Revolutionary Rhode Island
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Revolutionary Rhode Island: An Introduction
Rhode Island was a leader in resistance to British rule. The timeline below charts Rhode Island’s first transgressions against the Crown.
In the wake of the Sugar Act of 1764, violence broke out when colonists took over Fort George on Goat Island in Newport harbor and fired cannon on the British ship, St. John.
Newporters destroyed the British revenue sloop the Liberty. After harshly questioning the captains of two ships out of Connecticut, the Captain of the Liberty was Surrounded by an angry mob of Newporters the captain was forced to bring his crew ashore from the ship. Locals boarded the empty ship and cut it loose. It floated around the Point where it was stripped and burned.
The H.M.S. Gaspee, which was patrolling Rhode Island waters to enforce the Navigation Acts, was led onto a sandbar and burned to the waterline by patriots.
Preparedness began in 1774 when communities began to form independent militias. Almost every able-bodied man was mustering and practicing military movements. Defenses were being constructed.
Rhode Island becomes the first to call for a Continental Congress.
Passed the Act of Renunciation on May 4, 1776 - A “declaration of independence” two months before the Declaration of Independence was signed.
The Assembly set aside the loyalist leaning Governor and formed an Army of Observation.
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