, but slowly and in spite of much opposition, chiefly from the poor who were to profit most by it. Years were yet to pass
18
274
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
before the pride as well as the consciences of the people became enlisted in its behalf.
In the commercial history of the State the foundation of the Providence Bank, in 1791, was an event of great importance, to be followed at intervals by others with various degrees of suc- cess. But among them all not one bore so directly upon the moral growth of the commun- ity as the Providence Institution for Savings, founded in 1819.
Great hopes were founded on a canal connect- ing the tide-water of Providence River with the north line of the State. A company for this purpose was formed in 1796, and so great was the confidence which the undertaking inspired, that John Brown, a leading merchant of Provi- dence, subscribed forty thousand dollars to the stock. The project failed, and though enthusias- tically renewed in 1823, failed again and forever.
The yellow fever belongs to our record, and Rhode Island came in for a full share of the destruction occasioned by the September gale of 1815. Most towns hand down from generation to generation the story of some great fire which swept over it in its young days, leaving ruin and desolation in its path. The "great fire " of Providence was the fire of 1801, the memory of which still lives in the traditions of our own generation.
Pleasant memories also belong to our record. When Washington made his first visit to the
275
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
East as President, Rhode Island had not yet entered the Union. When she did he made a second visit to the East in recognition of her accession, and was enthusiastically welcomed. He had already been there under very different circumstances during the war.
We have spoken of John Howland as a public benefactor. Another of these benefactors of their race was Ebenezer Knight Dexter, founder of the Dexter Asylum, who having amassed a large fortune in honorable commerce, gave sixty thousand dollars of it to the support of the poor. A still more important movement was made in the interest of the poor, when the first temperance meeting was held in Providence in 1827.
We saw how a charter had been granted to Newport and taken from her. In 1829 an attempt was made to obtain a charter for Providence and failed. Two years later a serious riot occurred in which some property was destroyed and some lives were lost. It became evident to the friends of good order that a more efficient government was required to hold in check a population of sixteen thousand eight hundred and thirty-two souls ; for to that number had Providence risen in 1830. A charter was applied for and easily obtained, and on the 22d of November, 1832, the Town of Providence became a city. Samuel W. Bridgham was the first Mayor.
Though never the seat of war during the war of
276
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
1812, the name of Rhode Island is closely con- nected with it, through Oliver H. Perry, one of the greatest of naval commanders. She bore her part also in the sufferings occasioned by the embargo, and the other rash measures of a gov- ernment which rushed headlong and wholly un- prepared into a war with the most powerful nation on earth. Fully sharing also in the just discon- tent of the Eastern States, she sent four delegates to the much maligned Hartford Convention.
·
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE DORR REBELLION.
WE have seen that the relation of the citizen to the State became the subject of attention and experiment at an early period in the history of Rhode Island. Although an avowed democracy, she regarded suffrage not as an inherent right, but as a privilege dependent upon the fulfillment of certain specified conditions. Inequality of representation was a natural consequence of the unequally increased population ; some towns growing faster than others, but having no more voice in legislation than they had had at the be- ginning of their civil existence. The right to vote was held to be an important right, and great pains were taken to secure purity at the polls. But it was evident that all the tax-payers would sooner or later claim to be voters. This question recurs from time to time in all its ramifications, and though long deferred, became at last the chief question of Rhode Island politics.
For more than two-thirds of a century she had lived under the Charter of Charles II., first as a Colony and lastly as a State. This Charter was framed in the broad and liberal spirit of Roger Williams and John Clarke, and left room for
278
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
large developments in every department of legiti- mate thought and action.
Unfortunately what might have been brought about by peaceful discussion was gradually fanned into the fiercest flame. Providence had entirely outgrown her old rival, Newport, and yet Newport had a representation of six in the Assembly, and Providence of only four. In other towns the disproportion was equally great. The property qualification also, a freehold of a hun- dred and thirty-four dollars, was bitterly opposed by those who had no freehold. In 1840 seventy- two representatives were chosen. Thirty-eight were chosen from towns having only twenty-nine thousand and twenty inhabitants and two thou- sand eight hundred and forty-six voters, and the remaining thirty-four came from towns which had only seventy-nine thousand eight hundred and four inhabitants, and five thousand seven hundred and seventy-six voters.
Equally irritating to those who had no share in it was the right conferred by primogeniture.
