Providence was where Rhode Island's revolution began — not in 1775, but in 1772, when colonists burned the British revenue schooner HMS Gaspee in Narragansett Bay. The Gaspee affair was one of the earliest acts of organized violence against British authority, predating the Boston Tea Party by more than a year. A royal commission investigated the burning but could not secure a single witness willing to testify. The colony's refusal to cooperate with British investigators was a collective act of defiance that foreshadowed the broader resistance to come.
PEOPLE
KEY EVENTS
Nathanael Greene Takes Command of the Southern Army
Oct 1780
Burning of the HMS Gaspee
Jun 1772
Nathanael Greene Appointed Continental Army Brigadier General
Jun 1775
Rhode Island Renounces Allegiance to the Crown
May 1776
Continental Navy's First Fleet Sails Under Esek Hopkins
Feb 1776
Royal Commission Fails to Identify Gaspee Attackers
Jan 1773
STORIES
HISTORICAL VOICE
The Night They Burned the King's Ship
The Gaspee ran aground on the evening of June 9, 1772, while chasing a Providence packet boat through the shallow waters of Narragansett Bay. By nightfall, word had spread through Providence that the ...
MODERN VOICE
The Merchants Who Made War Pay
The Brown family papers in our archives tell a story about the Revolution that is not especially comfortable but is honest. The Browns — Nicholas, John, Joseph, and Moses — were among the wealthiest m...