Introduction

Rhode Island, smallest of the fifty states, is densely populated and highly industrialized. It is a major center for jewelry manufacturing. Electronics, metal, plastic products, and boat and ship construction are other important industries. Non-manufacturing employment includes research in health, medicine, and the ocean environment. Providence is a wholesale distribution center for New England. Fishing ports are at Galilee and Newport. Rural areas of the state support small-scale farming, including grapes for local wineries, turf grass, and nursery stock. Tourism generates over a billion dollars a year in revenue.

Roger Williams and a group of religious followers founded the town of Providence in what is today known as Rhode Island. Williams believed in the importance of liberty of conscience, which became an important principle in the founding of Rhode Island and ultimately in the founding of the United States. Officially called "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations". It is the smallest state in area in the country. Rhode Island's flower is the violet, and the capital is Providence. The exact origin of the state name is unknown.

Newport became famous as the summer capital of high society in the mid-19th century. Touro Synagogue is the oldest in the U.S. Other points of interest include the Roger Williams National Memorial in Providence, Samuel Slater's Mill in Pawtucket, the General Nathanael Greene Homestead in Coventry, and Block Island.

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