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.
Rhode Island. Rhode Island's official name is the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. It comes from the names of the colony's two most important original settlements. Providence Plantations was founded in 1636 by the English clergyman Roger Williams. He sought a place where one could worship God freely.