Rhode Island, state, United States: Mill Towns, Discontent, and a Changing Economy

Until well into the 20th cent. Rhode Island's political and economic life was dominated by mill owners. (Nelson W. Aldrich was a power in the nation as well as the state.) The small mill towns, with their company houses and company stores and their large numbers of foreign-born residents, were important elements in the social fabric. English, Irish, and Scottish settlers had begun arriving in large numbers in the first half of the 19th cent.; French Canadian immigration commenced around the time of the Civil War; at the end of the 19th cent. and the beginning of the 20th there was a large influx of Poles, Italians, and Portuguese. Politically, Rhode Island was generally controlled by Republicans until the 1930s, when the Democrats' insistence on reapportionment of representation (which tended to favor small towns over urban areas) helped bring their party into power.

Sporadic labor troubles in the 19th cent. had little effect on the state's economy. However, after World War I there was a long textile strike, centered in the Blackstone valley; this, together with the gradual removal of the mills to the South—the source of the cotton supply where labor was cheaper—led to a continuing decline in the cotton-textile industry. Nevertheless, the manufacture of textile products is still carried on in the state today and new industries such as high-technology electronics have been introduced. Since the 1970s the overall shift in the state's economy has been away from manufacturing altogether and toward the service sector. This shift has coincided with major suburban growth.

Although Democrats traditionally dominate state politics, two Republicans, Lincoln Almond (1995-2003) and Donald Carcieri (2003-11), held the seat for 16 years. In 2010, former Repblican senator, Lincoln Chafee, successfully ran as an independent, serving for a single term. Democrat Gina Raimondo (2015- ), the first woman to win the office, is currently in her second term.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Mill Towns, Discontent, and a Changing Economy
• Industrialization
• The Coming of Revolution
• Early Exploration and Colonization
• Government, Politics, and Higher Education
• Economy
• Geography
• Facts and Figures
• Bibliography

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