Community Chat

[stevieb]

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@Sheila P-Burg wrote:

I can understand people not knowing that about Rhode Island.

What I find baffling is the people in this country that don't know West Virginia is a state. Used to live in the beautiful wonderful state of West Virginia (yes West Virginia has half my heart, Pennsylvania the other half) and when we would travel to various parts of the country people would ask where we were from. We  said West Virginia and the response back most of the time was Western Virginia. And no they were not kidding. They actually did not know West Virginia was separate from Virgina.

So yes I can fully understand people not knowing that about Rhode Island. 

Ask them the capital of Pennsylvania and see how many say Philadelphia. 

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Actually, at one time, WV was part of VA, as was Kentucky. But yes, by now, people ought to know the difference.

[sligo]

@nana59 , I am also from the "OCEAN STATE" now living in the South. Really miss my homestate.

[CrazyDaisy]

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@jannabelle1 wrote:

I'm curious...what is the significance or history of Providence Plantation that it would be part of the name of the state?

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Historically Plantation was used as a name for large estates and cash crop farms.  At the time of the revolution there may have been some of these estates that the founders wanted to claim as part Rhode Island.  As the north industrialized these estates were split up and became smaller while in the South land owners still maintained huge properties and continued to call them plantations.

[Sheila P-Burg]

@stevieb  ...... Yes they were. As well as West Virginia and Kentucky so was Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota.

West Virginia just celebrated on June 20 the anniversary of the "creation" of their precious state.

[nana59]

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@sligo wrote:

@nana59, I am also from the "OCEAN STATE" now living in the South. Really miss my homestate.

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1971 lived in Mississippi for a year...husband was in the military....came back home and haven't left since....

[missmouse12]

I"m  not sure if I'm allowed to copy this but here is a small sample as to the naming of Rhode Island.  I have lived here all my life and I know the history but it is easier for me to do it this way.  The Plantations were settlements but.not the way the media would have people believe.

Following the 1660 restoration of royal rule in England, it was necessary to gain a Royal Charter from King Charles II. Charles was a Catholic sympathizer in staunchly Protestant England, and he approved of the colony's promise of religious freedom. He granted the request with the Royal Charter of 1663, uniting the four settlements together into the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. In the following years, many persecuted groups settled in the colony, notably Quakers and Jews. The Rhode Island colony was very progressive for the time, passing laws abolishing witchcraft trials, imprisonment for debt, most capital punishment, and slavery of both blacks and whites.

Rhode Island remained at peace with local Indians, but the relationship was more strained between other New England colonies and certain tribes and sometimes led to bloodshed, despite attempts by the Rhode Island leadership to broker peace. During King Philip's War (1675–1676), both sides regularly violated Rhode Island's neutrality. The war's largest battle occurred in Rhode Island on December 19, 1675 when a force of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Plymouth militia under General Josiah Winslow invaded and destroyed the fortified Narragansett village in the Great Swamp. The Narragansetts also invaded and burned several towns in Rhode Island, including Providence. Roger Williams knew both Metacom (Philip) and Canonchet as children. He was aware of the tribe's activities and promptly sent letters informing the Governor of Massachusetts of enemy movements. Providence Plantations made some efforts at fortifying the town, and Williams even started training recruits for protection. In one of the final actions of the war, troops from Connecticut killed King Philip (Metacom) in Mount Hope, Rhode Island.

[willomenia]

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@CrazyDaisy wrote:

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@jannabelle1 wrote:

I'm curious...what is the significance or history of Providence Plantation that it would be part of the name of the state?

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Historically Plantation was used as a name for large estates and cash crop farms.  At the time of the revolution there may have been some of these estates that the founders wanted to claim as part Rhode Island.  As the north industrialized these estates were split up and became smaller while in the South land owners still maintained huge properties and continued to call them plantations.

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Im glad someone understands what the word plantation in reference to rhode island means. Sick of the world thinking eliminating a word or statue is going to erase history

[stevieb]

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@willomenia wrote:

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@CrazyDaisy wrote:

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@jannabelle1 wrote:

I'm curious...what is the significance or history of Providence Plantation that it would be part of the name of the state?

---

Historically Plantation was used as a name for large estates and cash crop farms.  At the time of the revolution there may have been some of these estates that the founders wanted to claim as part Rhode Island.  As the north industrialized these estates were split up and became smaller while in the South land owners still maintained huge properties and continued to call them plantations.

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Im glad someone understands what the word plantation in reference to rhode island means. Sick of the world thinking eliminating a word or statue is going to erase history

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Agree with you @willomenia, it's really pretty much idiotic. What I can't fathom is those in positions to do something about it kowtowing to it and going right along with it. What might be more productive would be drawing a line in the sand and suggesting the focus be on things that truly matter and not on lame attempts to rewrite history, which can't be done nor would it be desirable to do so...

[magicmoodz]

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@stevieb wrote:

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@willomenia wrote:

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@CrazyDaisy wrote:

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@jannabelle1 wrote:

I'm curious...what is the significance or history of Providence Plantation that it would be part of the name of the state?

---

Historically Plantation was used as a name for large estates and cash crop farms.  At the time of the revolution there may have been some of these estates that the founders wanted to claim as part Rhode Island.  As the north industrialized these estates were split up and became smaller while in the South land owners still maintained huge properties and continued to call them plantations.

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Im glad someone understands what the word plantation in reference to rhode island means. Sick of the world thinking eliminating a word or statue is going to erase history

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Agree with you @willomenia, it's really pretty much idiotic. What I can't fathom is those in positions to do something about it kowtowing to it and going right along with it. What might be more productive would be drawing a line in the sand and suggesting the focus be on things that truly matter and not on lame attempts to rewrite history, which can't be done nor would it be desirable to do so...

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@stevieb  This came across my facebook feed the other day:

[Nancy Drew]

The problem is when the word racist was used to manipulate someone from debating an issue and just trying to shut them up it lost its value. People should have been a lot more diligent when they used it, instead they tossed it around like a bag of chips.