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Rhode Island Emigration and Immigration (view source)
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==Background== | ==Background== | ||
Pre-statehood settlers of Rhode Island generally were English Protestants, but liberal policies attracted French Huguenots, Blacks, Jews, and other minorities. Heavy Irish immigration began about 1830 and continued through the rest of the nineteenth century. A great influx of French Canadians began after the Civil War and continued to the turn of the century. Rhode Islanders leaving the state often went to areas such as Vermont and Nova Scotia. | *Pre-statehood settlers of Rhode Island generally were '''English Protestants''', but liberal policies attracted '''French Huguenots, Blacks, Jews, and other minorities'''. | ||
*Heavy '''Irish''' immigration began about 1830 and continued through the rest of the nineteenth century. | |||
*A great influx of '''French Canadians''' began after the Civil War and continued to the turn of the century. Rhode Islanders leaving the state often went to areas such as Vermont and Nova Scotia. | |||
The 50 years following the Civil War were a time of prosperity and affluence. This was a time of growth in textile mills and manufacturing. Thousands of French-Canadian, Italian, Irish, and Portuguese immigrants arrived to fill jobs in the textile and manufacturing mills in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Woonsocket. | |||
Beginning about 1880, overseas emigration shifted from northern Europe to southern and eastern Europe. The Italians were the largest ethnic group to arrive at this time. Other groups who arrived in Rhode Island between 1880 and 1915 include the Portuguese colonials, Poles, and Jews from Russia. | Beginning about 1880, overseas emigration shifted from northern Europe to southern and eastern Europe. The Italians were the largest ethnic group to arrive at this time. Other groups who arrived in Rhode Island between 1880 and 1915 include the Portuguese colonials, Poles, and Jews from Russia. | ||
===African Americans=== | |||
Slaves were introduced in Rhode Island in 1688, although there is no record of any law legalizing slave-holding. The colony later prospered under the slave trade, distilling rum to sell in Africa as part of a profitable triangular trade in slaves and sugar with the Caribbean. Rhode Island's legislative body passed an act in 1652 abolishing the holding of slaves (the first British colony to do so), but this edict was never enforced and Rhode Island continued to be heavily involved in the slave trade during the post-revolution era.In 1774, the slave population of Rhode Island was 6.3% of the total (nearly twice the ratio of other New England colonies). | |||
==Immigration Records== | ==Immigration Records== | ||