For many years these questions were prominent subjects of discussion, and were even brought forward as the most important objects of legisla- tive action. But no relief could be obtained from the Assembly, for the Assembly itself was chiefly composed of the privileged classes. From the Assembly there was but one appeal-the appeal to the people, and upon the form of this appeal lay the choice between reform and revolution.
T
a
e a t
0
279
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
This is the event known in Rhode Island history as the Dorr Rebellion.
The first step towards action was the formation of suffrage associations, by which the 'public mind was excited and the popular will roused to exertion. All through the last weeks of 1840 and the first weeks of 1841, these associations were busy in guiding, kindling and stimulating the popular mind, and preparing it for decisive action. All classes were roused, for the contest was at every door, and every citizen was equally interested in the result.
The suffrage associations did their work actively and well. By the 5th of July, 1841, a mass con- vention was held in Providence, and the State Committee was authorized to call a convention for the formation of a Constitution. Confident of their strength the committee set themselves to their task. On the 28th of August delegates were chosen, and on the 4th of October the con- vention met. In this convention a Constitution was framed, and in December sent out to the peo- ple as the People's Constitution. Fourteen thou- sand voters, a majority, it was claimed, of all the male adult voters in the State, cast their votes for it. It claimed to be the will of the people authoritatively expressed. There was one more step to take, the consequence and complement of all that had hitherto been done, to complete the organization by the election of officers. The 18th of April, 1842, was fixed upon for this gravest
1 1
t
i.
280
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
function of freemen, and Thomas Wilson Dorr, of Providence, was chosen Governor.
Votes had done all that the mere expression of opinion could do. But underlying every lawful vote was the law which gave it validity, and this law had prescribed the form and manner in which these votes became effective. It had said that while the source of all power was in the people, the people themselves in order to secure progress and guard against revolution had set limits to their authority, and told when, where and for what it should be employed.
And now it was seen that there was another government which claimed to be in sole possession of this power, and the moment that the new gov- ernment attempted to perform its executive func- tions it found itself face to face with the old. It was evident that one of the two parties must give way or there must be a collision and bloodshed.
The first attempt of the Suffragists to organize was made at Providence on the 3d of May, and was repelled. The moral strength was with the charter government which had the chartered companies, the organized militia and a strong body of volunteers at its control. It had also the strong moral support of that clause in the Constitution of the United States which guaran- tees to every state a republican government and protection against internal violence. Should Federal intervention become necessary, the time and the form of it had been provided for. But
281
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
it was not needed. We have seen that on the 3d of May the government of Governor Dorr had attempted to displace the government of Gov- ernor King, and failed. On the 18th an attempt was made to seize the Arsenal, which also failed. Men who had grown up side by side in peaceful intimacy, had seized their arms under a strong political excitement, but when the moment for using them came, shrank from the fearful respon- sibility. Hundreds would have fought gallantly, but no one was prepared to begin. And thus when on the 25th of June an attempt was made to make a stand at Chepachet, the Suffragists gave way at the approach of the State troops, and re- turned to their homes without shedding a drop of blood. . By the 28th of June all was over. The great body of the insurgents went quietly back to their stores and their farms. Their leader was tried for treason and condemned to imprison- ment for life. But Rhode Island was not a place where so severe a punishment could be meted out to such an offence. In 1847 an act of general amnesty set him free, and in 1851 he was restored to his political and civil rights. Forgiveness went still further, and his sentence was reversed as illegal and unjust. But the Supreme Court refused to sustain this reversal as an assumption of judicial authority by the Legislature. Dorr's early death left him no time for new aspirations.
Meanwhile a new convention for the framing of a new Constitution had been called by the
282
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
regularly constituted authorities, and a new draft submitted to the people. But this also was re- jected. Another attempt was made, another convention called. Argument and discussion were exhausted. The popular mind was prepared for decision. The popular will called for it. The last day of the old Charter was come. At an adjourned meeting of the convention, held at East Greenwich on the 5th of November, a final decision was reached and a Constitution · unani- mously agreed upon. On the first Tuesday in May, 1843, it went into operation.
And thus Rhode Island, while she adhered firmly to the principle of freedom of opinion, adhered no less firmly to the principle of law and order. The Dorr Rebellion was the resist- ance of law to revolution, of order to the arbitrary assumption of power. Rhode Island had begun her career by a practical profession of freedom of thought and freedom of speech. She had strug- gled long and hard to secure them both, and now the day of reward was at hand. Henceforth the industries of peace will bring her wealth from the land and the sea, the salubrity of her climate will raise up on her inland and on her shores a thriving and vigorous population, and while in some things she will take the lead of her sister states, in no thing will she fall far behind.
