Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (May 29, 1790) was the 13th State admitted to the Union. In 1784, the legislature of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations passed an Act abolishing slavery within the State. On May 29, 1790, the Convention of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ratified the Constitution of the United Staets:
<We the Delegates of the People of the State of Rhode-Island, and Providence Plantations, duly elected and met in Convention, having maturely considered the Constitution for the United States of America, agreed to on the seventeenth day of September, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven, by the Convention then assembled at Philadelphia, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (a Copy whereof precedes these presents) and having also seriously and deliberately considered the present situation of this State, do declare and make known...
4. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, and not by force or violence, and therefore all men, have an equal, natural and unalienable right to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience, and that no particular religious sect or society ought to be favored, or established by law in preference to others...
15th That the people have a right peaceably to assemble together, to consult for their common good, or to instruct their representatives; and that every person has a right to petition or apply to the legislature for redress of grievances.
16th That the people have a right to freedom of speech and of writing, and publishing their sentiments, that freedom of the press is one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and ought not to be violated.
17th That the people have a right to keep and bear arms, that a well regulated militia, including the body of the people capable of bearing arms, is the proper, natural and safe defence of a free state; that the militia shall not be subject to martial law except in time of war, rebellion or insurrection; that standing armies in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and ought not to be kept up, except in cases of necessity; and that at all times the military should be under strict subordination to the civil power; that in time of peace no soldier ought to be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, and in time of war, only by the civil magistrate, in such manner as the law directs.
18th That any person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, ought to be exempted, upon payment of an equivalent, to employ another to bear arms in his stead.
AMENDMENTS
1. The United States shall guarantee to each State its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right, which is not by this constitution expressly delegated to the United States...
9. That Congress shall lay no direct taxes, without the consent of the legislatures of three fourths of the states in the Union...
13. That no monies be borrowed on the credit of the United States without the assent of two thirds of the Senators and Representatives present in each house...
17. As a traffic tending to establish or continue the slavery of any part of the human species, is disgraceful to the cause of liberty and humanity, that Congress shall, as soon as may be, promote and establish such laws and regulations, as may effectually prevent the importation of slaves of very description into the United States.> 1790RI001
The original Charter of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, issued by Charles II in 1663, remained the Constitution of the Commonwealth until 1842. It stated:
<The object of the Colonists is to pursue, with peace and loyal minds, their sober, serious, and religious intentions of godly edifying themselves and one another in the holy Christian faith and worship, together with the gaining over and conversion of the poor ignorant Indian natives to the sincere profession and obedience of the same faith and worship.(until 1842)> 1790RI002
The Constitution of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, adopted 1842, stated:
<Preamble. We, the people of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and to transmit the same unimpaired to succeeding generations, do ordain and establish this constitution of Government.> 1790RI003
<Article I, Section 3. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; and all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitations, tend to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness.> 1790RI004
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1790RI001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, February 27, 1784, an Act passed by the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations legislature abolishing slavery within the State. Rhode Island Session Laws (Providence: Wheeler, 1784), pp. 7-8.
1790RI002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 1842, Constitution, Preamble. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 174; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq. Benjamin Weiss, God in American History: A Documentation of America's Religious Heritage (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1966), p. 155. Tim LaHaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 92. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), pp. 64-64.
1790RI003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 1842, Constitution, Article I, Section 3. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 174; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq.
1790RI004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, July 8, 1663, Constitution and Charter, granted by King Charles II, in the 14th year of his reign, to Roger Williams, confirming the colonial patent of 1644; and continuing in effect until 1843. Benjamin Franklin Morris The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia, PA: L. Johnson & Co., 1863; George W. Childs, 1864), p. 236.