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Providence Plantation was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Baptist minister fleeing from religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was joined there by Anne Hutchinson after her banishment. A Parliamentary patent was secured in March 1644, uniting the four settlements. Under the Royal Charter, the colony was Self-Governing, with an elected Governor and Legislature. For a time, it was used as a government for deportation where high-ranking exiles and criminals were sent.

In 1663, a Royal Charter was granted by Charles II of England]] for the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Unlike many of the other colonies' charters, the charter for Rhode Island specifically guaranteed religious freedom for all Christians and even Jews. Because of this, a small Jewish population existed in Rhode Island, the only one in the original 13 British colonies of North America in which they were able to practice their religion freely. However, some extremist Puritan groups were against this religious toleration.

Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, on May 4, 1776. It was also the last colony of the thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution. Prior to this, some people, including George Washington, chose to detour around it when heading north or south from New England^{[citation needed]}.

Rhode Island covers about 1,214 square miles. The terrain is mostly flat with no mountains. The colony's economy was mostly based around farming; they had large dairy cattle farms. Shipbuilding was a profitable trade as there was much lumber. Rhode Island also fished and was a slave trading outpost.

Some historians think the name owes its origins to Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, upon discovering nearby (present-day) Block Island named it Rhode Island because of its similarity in shape to the Greek island of Rhodes.^{[citation needed]} As for Providence, the Plantation was likely named for Divine Providence, given the fact that the founder of Providence, Rhode Island, Roger Williams, was a theologian.

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