Rhode Island Royal Charter

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Rhode Island Royal Charter
Rhode Island Royal Charter 1663.jpg
Created8 July 1663
LocationRhode Island State House, Providence
Author(s) John Clarke
SignatoriesKing Charles II of England
PurposeEstablish the government of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

The Rhode Island Royal Charter provided royal recognition to the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, approved by England's King Charles II in July 1663. It superseded the 1643 Patent for Settlement and outlined many freedoms for the inhabitants of Rhode Island. It was the guiding document of the colony's government (and that of the state later) over a period of 180 years.

Contents

The charter contains unique provisions which make it significantly different from the charters granted to the other colonies. It gave the colonists freedom to elect their own governor and write their own laws, within very broad guidelines, and also stipulated that no person residing in Rhode Island could be "molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question for any differences in opinion in matters of religion".

The charter was not replaced until 1843, after serving for nearly two centuries as the guiding force of the colony and then the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Historian Thomas Bicknell described it as "the grandest instrument of human liberty ever constructed". [1]

Background

The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations began as settlements in Providence, Newport, Portsmouth, and Warwick. [2] The settlements banded together under the Patent of 1643–1644, recognizing their corporate existence and compelling recognition from their neighbors as well. [3] The patent produced a confederacy of the four settlements, not a united single colony. [2] John Clarke went to England, then ruled by Oliver Cromwell, to have the instrument revoked in 1653, then remained in England for the next decade and became the agent to represent the interests of the fledgling Rhode Island colony. Commissioners of the four settlements forwarded ideas to Clarke concerning a possible union of the settlements into a single colony. [4] The overthrow of Cromwell's Commonwealth and the Stuart Restoration necessitated getting a charter from the new King.

Provisions

The Royal Charter of 1663 confirmed everything that the Patent of 1643–1644 had given, and it granted power to the colony to make its own laws, guaranteed religious freedom, and did not require oaths of allegiance. [5] Three points in the charter distinguish it from any other royal patent that had ever been granted. [5] It acknowledges Indian rights to the soil, [5] which was far different than the European doctrine of "possession by right of discovery" which was part of the "royal prerogative". [6] Historian Samuel G. Arnold writes that "Rhode Island was the first solemn protest" [6] against taking land from the Indians without payment. Roger Williams established this policy when he settled the colony by paying the Narragansetts for the land, and his views were maintained by those who followed him there. [7] These views were set forth by Clarke in his address to the King, and thus became incorporated within the royal charter. [7]

A second remarkable point in the charter is the right of conscience that it extended to the Rhode Island colonists, [7] which became the "sole distinguishing feature of Rhode Island's history". [7] A third distinguishing point is its "democratic liberalism" [8] which allowed the Rhode Island colonists to elect their own officers and make their own laws, so long as they were not contrary to the laws of England. The provisions were very flexible, allowing the laws to consider "the nature and constitution of the place and people there". [9]

The government was to consist of a governor, a deputy governor, ten assistants, and a house of deputies: six from Newport, four each from Providence, Warwick, and Portsmouth, and two from every other town. The governor, deputy governor, and assistants were to be chosen annually by election at Newport on the first Wednesday of May, and the deputies were to be chosen by their representative towns. [10] The entire legislative body would be called the General Assembly and would meet in May and October, though the places and times of meeting could be altered. [10] Benedict Arnold was named in the charter as governor and William Brenton named as deputy governor until the first election. [10] The charter named William Boulston, John Porter, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, John Smith, John Greene, Jr., John Coggeshall, Jr., James Barker, William Field, and Joseph Clarke as deputies. [11] It also lists primary purchasers and free inhabitants of the colony William Coddington, Nicholas Easton, Samuel Gorton, John Weekes, Gregory Dexter, Randall Holden, John Roome, Samuel Wilbur, Jr., Richard Tew, Thomas Harris, and William Dyre. [12]

The charter specifically required that the adjacent colonies permit the people of Rhode Island to pass unmolested, due to various acts committed in the past by other colonies. [10] It also minutely defined the boundary lines for Rhode Island Colony, though it was nearly a century before Massachusetts and Connecticut stopped disputing them. [10]

Implementation

Rhode Island's General Court of Commissioners convened at Newport on 24 November 1663 for the last time under the parliamentary patent of 1643–1644. [13] The inhabitants and legislators gathered to learn the result of John Clarke's decade-long efforts, [13] described in the colonial records:

At a very great meeting and assembly of the freemen of the colony of Providence Plantation, at Newport, in Rhode Island, in New England, November the 24th, 1663. The abovesayed Assembly being legally called and orderly mett for the sollome reception of his Majestyes gratious letter pattent unto them sent, and having in order thereto chosen the President, Benedict Arnold, Moderator of the Assembly, it was Voted: That the box in which the King's gratious letters were enclosed be opened, and the letters with the broad seale thereto affixed be taken forth and read by Captayne George Baxter in the audience and view of all the people; which was accordingly done, and the sayd letters with his Majesty's Royall Stampe, and the broad seal, with much becoming gravity held up on hygh, and presented to the perfect view of the people, and then returned into the box and locked up by the Governor, in order to the safe keeping of it. [13]