CHAPTER XXXII.
LIFE UNDER THE CONSTITUTION .- THE WAR OF THE .REBELLION .- THE CENTENARY.
WITH the adoption of the new Constitution business returned to its natural channels. Party animosities lost somewhat of their bitterness as the various forms of industry revived, and old friends were again brought into daily communi- cation under the healing influence of common interests and common pleasures. The story of these calm pursuits brings out in pleasant relief the every-day virtues of domestic life and the higher qualities of combination and invention, but it seldom addresses itself to the imagination, or excites and surprises by glowing appeals to the passions. The happiest periods of history are those which are the most barren of incident.
Meanwhile one of the great epochs of our his- tory was at hand, and Rhode Island was again called upon to furnish the materials for battles which were to be fought at a distance from her own soil. The war of secession found her, like her sisters, unprepared for the great struggle in which humanity had so much at stake, and which soon made it manifest that industrious peace is the best of preparations for a war of principle. Within three days after President Lincoln issued
284
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
his proclamation calling for troops for the de- fence of Washington, a body of Rhode Islanders, well armed and equipped, was on its way thither. As the war continued she still met its increasing demands, till the sum-total of her contributions amounted to twenty-four thousand and forty-two, upon a population of one hundred and eighty- four thousand nine hundred and sixty-five. Of these, two hundred and fifty-five were killed ; one thousand two hundred and sixty-three died of wounds or disease ; one thousand two hundred and forty-nine were wounded.
As some readers may wish for more detail, I give the following statement, for which I am in- debted to the politeness of Adjutant-General Heber Le Favour :
"There went into the field from Rhode Island during the late rebellion, twenty-four thousand and forty-two men ; of which the infantry num- bered ten thousand three hundred and eighty-two ; cavalry, four thousand three hundred and ninety- four; heavy artillery, five thousand six hundred and forty-four ; light artillery, two thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven ; navy, six hundred and forty-five. This number is in excess of the actual number of persons furnished by the State, as many of them appear several times on the record under the head of promotions or re-enlist- ments after discharge from their three months, nine months, or three years terms of service.
Two hundred and fifty-five were killed, one thousand two hundred and sixty-five died of
285
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
wounds or disease, and one thousand two hundred and forty-nine were wounded. There were eight regiments of infantry, of which three were for three months and two for nine months. There were three regiments of cavalry for three years, and one squa- dron for three months. There were three regiments of heavy artillery. There was one regiment of light artillery, composed of eight light batteries, and there were also two light batteries for three months service. One company of infantry was stationed at Portsmouth Grove as Hospital Guards."
On the 4th of July, 1876, the United States of America ended the first century of their national existence ; a century of marvellous experiences throughout the civilized world ; of experiences in the science of government, which bear directly upon the moral development of man and experien- ces in the physical sciences which minister directly and indirectly both to his material wants and to the demands of his intellectual nature. Civiliza- tion had reached in those hundred years a height and a completeness which it had never reached before.
Proud of what they had done, confident of what they could do, they invited the other civil- ized nations, their elders by centuries, to bring the choicest productions of their art and industry and set them side by side with those of the young republic. In this comparison how well Rhode Island bore her part the following list will show :
286
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
Rhode Island was conspicuous at the Exposi- tion for the excellence of her products in the fol- lowing departments : *
First-Machinery, including new inventions. Second-Cotton fabrics, including sheeting and shirting, calico, fine muslins, jeans, drillings, etc.
Third-Woolen fabrics, broad cloths, cassi- meres, shawls, worsteds, etc.
Fourth-Wood screws. (American Screw Co., Providence.)
Fifth - Fire-arms, rifles, carabines chiefly. The Peabody-Martini rifle furnished the Turkish government an arm of great excellence. (Provi- dence Tool Co.)
Sixth-Fabrics of India rubber. (The Bristol
Works.)
Seventh-Silver and plated ware. (Gorham's.) Eighth-Steam engines.
Ninth-Hair cloth. (Various companies in Pawtucket.
Tenth-Files and mechanics' tools.
Eleventh-Stoves and furnaces. (Chiefly the product of the Barstow Works.) Twelfth-Chemical manufactures.
* For the above list I am indebted to my friend, Hon. J. R. Bartlett, to whom Rhode Island is indebted for the preservation and publication of her Colonial Records.
