Rhode Island Rum

The economy of Rhode Island was centered around the bustling port of Newport, located on Aquidneck Island near the mouth of the Narragansett. Providence, to the north, at the head of the Naragansett, was a significantly large center of population, although it did not contribute nearly as much as Newport to the colony's economy.

Newport, about 30 miles to the south of Providence, because of its location, is known by most to be the center of the slave trade for New England. Many of the merchants began their involvement in the trade to more or less diversify their portfolios, as Newport was far more involved in the business of import than in export.

The soil of Rhode Island, rocky and sandy, was extremely unforgiving to farmers attempting to grow any sort of substanial crop, but several farmers located in the southern half of the colony were successful in making dairy products, raising cattle, as well as sheep.

Rhode Island was well known throughout the colonial Atlantic world for its rum, and one of its towns, Bristol, was home to 5 distilleries, used solely for the production of rum. This rum, which was made from molasses imported from the West Indies, was transported by the Newport merchants across the Atlantic to the west coast of Africa, where it was traded for slaves. Rhode Island was also used throughout the colonies, although more often than not, the rum was used by colonists to preserve meat, instead of its far more favorable use, drinking it.

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-Rhode Island Rum-www.rumspiritof1776.com/index.php/rumabilia/rhode-island-rum/

-Crane, Elaine Foreman. A Dependant People: Newport, Rhode Island in the Revolutionary Era. Fordham UP: New York, NY. 1985.

King Philip's War in Rhode Island

While an overwhelming majority of the atrocities of King Philip's War took place in Massachusetts, an overwhelming large percentage of natives who partook in those atrocities hailed from Rhode Island. Mary Rowlandson, known for her narrative describing her captivity during the war, was captured by a group of Narragansett Indians. King Philip himself, although a Wampanoag, made his home in what is now Mount Hope, Rhode Island, in the eastern part of the state along the border with Massachusetts.
But what is regarded as perhaps the largest atrocity committed by either side during the short-lived war took place in southern Rhode Island, near present day Kingston. This atrocity, otherwise known as the Great Swamp Fight (or Massacre), was fought between English forces from the United Colonies, a coalition of troops from Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Connecticut, and the Narragansett Indians.
At the outset of the war, the Narragansett remained neutral, while the neighboring Wampanoag took their chances by taking on the English. However, as the Wampanoag attacks increased in severity in western and southeastern Massachusetts, the English became more eager to crush the natives for the burning of their towns. The United Colonies had a fairly significant distrust of the Narragansett, unlike Rhode Island, who up until the winter of 1675, had an amicable relationship.

The start of the war, in the spring of 1675, which included raids on both warring sides, led to a small Wampanoag population that sought refuge among the Narragansett. Massachusetts Bay authorities demanded the release of these refugees, but the Narragansett sachem, Canonchet, refused, saying, "No, not a Wampanoag, nor the pairing of a Wampanoag's nail." This refusal ultimately plunged the until then peaceful Narragansett into the depths of the war. On November 2, the United Colonies declared war on the Narragansett, while the Canonchet and his tribe fleed from the shores of the Narragansett Bay into a large fort on an island in a swamp, known as the Great Swamp.

In December of 1675, the English received word on the location of the Narragansett, and Josiah Winslow, the Governor of Plymouth Colony, led an army of 1,000 United Colonists into the Great Swamp, to confront the Narragansett.