Rhode Island Independence Day: Why is This a Thing?
Every year on May 4th (which is, for those who don’t know, two months before the national Independence Day), the state of Rhode Island celebrates its own independence day, the aptly-named Rhode Island Independence Day. This day commemorates the decision on May 4th, 1776 by the Rhode Island General Assembly to declare its independence from Great Britain, becoming the first colony to renounce its allegiance to the King. The General Assembly has since officially declared every May 4th to be a celebration of both Rhode Island independence and themselves (literally - the law declaring it states it is “a just tribute to the memory of the members of our general assembly”).
Some other states, such as Texas and Hawaii, also have their own independence days. Yet as far as I can tell, Rhode Island is the only one of the original 13 colonies to celebrate their own state independence day, and therefore the only one to celebrate independence from Britain. Keen to explore why Rhode Island is unique in this way, I ventured to the Rhode Island State House to learn more about this day and to see how Rhode Islanders celebrated in their natural habitat.
The first thing to note is that of the holidays, Rhode Island Independence Day does not rank as one of the more important ones. It is not celebrated as much as July 4th, for example. Rhode Islanders do not get a day off work for Rhode Island Independence Day, as they do for more important holidays like Thanksgiving or Victory over Japan Day (which is, incidentally, another holiday that for some reason only Rhode Island commemorates). In fact, even among revolutionary-themed days, the local celebration of Gaspee Day, where people come together to watch someone set fire to a boat, is more popular.
Even so, it is celebrated, and when I visited, the State House was open to the public and conducting a series of guided tours, in addition to hosting some exhibits about Rhode Island independence. As luck would have it, Independent Man, a golden statue of a man holding a giant spear that is normally atop the State House, was also in the lobby as it was being refurbished. Unfortunately, because of the refurbishment, it was covered in a black cloak that made it look less freedom-themed superhero and more Nazgul. Regardless, it illustrates that independence is an important theme in the state, not only in this case but also in its origin story of breaking away from Massachusetts for religious freedom.
While the original intention of the trip was to understand the reason behind Rhode Island Independence Day, truth be told, learning about it only made me more confused. At first glance, Rhode Island Independence Day is a strange holiday. But when you consider it in context, it almost becomes an even stranger holiday to want to celebrate.
The first reason it’s strange to celebrate Rhode Island Independence Day is because Rhode Island is, obviously, not independent. Yes, it’s not part of Britain anymore, but it is now (no doubt much to the chagrin of Rhode Island nationalists) part of the United States. And there is something inherently odd about celebrating an independence day when you aren’t independent. It’s not like Rhode Island was particularly keen to join the United States either. Although it was the first of the colonies to declare independence, it was the last to ratify the Constitution, and for over a year after Washington was inaugurated as President, Rhode Island refused to ratify. It was only after much cajoling, threatening, and even fears of annexation that Rhode Island ratified, and even then, it was by the narrowest margin of any state.
The second reason it is odd is because the enthusiasm for independence was not necessarily motivated by the reasons often presented. While it is true that Rhode Island wanted to free itself from British control, the specific control many wanted to free themselves from were restrictions placed by the British on smuggling and, in particular, the slave trade, where the ports of Rhode Island constituted one triangle of the infamous triangle trade. Indeed, the aforementioned Gaspee affair, the first violent uprising against the Crown in the colonies (happening a year before the Boston Tea Party) was directly in protest against British fleets disrupting these businesses, and was led by John Brown, a passionately pro-slavery politician (and member of the Brown family of Brown University fame). So it is slightly strange to commemorate that, too.
The final reason it’s a weird celebration is because it’s unclear how important it actually was. When I asked the people working at the State House what the reaction was in Britain, they said that not only were they not sure, but that it was possible Britain did not even realize that Rhode Island had declared independence until the other colonies had already also done the same. If a state declares independence and no one is around to hear it, is it really independent? It actually wasn’t until 1908 that the legislature declared May 4th was “Rhode Island Independence Day”, after a 25-year campaign by a local town clerk. So clearly, the act had not lived on in the popular memory.
What you’re left with, then, is an independence day holiday for a place that is not independent, celebrating a mostly inconsequential, somewhat forgettable, and definitely morally dubious act. It’s a state holiday that is, seemingly, not celebrated at all within the state. Its name is almost intentionally confusing with the much more well-known July 4th Independence Day. It is, in short, a truly bizarre holiday.
And as such, I can think of no better holiday to commemorate all the good and bad, all the ups and downs, all the contradictions of the great state of Rhode Island, the state which is not even an island.