Last Tuesday, when Rhode Islanders headed to the polls to vote on leaders and bond issues, they were also asked whether they wanted to change the state's name from "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" to the simpler "Rhode Island." The full and rather unwieldy name is almost never used, and few non-natives know that Rhode Island has by far the longest official name of any state. Many must have thought it only natural to shorten it. But voters wisely decided to keep the name as it is.
The General Assembly had referred the question of whether to do away with the extra words to voters because many take offense to the full name's reference to "plantations," which they see as an unwelcome reminder of Rhode Island's past involvement with slavery. But history tells a different story.
Importantly, the word "plantations" as used in Rhode Island's name does not mean the same thing that it does today. The modern definition, which evokes images of slavery in Latin America and the southern United States, did not come into common usage until more than a century after the founding of Providence Plantations, wrote Josh Marshall MA'93 PhD'03 on the blog Talking Points Memo. Marshall, who wrote his dissertation on southern New England in the 17th century, noted that "plantation" was simply a synonym for "colony."
More than this, though, the name actually preserves a history of opposition to slavery that should be celebrated, not eliminated. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations originated as two colonies. One, Rhode Island, was located principally on what is now called Aquidneck Island and had its capital in Newport, while the other, Providence Plantations, was composed of the farmlands surrounding Providence and Warwick.
It is true that pre-revolutionary Rhode Island was heavily involved in the slave trade. As Marshall wrote on his blog, it was probably the most important state in the slave trade outside of the South. But Providence Plantations, founded by the vehemently abolitionist Roger Williams, was the first jurisdiction in the Western Hemisphere to outlaw slavery, taking this then-radical step in 1652.
It would have been a cruel irony indeed if the history of the oldest voice for abolition in the United States were erased from Rhode Island's name because of a modern misunderstanding of the historical meaning of Roger Williams's "plantations." Even worse, the elimination of the reference to "Providence Plantations" would leave only the remaining part of the name, "Rhode Island," which references the colony that was so heavily involved with the slave trade.
Some opponents of the name acknowledge the historical inaccuracy of their position, but think the state should have changed its name anyway. This is shortsighted. We sympathize with the opponents, and if there were even a hint that Providence Plantations actually stood for slavery, we would join their fight.
But the state's name is one of the most effective memorials to a tremendously progressive colony that, just as much as the colony of Rhode Island, was a forebear to the state we now inhabit. We are glad that voters opted to keep the state's nearly 400-year-old name, which, by the way, is enshrined in the United States Constitution. It keeps alive a history of which all modern Rhode Islanders can be proud — and of which they should be aware.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials (at) browndailyherald.com.
