Politically speaking, Rhode Island has always been a difficult place to pin down. Founded by Roger Williams, a radical Christian who was thrown out of the more respectable colony of Massachuttes, RI welcomed and all but rewarded the waspish elite. This is just one of the many contradictions that populate the state’s character. In May, 1776, Rhode Island became the first colony to declare independence from the British crown, two months before the Declaration of Independence. Yet, RI’s distaste for authority made it the last of the 13 original colonies to sign the US Constitution, and it refused to even send delegates to the convention that wrote the document.
After the Revolution, RI declined to create a state constitution and continued to govern itself by the charter granted to the colony in 1663. This charter of 1663 had worked well to support farmers and small landholders, and at the time of the Revolution, about 80% of white males were able to vote. The Industrial Revolution changed the economy of Rhode Island and brought with it a new demographic: factory workers and landless urban dwellers. The mills that followed Slater Mill led to an immigration explosion. Because of antiquated rules about land ownership, by the 1840s, only 40% of white male citizens could vote, and discontent was on the rise.
A failed rebellion by wealthy Rhode Islander Thomas Dorr, on behalf of the disenfranchised, made those in power create a constitution that gave more opportunities for residents to access the polls but still held power firmly in the hands of those with land. Until 1853, Rhode Island’s legislature rotated its meeting place among the five counties in the state, making sure that the rural areas were where the legislative action was happening. The rise of the modern Republican Party began in the 1850s, and its hold on this state lasted for decades. In addition to its opposition to the spread of slavery, the GOP stood for government funding for industrial infrastructure and high tariffs. This allowed entrepreneurs and factory owners to have lower costs for their businesses and less competition from abroad.
However, workers faced higher prices for consumer goods. No politician more exemplifies this period than Nelson Aldrich, a Civil War veteran who rose up through the RI machine to become a US senator in the 1880s. Within a few years, Aldrich was being referred to as the general manager of the United States, and his knowledge of the tariff was so extensive that no one dared to argue with him on the issue. Aldrich kept foreign goods from reaching American shores to promote American industry internally, at the expense of prices and opportunities for workers. The turn of the 20th century saw a gleaming new state house and new cracks in GOP control. The 17th amendment, which required senators to be popularly elected and not elected by the legislature, meant that political bosses like Aldrich could no longer just please a few legislators in remote counties but would have to have broad appeal to the entire electorate.
Seeing the changes coming, Aldrich declined to run again in 1910. Over the next two decades, popularly elected positions increasingly voted for Democratic candidates. Meanwhile, the upper chamber of the State legislature was elected differently and was still controlled primarily by rural areas with sparse populations. The upper chamber used its disproportionate clout to control appointments and keep positions throughout the state, such as the RI Supreme Court. The political landscape that Rhode Island enjoys today dates primarily to one single day. January 1, 1935. In a move that Donald Trump would envy, the lieutenant governor refused to recognize GOP state senators from contested elections and then sealed the chamber doors to prevent seated Republican legislators from leaving (and costing the body its quorum). During a massive legislation session, the Democrats were able to redistrict the assembly, change the composition of the RI Supreme Court, and reorganize state government.
Occasionally in the decades since 1935, Republicans have held general offices or held one or more seats in Congress. A few have even been elected governor. But no serious challenge to democratic domination has occurred in the general assembly. This election, in autumn, we will again see the colorful flowers of democracy. We will see campaign signs on lawns and billboards exhorting us to vote for this candidate or that candidate. For almost 90 years, the way to political success in RI has been through the Democratic machine. For the half-century before that, RI was firmly in the grip of the GOP. Who can say what the next decades will bring to the RI political landscape? •
