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.