287
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
And here I stay my hand. I have spoken kindly of the State of my birth, but mindful of the historian's first duty, I have striven in every thing to speak truthfully. It is an unvarnished tale, and yet there is a moral grandeur in it far beyond the grandeur of battle-fields and thrones. By deep and earnest convictions, by unwavering faith and unshaken resolution, Rhode Island has worked out for herself and for mankind one of the grandest problems of civilization.
It is the privilege of history that it teaches by examples. It is good for man that such men as Roger Williams and John Clark, should have lived. It is for the glory of Rhode Island that men like these, searching for a spot whereon they might build and live with unfettered consciences, should have chosen her for their dwelling place.
AUTHOR'S NOTES.
(Referring to page 196.) This is not strictly accurate. It was in honor of Nicholas, not John Brown, and several years after its removal from Warren to Providence, that the name of Rhode Island College was changed to Brown University.
It was in July, 1777, during the occupation of Newport by the British, that William Barton, Lieutenant-Colonel in the Rhode Island militia, performed his brilliant exploit of the capture of the British General Prescott ; passing three British frigates unobserved and carrying off the British General in his night-clothes. Congress rewarded him with a gift of a sword, and what was still more valuable, a commission as Colonel in the Continental army.
MASSACHUSETTS Waterford
Wallung Fund
Slatersville
M
Map of
I
NORTH
THE STATE OF).
SMITHFIELD
Pascoag P.O.
Nichols Sla Primrose Sta
(PUBLISHED BY>-
Smithfield Sta.
Lime Rock
S
BOSTON & PROY.
A SHORT HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND 1877 Drawn by J. C.Thompson.
Greenville
NORTHLI
PROVIDENCE
CITY
(NorthScituate":
PROVIDENCE
. R
I
Olney ville
Watch Ptemo-
T
FieldsPIS
FosterCentre
South Scituate
3
T O
wowLuxetm
speel FARRINGTON
WARR
O
V
E PROV
Greene
Washington
KENT COUSIN
Bristol
BWIC
OF WAR Patience I
WEST
GREENWICH
-
Prudence
Hope!
RTH
QuonsetPt.
E
X
E
Exeter P.O
I
PORT TORTS
MOUTH
A
CO
OLD MIDDLE- P.O:
nonicut
HopeValley's
A TOWN
E
Swamp Fight Dec.19 1675
Newpor
Kingston Sta.
S
T
H
Suchest Pt
A
Sakonuet Pt.
0
Nood River Junc.
Wakefield
PIER R.R. Narragansett Pier
HI
KINGSTOWN
0
CEAN
Pawca- tuck HME 16 westerhy-P'.0.
WESTERL
PtJudith
Par
W
E
HatchHill Pt
ATLANTIC
Scale of Miles.
1 2 5
10
BLOCK ISLAND (NEWPORT CS.)
HUSE
T 2
Moosihy T
WARWICK ouimicut
BRISTOL
TTOLA
Mt tlop
S TEast Greenwichin
GREENWIC
Potuwon
TIVE
N NE
P.O ...
TiverPoint
R.
Fan
Mr. HOPE BAY
TTS
Phenix
W
PROVIDENCE RIVERS
PROV.WARREN
EAST PROVIDENCE
UCKET
ISPRINGFIEL
F
S
Tona
JOHNST
L
DGLOC
FOSTER
PROV. &
FILFIELD
( J.A. & R. A.REID, IN
{Chepachet P.0; PR ON
SMI
LINK
PROV.& won.
Blackstone Rivers
RI.& MASS NE.
RIODE ISLAND
BUR
Diamond Vin
AKET
S
LIT
COMP
WOOD RIVER
Pawcati
ONARRA
OWN
Indian Church& School
CHARLES
A
Angton
Tcatnº
NEW SHOREHAM
PROV.
SET OWN
TLE
Wood
ICHMO
NEW
Tk.
Hope
INGTON
2
R. R.
Appendix.
The Charter,
GRANTED BY KING CHARLES II.,
July 8, 1663, and in force until the adoption of the Constitution, November, 1842.
