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Rhode Island General Assembly Records

A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress

Prepared by Bradley E. Gernand and Patrick Kerwin

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

2000

Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2009

Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms009023

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

Organizations

Subjects

Locations

Administrative Information

Provenance:

Processing History:

Copyright Status:

Preferred Citation:

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement of the Papers

Container List

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

Organizations

Subjects

Locations

Administrative Information

Provenance:

The records of the Rhode Island General Assembly were received by the Library of Congress in two accessions. Group I was received from an unknown source during the nineteenth century. Group II was purchased by the Library in 1912 from the Rhode Island Law Library in Providence.

Processing History:

From its acquisition in the nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century, Group I of these records comprised a collection of documents entitled “Records of the Rhode Island Legislature.” Group II of these records, purchased in 1912, was a separate collection entitled “Records of the Rhode Island General Assembly.” The two groups were consolidated during the 1960s at which time they were arranged and described under the present collection title.

Copyright Status:

The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of the Rhode Island General Assembly is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Preferred Citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Rhode Island General Assembly Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Scope and Content Note

The records of the Rhode Island General Assembly span the years 1653-1747. They consist of two separate groups of minutes, acts, and proceedings of Rhode Island’s colonial legislature sitting at various towns. One set dated 1653-1747, provides almost unbroken chronological coverage of General Assembly affairs. The second group is dated 1699-1700, 1704, 1731, and 1744-1747.

Providence united with the towns of Portsmouth, Newport, and Warwick in 1647 to form the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. In 1663, King Charles II granted Rhode Island a second royal charter providing for the greatest degree of local self-government of any English colony. These records document the legislative and judicial histories of the four towns as well as the colony as a whole.

Arrangement of the Papers

This collection is arranged in two groups; within each, acts and proceedings are arranged chronologically.

Container List