Blog Post

When many of us think about the past, we think about words.  Words fill the diaries, newspapers, speeches, account books, government documents, and other items that we use to tell the story of the past.  Thus far, our blog series has focused on words: we explored what “religious toleration” meant to Roger Williams, and the idea of the separation of church and state, and Rhode Island’s 1663 Charter.

While some of us may think of words first, objects, architecture, and even the landscape are just as crucial to the historic record.  When was the last time that you went on a walking tour?  Or visited a museum? Or stopped by an archaeological site?   All of these places rely on objects and the physical environment to tell the story of the past.  Looking at history this way can tell us information that we would never glean through text.

So let’s try this method by looking at a map of colonial Newport and seeing what it can tell us about life in Newport in the 1770s.  Check out the original version of our map.  Charles Blaskowitz surveyed the town, and William Faden published the map in 1777 in England.  Why would the British want a map of the town of Newport in 1777?  If you guessed that it had something to do with the American Revolution, you are right.  With its protected harbor and successful economy (Newport was the fifth largest city in the British North American colonies), the British realized the city’s importance.  Thus, the British army occupied Newport from 1776-1779, and this map was created for its use.  This occupation was very hard on the people of Newport, many of whom left.  The town took decades to rebuild its economy and it never achieved a level of prominence equal to its pre-Revolutionary status.  Thus, this 1777 map captures Newport at its colonial peak.  We can see exactly what the town looked like before the occupation took its toll.

As we have hinted at before, Newport, like the rest of colonial Rhode Island, was founded by religious dissidents.  Men like Nicholas Easton, William Coddington, and John Clarke settled the town in 1639 and the Newport Compact, signed that same year, included commitments to religious liberty.  We can read this document to see what the town’s ideals were, but how did these ideals actually translate to real life?  Thanks to our 1777 map, we can see that ideas about religious toleration were quite literally built into the landscape of the town.  To see this, check out my edited version of the map.  Let’s walk through it step by step.

First of all, the Parade or Mall is outlined in purple.  This square (well, really quadrilateral!) was the heart of colonial Newport.  The Colony House (noted in red) was built at the top of the Parade, and the Brick Market and Long Wharf (noted in green) were at the bottom.  Built in 1739 to replace an early wood structure, the Colony House is an impressive brick building.  It served as the heart of colonial politics in town.  When the governor and other government officials were in town, they met here.  The Brick Market, constructed in 1762, is another impressive brick building that served as the economic center of the town.  Merchants came in along Long Wharf and conducted their trade in the building.  Thus, the heart of colonial Newport is flanked by politics and economics.

At first, this may seem unremarkable.  Of course politics and economics are important to any city, especially one as prominent as colonial Newport.  However, let’s compare this to other colonial New England towns.  When many of us pictures colonial New England towns, we probably think of a quintessential white church with a steeple at the top of the green.  This is an accurate picture for many towns, especially in Massachusetts, since the government and church were linked.  Placing the church in the center of town announced its importance to the community.  Thus, by refraining from building a church on the Mall, colonial Newporters were making an important statement about the relationship between religion and government.

Let’s be careful about what exactly this statement is, though.  The town founders were not stating that religion was unimportant.  In fact, many of them were deeply religious.  Rather, they believed that faith was too precious to be tainted by government, and did not want to favor any particular interpretation of religion over another.

So where was the church in colonial Newport?  Check out the map again and look to the blue markings.  Each represents a religious community.  Even though a church was not on the Parade, colonial Newporters were not deprived of religious options.  They had at least 10 different communities to chose from, and these communities represented a wide variety of traditions.  Colonial Newporters could be Baptists, Seventh Day Baptists, Quakers, Congregationalists, Anglicans, Moravians, and Jewish.

Look at the placement of the religious centers compared to the rest of the town.  They form a ring around the Parade, and many are in places of importance on hills.  With its cupola, the Friends Meeting House could easily be seen from the water.  Trinity Church‘s large steeple can be seen in many early images of the harbor.  (Today, Trinity lies  at the top of a grassy park called Queen Anne’s Square which looks misleadingly like a New England town green.  However, buildings were torn down to create the park in the 1900s.)  Touro Synagogue was prominently placed on a hill behind the Colony House.

Though all of these religious communities were welcome to move to Newport and build, they were not all treated equally.  In the next few weeks, we will be exploring the experiences of the Quakers and Jews in more depth, and comparing their experiences to those of others who had more mainstream beliefs.

In the meantime, you may want to consider looking for an early map of your hometown.  What did it look like originally?  How has it changed over time?  And, what can you figure out about the values of the people who founded the town?

Or, if you would like to learn more about the Newport’s historical landscape, check out the Newport Historical Society’s app (which works on any internet enabled device)!  Explore it to learn more about specific buildings and to explore themes like religion in Newport’s past.