CHARLES the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scot- land, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Whereas, we have been informed, by the humble petition of our trusty and well-beloved subject, John Clarke, on the behalf of Benjamin Arnold, William Brenton, William Codington, Nicholas Easton, William Boulston, John Porter, John Smith, Samuel Gorton, John Weeks, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, Gregory Dexter, John Coggeshall, Joseph Clarke, Randall Holden, John Greene, John Roome, Samuel Wildbore, William Field, James Barker, Richard Tew, Thomas Harris, and William Dyre, and the rest of the purchasers and free inhabitants of our island, called Rhode Island, and the rest of the Colony of Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, in New England, in America, that they, pursuing, with peaceable and loyal minds, their sober, serious, and religious intentions, of godly edifying themselves, and one another, in the holy Christian faith and worship, as they were persuaded; together with the gaining over and conversion of the poor ignorant Indian natives, in those parts of America to the sincere profession and obedience of the same faith and worship, did, not only by the consent and good encouragement of our royal progenitors, transport themselves out of this kingdom of England into America, but also, since their arrival there, after their first settlement amongst other our subjects in those parts, for the avoiding of discord, and those many evils which were likely to ensue upon some of those our subjects not being able to bear, in these remote parts, their different apprehensions in religious concernments, and in pursuance of the aforesaid ends, did once again leave their desirable stations and habitations, and with excessive labor and travel, hazard and charge did transplant themselves into the midst of the Indian natives, who, as we are informed, are the most potent princes and people of all that country; where, by the good Providence of God, from whom the Plantations have taken their name, upon their labor and industry, they have not only been preserved to admiration, but have increased and prospered, and are seized and possessed, by pur- chase and consent of the said natives, to their full content, of such lands, islands, rivers, harbors and roads, as are very convenient, both for plantations, and also for building of ships, supply of pipe-staves, and other merchandize; and which lie very commodious, in many respects, for commerce, and to accommodate our southern plantations,
292
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
and may much advance the trade of this our realm, and greatly enlarge the the territories thereof; they having by near neighborhood to and friendly society with the great body of the Narragansett Indians, given them encouragement of their own accord, to subject themselves, their people and lands, unto us; whereby, as is hoped, there may, in time, by the blessing of God upon their endeavors be laid a sure foundation of happiness to all America: And whereas, in their hum- ble address, they have freely declared, that it is much on their hearts (if they may be permitted) to hold forth a lively experiment, that a most flourishing civil state may stand and best be maintained, and that among our English subjects, with a full liberty in religious con- cernments; and that true piety rightly grounded upon gospel princi- ples, will give the best and greatest security to sovereignty, and will lay in the hearts of men the strongest obligations to true loyalty: Now, know ye, that we, being willing to encourage the hopeful under- taking of our said loyal and loving subjects, and to secure them in the free exercise and enjoyment of all their civil and religious rights, appertaining to them, as our loving subjects; and to preserve unto them that liberty, in the true Christian faith and worship of God, which they have sought with so much travail, and with peaceable minds, and loyal subjection to our royal progenitors and ourselves, to enjoy; and because some of the people and inhabitants of the same colony cannot, in their private opinions, conform to the public exercise of religion, according to the liturgy, forms and ceremonies of the Church of England, or take or subscribe the oaths and articles made and established in that behalf; and for that the same, by reason of the remote distances of those places, will (as we hope) be no breach of the unity and uniformity established in this nation: Have therefore thought fit, and do hereby publish, grant, ordain and declare, That our royal will and pleasure is, that no person within the said Colony, at any time hereafter, shall be any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any differences in opinion in matters of religion, and do not actually disturb the civil peace of our said Colony; but that all and every person and persons may, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious concern- ments, throughout the tract of land hereafter mentioned, they behav- ing themselves peaceably and quietly, and not using this liberty to licentiousness and profaneness, nor to the civil injury or outward dis- turbance of others, any law, statute, or clause therein contained, or to be contained, usage or custom of this realm, to the contrary hereof, in any wise, notwithstanding. And that they may be in the better capacity to defend themselves, in their just rights and liberties, against all the enemies of the Christian faith, and others, in all respects, we have further thought fit, and at the humble petition of the persons aforesaid are graciously pleased to declare, That they shall have and enjoy the benefit of our late act of indemnity and free par- don, as the rest of our subjects in other our dominions and territories have; and to create and make them a body politic or corporate, with the powers and privileges hereinafter mentioned. And accordingly our will and pleasure is, and of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, we have ordained, constituted and declared, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do ordain, constitute and declare, That they, the said William Brenton, William Coding- ton, Nicholas Easton, Benedict Arnold, William Boulston, John Porter, Samuel Gorton, John Smith, John Weeks, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, Gregory Dexter, John Coggeshall, Joseph Clarke, Randall Holden, John Greene, John Roome, William Dyre, Samuel Wildbore, Richard Tew, William Field, Thomas Harris, James Bar- ker, Rainsborrow, - Williams, and John Nickson, and
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.