Power Thesaurus. 1969. elegant thesaurus http://www.powerthesaurus.org/elegant/synonyms (accessed April 12, 2017).
Providence Plantations refers to the mainland portion of the state, which included Williams's Providence Plantation and Samuel Gortonâs Shawomet Purchase (1642), which was renamed Warwick Plantation. Rhode Island referred to Aquidneck Island, on which the settlements of Portsmouth (1638) and Newport (1639) were established.
In 1643, Samuel Gorton founded Shawomet, which is now called Warwick. In 1644, the name of Aquidneck Island was changed to Rhode Island. John Clarke was granted a Charter in 1663 for Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which effectively united the two colonies into one. Under the terms of the charter, only landowners could vote. Before the Industrial Revolution, when most people were employed as farmers, this was considered democratic.