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Before the American Revolution, Newport was one of the biggest ports on the eastern seaboard thanks to its religious freedom and lack of effective control by Britain. Its then free-running economy based on international trading would face many challenges and changes over the 18th and 19th centuries.
By the early decades of the eighteenth century, Rhode Island had developed a commercial economy with not one, but two centers. Urban Growth in Colonial Rhode Island is the tale of these two cities: Newport, fifth largest city in the colonies, and the much smaller Providence. This absorbing history of two interdependent cities in a restricted region shows how they developed, competed with each other, and eventually traded places as major and secondary economic centers within the region. The book has drawn upon the substantial body of local and regional history of colonial America. Unlike other studies, which concentrate on the social structure and family life of rural communities, Urban Growth in Colonial Rhode Island explores the relationship between economic development and social structure in an urban setting. The book concludes with a discussion of the impact of the Revolution on the two cities, and the ways in which the war, combined with general economic trends, transformed Providence into Rhode Island's major city.
Thanks to the efforts of Roger Williams and the Rev. John Clarke Rhode Island was the first secular state of its time. There was religious freedom and no effective control by Britain over the colony. In this environment a free running economy developed based on international trading. During the time before the Revolution Newport was one of the biggest ports on the eastern seaboard. The British shut the port down for three years during the Revolution but the town recovered thanks to the French who arrived in 1780 with money. The economy recovered but Newport was again depressed during the War of 1812. There was an industrial revolution in Rhode Island in the 19th century that started with Slater Mill which put the Providence based merchants in a position to compete effectively with the Newport merchants. Newport shifted to a tourist and manufacturing economy.