Additional Resources
Rhode Tour is a free mobile application and website that features several historically and humanities-themed tours and stories from around the state using multi-media such as photographs and videos. Rhode Tour offers a tour on the Revolutionary War fortifications throughout the state, stopping in Tiverton, Portsmouth, Middletown, Newport, and Jamestown. There is also a tour that explores Tiverton itself and captures the role it played in the Revolutionary War.
This website has an article about Black loyalists in Rhode Island during the Revolutionary War. Within the article, there are relevant archives listed, such as lists of names of slaves and a certificate of freedom that the British issued to slaves to let them leave the colonies.
For more information on Major General Charles Lee’s role in formulating the ideas behind the Test Act for the loyalists in Newport and his opinions about it as the war progressed, check out this article.
The Rhode Island Department of State provides primary source documents, an interactive timeline, and discussion topics on the Gaspee attack and the Revolutionary War in Rhode Island.
The Newport Historical Society offers a variety of resources relating to the American Revolution in Rhode Island. Its website has an interactive living history game, a timeline of pre-Revolution events, and videos on the American Revolution. C-span has this video about the Battle of Rhode Island from the Newport Historical Society.
The Varnum Memorial Armory Museum in East Greenwich houses military regalia and arms from major wars Rhode Islanders participated in.
The Museum of the American Revolution has a blog that posted some excerpts from a book called From Slaves to Soldiers: The 1st Rhode Island Regiment in the American Revolution by Robert A. Geake, which contains first-hand accounts from some of the soldiers. The book can be purchased through the museum here.
For even more primary sources, visit the Rhode Island Historical Society’s Gallery of Colonial Era Broadsides.
Relevant Articles from Rhode Island History Journal
Brown, Ralph Adams. “The Newport Gazette, Tory Newssheet.” Rhode Island Historical Journal 13 no. 4 (October 1954): 97-107.
Brown, Ralph Adams. “The Newport Gazette, Tory Newssheet.” Rhode Island History Journal 14 no. 1 (January 1955): 11-19.
Cohen, Joel A. “Lexington and Concord: Rhode Island Reacts.” Rhode Island History Journal 26 no. 4 (October 1967): 97-102.
Cohen, Joel A. “Rhode Island Loyalism and the American Revolution.” Rhode Island History Journal 27, no. 4 (October 1968): 97–112.
Dearden, Paul F. “The Siege of Newport: Inauspicious Dawn of Alliance.” Rhode Island History Journal 29 no. 1 & 2 (February and May 1970): 17-35.
McKinney, Francis F. “The Integrity of Nathanael Greene.” Rhode Island History Journal 28 no. 2 (May 1969): 53-62.
Suggested Fieldtrips and Locations of Note
The General Nathanael Greene Homestead is a national historic landmark that provides information about the Greene family while offering insight on the architecture and way of life during the Revolutionary War era.
The Kentish Guard Armory is on the National Register of Historic Places and features information about the men who founded the Kentish Guard in 1774 and their role in the Revolutionary War.
The Mary Elizabeth Robinson Research Center at the Rhode Island Historical Society houses Nathanael Greene’s personal papers, which provide a first-hand look at his military strategies and thoughts on the war.
The Newport Historical Society runs a number of walking tours, one of which focuses on revolutionary action in Newport. Check out this page for a description of the tours and information on how to book one.
The John Brown house also offers tours that are customizable to grade level or topic. Check out this webpage for examples of tours and information on how to schedule a tour for your class.
Stephen Hopkins was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. You can find visiting information on the Stephen Hopkins House here. You can also find a timeline of Rhode Island history and Hopkins’s involvement in revolutionary politics here.
The Varnum Memorial Armory Museum in East Greenwich has representative examples of weaponry, uniforms and artifacts dating from colonial America and through the 20th century.
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