Of the original 13 colonies, Rhode Island was indisputably the most independent. They had been dodging British navigation restrictions for so long that smuggling had became a way of life, if not a noble pursuit. After Boston had their famous “Tea Party,” Providence held their, lesser known one. Rhode Islanders burned British ships in port, and were the first to renounce their loyalty to King George III. After the revolution they wholeheartedly endorsed the Articles of Confederation and their weak central government, but the U.S. Constitution was a whole other story.

On this day, Mary 29, in 1790, after numerous delays the Rhode Island legislature finally approved the Constitution. Rhode Island had declined to send a delegation to draft the constitution, and when it came time to ratify, they found many faults.

Rhode Island’s rural Country Party forestalled no less than eight attempts at a ratification committee in the legislature, citing fears of a removed government trampling on the freedoms of citizens, as well as the constitution’s implied endorsement of slavery (Rhode Island was one of the first to pass laws freeing slaves and banning the slave trade.) After Providence threatened to secede from the rest of the state if vote on the ratification was not taken, the Country party reluctantly agreed. The final tally was 34 in favor of ratification, with 32 opposed; it only passed because several antifederalists abstained.