Rhode Island's History

The Native People that lived in Rhode Island were the Narragansett tribe, the Niantic tribe, and the Wampanoag tribe. People think they arrived around 20,000 years ago. Some of the explorers of Rhode Island were Giovani Da Verrazzano from Italy. He arrived in Rhode Island around 1524. Another explorer was Roger Williams from London. He arrived around 1636. Rhode Island was the first state to declare independence from Great Britain in the year 1776. Adriaen Block named Rhode Island Roodt Eylandt which is Dutch for "red island". Rhode Island became a state on May 29, 1790 as the 13th state.