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| U.S. Constitution |
On
4 May 1776, Rhode Island became the first colony to declare independence from
Great Britain and King George III. The
British army surrendered in 1781, and the U.S. Constitution was adopted in
1787. Ironically, Rhode Island was
amazingly slow to accept the Constitution.
It took the threat of federal action to get them to sign on May 29,
1790. Why so slow?
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| 1663 RI charter |
Rhode Island’s Royal Charter of 1663 gave the colony unprecedented
self-rule. King Charles II had no reason
to love the Puritans, who had beheaded his father and seized control of the
English empire for nearly twenty years.
Rhode Island had been founded on freedom of religion. Perhaps dismayed by the abuse of Quakers by
New England’s Puritans, or perhaps in vengeance, Charles underscored that
freedom in his charter:
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| King Charles II |
“Our royal will and pleasure is, that no
person within the said colony … shall be anyway molested, punished, disquieted,
or called in question, for any differences in opinion in matters of religion …
They shall have and enjoy the benefit of our late act of indemnity and free
pardon, 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.”
The charter affirmed Rhode Island’s elections of governor and assistants,
their right to defend themselves and their borders, and their right to fish,
ship, plant, and build as they pleased.
Rhode Island also could “ship and transport all and all manner of goods,
chattels, merchandises … yielding and paying unto Us, our heirs and successors,
such the duties, customs and subsidies, as are or ought to be paid or payable
for the same.” All Rhode Islanders were
assured free passage and trade with the other colonies. No longer would New England’s Puritans be
able to bar Quakers.
The 1777 U.S. Articles of Confederation was quickly signed by Rhode Island. It bound the colonies together, but weakly. Rhode Island, wary of dominance by more
powerful states, must have liked the provision that “Each state retains its
sovereignty, freedom, and independence."
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| George Washington at Trenton |
Taxes would pay for the Revolution, but according to the Articles, “Expenditures
by the United States of America will be paid by funds raised by state
legislatures, and apportioned to the states based on the real property values
of each.” Tiny Rhode Island would not
owe nearly the tax levied on Virginia or the other states. Also, the Articles did not provide any means
for compelling the states to provide revenue or troops. George Washington said that the primary
problem with the Articles of Confederation was “no money.”
With the Revolutionary War concluded, the United States Constitution was presented
to the new country in 1787. This
document authorized a far stronger central government, and Rhode Island was not
pleased. The state hadn’t even sent
representatives to the Constitutional Convention, because it wanted no part of
a strong central government.
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| Enslaved Africans boarding ship |
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The
state was independently wealthy.
Agriculture was important, but the real money came from the deep water harbors
at Newport and Providence. Rhode Island
was the Triangle Trade’s American capitol, and sugar, rum, molasses, and trade
goods flooded through the merchants’ hands.
Though Rhode Island law ordered gradual emancipation of enslaved blacks
owned by its own citizens, that state’s merchants controlled 60 - 90% of the U.S.
slave trade (1).
Taxes and duties were owed on these goods.
Great Britain wanted her share, but enforcement was lax, and much of it
could be dodged by shady reporting.
After the Revolution, the United States’ government stepped up to demand
import duties.
The new Constitution required that: “All Duties and Imposts, laid by any
State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United
States; and all such Laws shall be
subject
to the Revision and Control of the Congress.”
Rhode Island and its merchants were strongly resistant to those import taxes,
and refused to ratify the Constitution.
It took threats of taxing Rhode Island’s exports like a foreign countries’
– and a potential trade embargo and port blockade – to make the state
reconsider.
Rhode
Island presented a long list of proposed amendments and a bill of rights, including
a provision that Congress shall not “lay
direct taxes within this state,” but it finally ratified the Constitution
on May 29, 1790.
My sources include:
A list of Rhode Island’s modifications to the
Constitution:
Images:
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