1808 - 1824 | With the Jefferson Embargo and the War of 1812 causing a significant decline in maritime trade, Rhode Island businessmen look to textile manufacturing as a new source of income

My Favorite Books on this Topic:

Samuel Slater and the Origins of the American Textile Industry, 1790 - 1860 by Barbara M. Tucker

The Transformation of Rhode Island, 1790 - 1860 by Peter J. Coleman

*Map image from Rhode Island Boundaries by John H Cady.

To learn more about this episode go to The Story of Rhode Island website

1796 - 1807 | Samuel Slater creates America's first water-powered cotton spinning mill and America's first factory town, giving Rhode Island the foundations it needs to move into the age of industrialization.

My Favorite Books on this Topic:

Samuel Slater and the Origins of the American Textile Industry, 1790 - 1860 by Barbara M. Tucker

The Transformation of Rhode Island, 1790 - 1860 by Peter J. Coleman

*Map image from Rhode Island Boundaries by John H Cady.

To learn more about this episode go to The Story of Rhode Island website

1789 - 1790 | Only a year after arriving in Rhode Island, Samuel Slater builds the revolutionary machines that will ignite the American Industrial Revolution.

My Favorite Books on this Topic:

Samuel Slater and the Origins of the American Textile Industry, 1790 - 1860 by Barbara M. Tucker

The Transformation of Rhode Island, 1790 - 1860 by Peter J. Coleman

*Map image from Rhode Island Boundaries by John H Cady.

To learn more about this episode go to The Story of Rhode Island website

Prepare to embark on an exhilarating new season as we delve into the transformative power of industrialization in Rhode Island! Uncover the social and economic changes the state underwent throughout the 19th century and learn about how Rhode Island’s industrialized society helped to keep the Union intact.

Season 3 coming to you Sunday, May 4th!

1683 - 1723 | Throughout the late 17th and early 18th century, Rhode Island pirates contributed heavily to the Golden Age of Piracy and became such a nuisance that they almost got the colony's charter revoked.

My Favorite Books on this Topic:

Black Flag, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates by Eric Jay Dolin

Pirates of Colonial Newport by Gloria Merchant

*Map image from Rhode Island Boundaries by John H Cady.

To learn more about this episode go to The Story of Rhode Island website

1784 - 1860 | With early abolitionists attempting to end Rhode Island's connection with slavery, the state's merchants and industrial leaders continue to find ways to profit off of the business of slavery right up until the Civil War.

My Favorite Books on this Topic:

Dark Work: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island by Christy Clark-Pujara

Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, the Slave Trade, and the American Revolution by Charles Rappleye

James DeWolf and the Rhode Island Slave Trade by Cynthia Mestad Johnson

*Map image from Rhode Island Boundaries by John H Cady.

To learn more about this episode go to The Story of Rhode Island website

1638 - 1775 | From almost the moment Rhode Island was founded, indigenous war captives worked for the colony's earliest settlers without pay. Then, in the 18th century, Rhode Island's relationship with slavery deepened when it began playing a dominant role in the American slave trade.

My Favorite Books on this Topic:

Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery by Margaret Ellen Newell

Dark Work: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island by Christy Clark-Pujara

*Map image from Rhode Island Boundaries by John H Cady.

To learn more about this episode go to The Story of Rhode Island website

1781 - 1790 | With the Revolutionary War having come to an end, Rhode Island struggles to see eye to eye with their fellow Americans around what their new national government should look like, once again making them a group of outcasts.

My Favorite Books on this Topic:

Washington's General: Nathanael Greene and the Triumph of the American Revolution by Terry Golway

The Glorious Cause by Robert Middlekauff

Battles of the Revolutionary War by W.J. Wood

*Map image from Rhode Island Boundaries by John H Cady.

To learn more about this episode go to The Story of Rhode Island website