Knowledge Tree
Rhode Island
Facts (25)
Sources
Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Brown University slaveryandjusticereport.brown.edu 20 facts
accountIn 1799, the U.S. federal government attempted to stop slave traffickers from repurchasing confiscated ships by sending an official to bid on a ship at an auction in Bristol, Rhode Island.
claimThe inhabitants of Newport, Rhode Island, held the largest share of the slave trade among all the United States, with the trade serving as the primary driver of the town's commerce and wealth.
claimRhode Island textile manufacturers produced 'Negro cloth,' a coarse cotton-wool blend, to sell to southern planters as clothing for enslaved people.
accountRobert Carter III attempted to shield his sons from the influence of slaveholding society by sending them to be educated in Rhode Island, as explained in his letters to Brown University President James Manning.
claimA bill for the gradual abolition of slavery in the colony of Rhode Island was defeated in 1775.
claimMoses Brown attempted to combat the slave trade by encouraging local manufacturing in Rhode Island, believing that new investment opportunities would incentivize merchants to abandon the slave trade.
procedureSlave traffickers in Rhode Island utilized a 'gentlemen’s agreement' to avoid bidding on confiscated slave ships at auction, allowing original owners to repurchase their vessels for as little as $10.
claimThere is evidence that slave ships were being outfitted in Rhode Island as late as 1819, though the total number of vessels that sailed after 1807 is impossible to determine.
measurementBetween 1790 and 1860, nearly three hundred textile firms opened in Rhode Island, ranging from small manufactories to large mills with thousands of spindles.
claimJohn Brown became the first Rhode Islander and the first American prosecuted in federal court for illegal slave trading, following a prosecution brought by the Providence Abolition Society.
claimThe Rhode Island slave trade devolved into a system of violent organized crime by the end of the eighteenth century, operating in defiance of state and federal laws.
claimThe Rhode Island Assembly enacted the 1784 Gradual Abolition Act, which abolished slavery in the state but did not prohibit the slave trade.
claimDespite the 1787 prohibition against slave trading, the slave trade continued in Rhode Island because state officials lacked the will and resources to prosecute offenders.
accountJohn Greenwood’s painting 'Sea Captains Carousing in Surinam' (c. 1752–1758) depicts ten men in a tavern with enslaved people; six of these men were future trustees of the College of Rhode Island (now Brown University), and two became governors of Rhode Island.
claimBusiness leaders in Rhode Island opposed the American Anti-Slavery Society because their livelihoods were economically dependent on slave-produced cotton.
claimThe federal anti-slave trade acts of 1794 and 1800 were widely ignored by slave traders, particularly in Rhode Island.
accountJames and Charles D’Wolf, along with John Brown, visited the federal official tasked with bidding on a confiscated slave ship in Bristol, Rhode Island, on the evening before the 1799 auction.
claimMany New England-born Brown University graduates migrated south after graduation to work as merchants, lawyers, planters, teachers, and clergymen, facilitated by business and family ties between Rhode Island and the South.
claimRhode Island manufacturers produced slave blankets, bagging (sacks used for harvesting cotton), and brogans (cheap, ill-fitting shoes) for enslaved people in the South.
measurementThe decade between John Brown’s acquittal and the 1807 Congressional act abolishing the transatlantic slave trade was the peak of the Rhode Island slave trade, with as many as fifty ships per year clearing for Africa.
The Real-Life Socialites and Historical Figures Who Inspired the ... vogue.com Jul 24, 2025 2 facts
Joe Nickell - Grokipedia grokipedia.com Mar 4, 2025 1 fact
claimDuring his investigation of the 2011 Conjuring case, Joe Nickell visited the Rhode Island farmhouse and identified mundane causes for 'haunted' effects, such as warped doors.
Extent and Health Consequences of Chronic Sleep Loss and ... - NCBI ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 1 fact
measurementA survey of over 3,000 adolescents in Rhode Island found that only 15 percent reported sleeping 8.5 or more hours on school nights, while 26 percent reported sleeping 6.5 hours or less.
The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment ... nationalacademies.org 1 fact
measurementAs of March 2013, the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin had renewable portfolio standards or goals.