Where Intolerance, Bigotry, and Cruelty Never Flourished’: A Case Study of Slavery in 18th Century South Kingstown, Rhode Island

Summary

By examining 18th century South Kingstown, Rhode Island a bleak past is revealed about which few Rhode Islanders are aware. Amateur historians of the 19th century created the benevolent slave owner myth that still plagues Rhode Island’’s history The all too common stories of slave-ownership and slave maltreatment, as well as the archaeological remains of slavery, dispel the myth of Rhode Island as a safe-haven for all people during the early colonial years. The slave burial grounds on the University of Rhode Island’’s campus stand as one of the few known testaments to the state’’s slave owning past. While the University of Rhode Island formally recognized the presence of slave burials on campus lands in 2002 with a dedication ceremony, this remains the only official university acknowledgment of the site. Despite official remembrance of the site ten years ago, the fact that slaves once lived and worked on the campus lands is a notion lost to many students, faculty members, and local residents. In order to continue educating others about Rhode Island’’s past, it is vital that the site and its history are known and understood by many.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• ‘Black Yankees’ and the African Diaspora: Contemporary Perspectives on the Archaeology of African Americans in New England

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-37,08