Providence, Rhode Island, has a 400-year history that is significant to the entire country. It provided leadership and troops, as well as offered goods in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the American Revolutionary War.
In June 1636, Providence was established by Roger Williams. Due to differences in religious beliefs, Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts Bay and settled in Providence. The city later became one of the Thirteen Colonies. Before the American Revolutionary War, Providence was freed from the occupation of England. Williams obtained a land title from the Narragansett Indians and called it the Providence Plantations. It became a settlement for religious revolutionists like him. Although the lands in Providence Plantations were challenging to farm, it became an agricultural and fishing settlement. Providence was burned to ashes by an Indian alliance in March 1676. Providence expanded its economy into commercial and industrial industries after it was reconstructed.
The British government imposed taxes in the middle of the 1770s. This inhibited the city’s most common industries, such as the agricultural, fishing, and maritime industries. The Colony of Rhode Island decided to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, along with other colonies, following the levied taxes. The first bloodshed happened in the Gaspee Affair in 1772, and the residents of Providence were the first ones to spill blood.
Although the enemy didn’t capture the city in the American Revolutionary War, they seized Newport. It had a significant impact on the city’s industry and kept the residents on the lookout. Providence became a center for several military campaigns, and the University Hall of Brown University served as barracks and military hospital.
From maritime and fishing industries, the city’s economy changed to manufacturing, especially textiles and jewelry. At some point in the city’s history, Providence became the site for the most prominent manufacturing plants in the US. Due to the growth in manufacturing industries, settlers from England, Ireland, Sweden, and other countries were attracted to migrate to Providence.
The Market House became the seat of the city government for 46 years from 1832. The Market House is found in Market Square, which is in the heart of the city. The City Council decided to construct a municipal building after city offices occupied the building. The city looked and argued about the most suitable location for the municipal building for the next 30 years.
In 1794, the jewelry industry began in Providence with Seril and his nephew Nehemiah Dodge leading it. The industry gradually developed and flourished. American and foreign manufacturers were attracted to the city because of the development of the jewelry industry. Providence was once regarded as the jewelry capital of the world as it continued to thrive in its jewelry-making activity.
The population grew in Providence during the late 1800s. The pulsating immigration scene brought the city’s number to over 50,000 in 1865. Providence’s Union Railroad had established more than 300 horse cars. The first electric streetcars came to the city two years later. Not long after, Providence had its own network of electric streetcars.