Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

35 results found

Block, Adriaen

(Encyclopedia)Block, Adriaen, fl. 1610–24, Dutch navigator. Eager to establish a fur trade with the Native Americans, Amsterdam merchants sent (1613) Block and another Dutch navigator to explore the region discov...

South Kingstown

(Encyclopedia)South Kingstown kĭngˈstən, kĭngzˈtounˌ [key], town (1990 pop. 24,631), seat of Washington co., S R.I.; settled 1641, inc. 1674 as Kings Towne, divided into South Kingstown and North Kingstown 17...

Rhode Island, state, United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Rhode Island, smallest state in the United States, located in New England; bounded by Massachusetts (N and E), the Atlantic Ocean (S), and Connecticut (W). Until well into the 20th cent. ...

Williams, Roger

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Roger, c.1603–1683, clergyman, advocate of religious freedom, founder of Rhode Island, b. London. A protégé of Sir Edward Coke, he graduated from Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1627 and...

Blackstone

(Encyclopedia)Blackstone, river, c.50 mi (80 km) long, rising near Worcester, Mass., and flowing SE to Narragansett Bay at Providence, R.I. The river's clean water was a major factor in the early development of the...

Miantonomo

(Encyclopedia)Miantonomo mēănˌtənōˈmō, mīănˌ– [key], d. 1643, chief of the Narragansett; nephew of another chief, Canonicus. In 1637 he aided the English colonists in the Pequot War. The following year ...

Massasoit

(Encyclopedia)Massasoit măsˌəsoiˈĭt, măsˈəsoitˌ [key], c.1580–1661, chief of the Wampanoag. His name was Ousamequin (spelled in various ways); Massasoit is a title of leadership. One of the most powerful...

Uncas

(Encyclopedia)Uncas ŭngˈkəs [key], c.1588–c.1683, chief of the Mohegan. Uncas was a subchief of the Pequot, but because of trouble with the chief, Sassacus, he withdrew with his followers and formed a separate...

King Philip's War

(Encyclopedia)King Philip's War, 1675–76, the most devastating war between the colonists and the Native Americans in New England. The war is named for King Philip, the son of Massasoit and chief of the Wampanoag....

Warwick, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Warwick wôrˈwĭk, wŏˈrĭk [key], city (1990 pop. 85,427), Kent co., central R.I., at the head of Narragansett Bay; settled by Samuel Gortone 1642, inc. as a city 1931. Its long important textile i...

Browse by Subject