The legislature voted the following day that words of humble thanks should be delivered to the King and also to the Earl of Clarendon. They voted to give a £100 gratuity to Clarke and £25 to Baxter. [13]

The Charter was not replaced until 1843, 180 years later, in order to extend the rights to all native adult males, including blacks. [14] It was the oldest constitutional charter in the world when it was retired. [9]

Legacy

The Royal Charter exhibit after 2016 redesign The Rhode Island Royal Charter at State House.jpg
The Royal Charter exhibit after 2016 redesign

The original Royal Charter is on display at the Rhode Island State House in Providence, and a photographic copy is on display at the State Archives. The State House's charter exhibit was redesigned and rededicated in January 2016. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

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The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by Roger Williams. It was an English colony from 1636 until 1707, and then a colony of Great Britain until the American Revolution in 1776, when it became the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Clarke (Baptist minister)</span> American politician and physician (1609–1676)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Coddington</span> William Coddington

William Coddington was an early magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and later of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He served as the judge of Portsmouth and Newport in that colony, governor of Portsmouth and Newport, deputy governor of the four-town colony, and then governor of the entire colony. Coddington was born and raised in Lincolnshire, England. He accompanied the Winthrop Fleet on its voyage to New England in 1630, becoming an early leader in Boston. There he built the first brick house and became heavily involved in the local government as an assistant magistrate, treasurer, and deputy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedict Arnold (governor)</span> Rhode Island statesman (1615–1678)

Benedict Arnold was president and then governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for a total of 11 years in these roles. He was born and raised in the town of Ilchester, Somerset, England, likely attending school in Limington nearby. In 1635 at age 19, he accompanied his parents, siblings, and other family members on a voyage from England to New England where they first settled in Hingham in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In less than a year, they moved to Providence Plantation at the head of the Narragansett Bay at the request of Roger Williams. In about 1638, they moved once again about five miles (8 km) south to the Pawtuxet River, settling on the north side at a place commonly called Pawtuxet. Here they had serious disputes with their neighbors, particularly Samuel Gorton, and they put themselves and their lands under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, a situation which lasted for 16 years.

Nicholas Easton (c.1593–1675) was an early colonial President and Governor of Rhode Island. Born in Hampshire, England, he lived in the towns of Lymington and Romsey before immigrating to New England with his two sons in 1634. Once in the New World, he lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony towns of Ipswich, Newbury, and Hampton. Easton supported the dissident ministers John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson during the Antinomian Controversy, and was disarmed in 1637, and then banished from the Massachusetts colony the following year. Along with many other Hutchinson supporters, he settled in Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island, later a part of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He was in Portsmouth for about a year when he and eight others signed an agreement to create a plantation elsewhere on the island, establishing the town of Newport.

John Easton (1624–1705) was a political leader in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, devoting decades to public service before eventually becoming governor of the colony. Born in Hampshire, England, he sailed to New England with his widowed father and older brother, settling in Ipswich and Newbury in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. As a supporter of the dissident ministers John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson during the Antinomian Controversy, his father was exiled, and settled in Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island with many other Hutchinson supporters. Here there was discord among the leaders of the settlement, and his father followed William Coddington to the south end of the island where they established the town of Newport. The younger Easton remained in Newport the remainder of his life, where he became involved in civil affairs before the age of 30.

John Cranston (1625–1680) was a colonial physician, military leader, legislator, deputy governor and governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations during the 17th century.

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Jeremy Clarke (1605–1652) was an early colonial settler and President of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Born into a prominent family in England, he was a merchant who came to New England with his wife, Frances Latham, and four stepchildren, settling first at Portsmouth in 1638, but the following year joining William Coddington and others in establishing the town of Newport. Here he held a variety of civic positions until 1648 when Coddington's election as President of the colony was disputed, and Clarke was chosen to serve in that office instead. He was the father of Walter Clarke, another colonial governor of Rhode Island, and also had family connections with several other future governors of the colony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Clarke (governor)</span> Rhode Island colonial governor

Walter Clarke (1640–1714) was an early governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and the first native-born governor of the colony. The son of colonial President Jeremy Clarke, he was a Quaker like his father. His mother was Frances (Latham) Clarke, who is often called "the Mother of Governors." While in his late 20s, he was elected as a deputy from Newport, and in 1673 was elected to his first of three consecutive terms as assistant. During King Philip's War, he was elected to his first term as governor of the colony. He served for one year in this role, dealing with the devastation of the war, and with the predatory demands of neighboring colonies on Rhode Island territory during the aftermath of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Bull (governor)</span> Early colonial governor of Rhode Island

Henry Bull (1610–1694) was an early colonial Governor of Rhode Island, serving for two separate terms, one before and one after the tenure of Edmund Andros under the Dominion of New England. Sailing from England as a young man, Bull first settled in Roxbury in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but soon became a follower of the dissident ministers John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson, and was excommunicated from the Roxbury church. With many other followers of Hutchinson, he signed the Portsmouth Compact, and settled on Aquidneck Island in the Narragansett Bay. Within a year of arriving there, he and others followed William Coddington to the south end of the island where they established the town of Newport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Cranston</span> Rhode Island colonial governor

