RHODE ISLAND
BY MCKENZIE MORRISON
LEARN ABOUT RHODE ISLAND!!!
Rhode Island is a very beautiful place. A famous person that came from Rhode Island was Harry Anderson. The biggest river in Rhode Island is Pawcatuck.The name was officially applied to the island in 1644 with these words: "Aquethneck shall be henceforth called the Isle of Rodes or Rhode-Island." The name "Isle of Rodes" is found used in a legal document as late as 1646.
Dutch maps as late as 1659 call the island "Red Island. Roger Williams was a theologian. Others founded providence plantations as a free proprietary colony. "Providence" referred to forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Seeking religious and political tolerance, he and the divine providence and "plantations" referred to an English term for a colony.
"State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" is the longest official name of any state in the Union. On June 25, 2009, the general assembly voted to allow the people to decide whether to keep the name or drop "and Providence Plantations" due to the misperception that the name related to slavery.The referendum election was held on this subject during the November 2, 2010 elections, and the people overwhelmingly (78% to 22%) voted to keep the original name.
Rhode Island covers an area of 1,214 square miles and is bordered on the north and east by Massachusetts and on the west by Connecticut and on the south by Rhode Island sound and the Atlantic ocean. It is mostly flat with no real mountains, and the state's highest natural point is Jerimoth Hill, 812 feet above sea level.