On May 4th, 1776, two months before the Declaration of Independence, Rhode Island renounced its allegiance to King George III. No other colony had done it. So why isn't Rhode Island celebrated as the first to declare independence from Great Britain?
The answer reveals something surprising: what the General Assembly actually did that day was bolder and more complicated than a simple declaration. And buried in that act is a warning to the Continental Congress itself, a warning that tells us everything about who Rhode Islanders were, and still are.
This is the story of May 4th, 1776.
u/storyofRIpodcast — 10 days ago