Object Type: Folder
In Folder: Rhode Island and the U.S. Constitution
Act ordering printing of the Bill of Rights, 1789
2019-05-13
Rhode Island passed the earliest law prohibiting “perpetual servitude” in 1652. The law was largely ignored, leading to the passage of additional laws in the 18th century. This law states that people born after March 1784 will not be “servants for life or slaves.”
2018-03-16
Passed just one month after the Constitutional Convention, this law reaffirmed many Rhode Islanders’ objections to the practice of buying and selling enslaved Africans. The fact that the newly proposed Constitution did not prohibit slavery meant that many who were anti-slavery were also Anti-Federalist.
2018-03-16
Constitution of the United States as Adopted by State of Rhode Island, September 17, 1787-May 29, 1790
2020-02-27
The most circulated coin was the Spanish milled dollar. Minted in the rich Spanish colonies of Mexico and Peru since the 1500s, the one ounce silver coin had a milled, or patterned, edge to prevent dishonest merchants from shaving its edges. When colonies began to print their own money, they often denominated it in “Spanish milled dollars” rather than pounds.
2020-04-30
Election Certificates of Delegates to the [State] Convention by the Freemen of the towns, 1790
2018-12-12
Proceeding of Town Meetings and Instructions to Town Delegates, May 1790
2019-05-13
Quakers were among the religious groups that sought refuge in Rhode Island in the 17th century; many were ardent abolitionists.
2018-03-16
Resolution of Federal Constitution by Congress, 1787-1790
2019-05-13