The first European explorer know to have explored the Rhode Island area was Giovanni da Verrazzano. He sailed into the Narragansett Bay in 1524 and finding five Algonquian speaking groups of Native Americans. The Narragansett, the Wampanoag, the Nipmunc, the Niantic, and the Pequot. Through out the next hundred years Dutch fur traders arrived in the Rhode Island region, this caused illnesses and plagues to the Indians who suffered great losses. In 1635 William Blackstone an Anglican …showed first 75 words of 1206 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1206 total…the first colonies to argue about what the puritans said or what the British said, for example they were the first to allow freedom of religion, they were the first to renounce their alliance to King George III, and they were the first to create an army to fight against the British. So in conclusion we see that even though Rhode Island was the smallest colony it still had a huge affect on colonial America