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Coggeshall Jr.</span> Rhode Island colonial deputy governor

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Wilbore</span> Early New England settler

Samuel Wilbore was one of the founding settlers of Portsmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He emigrated from Essex, England to Boston with his wife and three sons in 1633. He and his wife both joined the Boston church, but a theological controversy began to cause dissension in the church and community in 1636, and Wilbore aligned himself with John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson, signing a petition in support of dissident minister Wheelwright. In so doing, he and many others were disarmed and dismissed from the Boston church. In March 1638, he was one of 23 individuals who signed a compact to establish a new government, and this group purchased Aquidneck Island, then known as "Rhode Island", from the Narragansett Indians at the urging of Roger Williams, establishing the settlement of Portsmouth.

Randall Holden was an early inhabitant of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, one of the original founders of Portsmouth, and one of the co-founders of the town of Warwick. He came to New England from Salisbury, Wiltshire, England and is first recorded as one of the signers of the Portsmouth Compact. Following a few years on Aquidneck Island, he joined Samuel Gorton and ten others to establish the town of Warwick in early 1643 on land purchased from the Indian sachems.

William Dyer was an early settler of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a founding settler of both Portsmouth and Newport, and Rhode Island's first Attorney General. He is also notable for being the husband of the Quaker martyr Mary Dyer, who was executed for her Quaker activism. Sailing from England as a young man with his wife, Dyer first settled in Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but like many members of the Boston church, he became a supporter of the dissident ministers John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson during the Antinomian Controversy, and signed a petition in support of Wheelwright. For doing this, he was disenfranchised and disarmed, and with many other supporters of Hutchinson, he signed the Portsmouth Compact, and settled on Aquidneck Island in the Narragansett Bay. Within a year of arriving there, he and others followed William Coddington to the south end of the island, where they established the town of Newport.

Richard Smith (1596–1666) was the first European settler in the Narragansett country in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He established a trading post on the western side of the Narragansett Bay at a place called Cocumscussoc which became the village of Wickford in modern-day North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

John Albro was an early settler of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a magistrate, and a long-time military officer in the Portsmouth Militia in the colony. He immigrated to New England in 1634 as a minor under the care of early Portsmouth settler William Freeborn. He was very active in civil as well as military affairs, and was an Assistant to the Governor for nine one-year terms between 1671 and 1686. During King Philip's War when the colony needed the advice and counsel of "the most judicious inhabitants" in the colony, his was one of 16 in a 1676 list of names, which included Governor Benedict Arnold and former President Gregory Dexter.

Joseph Sheffield (1661–1706) was an inhabitant of Portsmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations during the last half of the 17th century. He held a number of important offices within the colony, including Deputy, Assistant and Attorney General. He is most noted for being selected as Rhode Island's agent to England on two occasions, but never appears to have served in that role due to the indecision of the General Assembly. He played a prominent role in the affairs of the colony during an extremely turbulent time, when Rhode Island was threatened with losing its charter due to "irregularities" perceived by the English Board of Trade. Sheffield died at the age of 44, leaving a widow and several minor children.

Samuel Wilbur Jr. was an early settler of Portsmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and one of seven original purchasers of the Pettaquamscutt lands which would later become South Kingstown, Rhode Island. His father, Samuel Wilbore, had been an early settler in Boston who was dismissed from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for supporting the dissident ministers Anne Hutchinson and John Wheelwright, becoming one of the signers of the compact that established the town of Portsmouth. The subject Samuel was willed his father's Rhode Island lands, and appears to have lived in Portsmouth most of his life. He married Hannah Porter, the daughter of another signer of the Portsmouth Compact, John Porter. Beginning in 1656 Wilbur held a number of important positions within the colony, including Commissioner, Deputy to the General Assembly, Assistant to the Governor, and Captain in a Troop of Horse. He wrote his will in August 1678, though it was not probated until more than three decades later. Wilbur was held in high esteem within the colony and was one of a small group of men named in the Royal Charter of 1663, signed by King Charles II of England, and becoming the guiding document of Rhode Island's government for nearly two centuries.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Bicknell 1920, p. 1022.
  2. 1 2 Arnold 1859, p. 285.
  3. ↑ Arnold 1859, pp. 285–286.
  4. ↑ Bicknell 1920, p. 1020.
  5. 1 2 3 Arnold 1859, p. 290.
  6. 1 2 Arnold 1859, p. 291.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Arnold 1859, p. 292.
  8. ↑ Arnold 1859, p. 293.
  9. 1 2 Arnold 1859, p. 294.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Arnold 1859, p. 295.
  11. ↑ Laws of Nature.
  12. ↑ Rhode Island Charter.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Arnold 1859, p. 284.
  14. ↑ Erik J. Chaput and Russell J. DeSimone (16 September 2017). "My Turn: Erik J. Chaput and Russell J. DeSimone: How Rhode Island expanded black rights". The Providence Journal . Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  15. ↑ Tefft, Artie (30 January 2016). "Rhode Island Charter gets new display". WJAR News. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2023.

General and cited references

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