Which state in Southern New England is better?Rhode IslandSome RI trivia, since it's my home*smallest state but longest name ("The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations")
*first colony founded on the idea of Religious Liberty and separation of church/state, by Baptist minister Roger Williams after fleeing Puritan-Massachusetts (who also bought the land from the Native Americans)
*have the oldest Baptist church
*have the first Synagogue in North America
*home of the last battles of King Phillip's War / Metacomet's War (the last war to really ravage New England)
*the RI State House is the 4th-largest self-supporting marble dome in the world (behind the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica and the Taj Mahal in India)
*burning of the Great Gaspee, long before the Boston Tea Party... we actually burnt one of their ships, not just spill some tea!
*first colony to declare independence, 2 months before the Declaration of Independence
*13th colony to join the union and ratify the constitution (we were waiting for the Bill of Rights) in 1790
*Slater Mill in Pawtucket is home of the American Industrial Revolution... we brought the Industrial Revolution to the USA!
*home of Hasbro Toys, the largest toymaker in the world
*home of McCoy Stadium, which hosted the longest professional baseball game in world history... 32 innings!
*we are 37 miles by 48 miles... but the 2nd most densely-populated state in the country
*the only state to still celebrate the end of World War II as an official holiday, Victory Day
*we are double the population of Wyoming... but 90 times smaller!
*home to HP Lovecraft, the first automobile race, and the patent for the first "motion picture machine"
*our religious freedom made us attract very diverse immigrants from the start, and our industrial revolution (the Blackstone River was once called the "hardest-working river in America") attracted many more in the early 20th century, and still to this day is an immigrant magnet and safe haven
*Estimated to be:
19% Irish, 16% Italian, 15% Hispanic,
11% English, 11% French, 10% Portuguese,
6% African-American, 4% Polish,
4% Multi-racial or Other, 3% Asian, 1% Native American
(and the most Catholic state in the country... but also some of the most liberal Catholics)
*our state motto is short and sweet: "Hope"
*nicknamed the "Ocean State" for our great beaches, summer beach culture, and very long coastline.
Connecticut*I don't know as much about Connecticut
But maybe someone else does...
Poll
