The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th cent ...

established on the east coast of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by Roger Williams. It was an

English colony The English overseas possessions, also known as the English colonial empire, comprised a variety of overseas territories that were colonised, conquered, or otherwise acquired by the former Kingdom of England during the centuries before the Ac ...

from 1636 until 1707, and then a colony of Great Britain until the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolu ...

in 1776, when it became the State of Rhode Island.

Early America

The land that became the English colony was first home to the Narragansett Indigenous Peoples, which led to the name of the modern town of

Narragansett, Rhode Island Narragansett is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 14,532 at the 2020 census. However, during the summer months the town's population more than doubles to near 34,000. The town of Narragansett occupie ...

. European settlement began around 1622 with a trading post at Sowams, now the town of Warren, Rhode Island.