Commemorating May 4, 2026, as Rhode Island Independence Day and the 250th Anniversary of the General Assembly's Historic Act of Renunciation

WHEREAS, On June 9, 1772, Rhode Islanders attacked and burned the H.M.S. Gaspee in one of the first acts of open defiance against the British Crown; and

WHEREAS, During 1773-74, Rhode Islanders participated in Committees of Correspondence to share intelligence and coordinate resistance to English authorities among the 13 colonies; and

WHEREAS, Following the 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord, Rhode Island raised militias and sent forces to relieve the siege of Boston; and

WHEREAS, During the months that followed, Rhode Island began to resist royal authority; and

WHEREAS, On May 4, 1776, both houses of the Rhode Island General Assembly met for session at the Providence Colony House at 1 Benefit Street; and

WHEREAS, At that session, the General Assembly approved the Act of Renunciation, repealing prior legislation that had pledged allegiance to the English Crown; and

WHEREAS, The Rhode Island General Assembly’s Act of Renunciation was the first and only legislation of its kind among the thirteen colonies in British North America; and

WHEREAS, On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, which was signed by Rhode Islanders Stephen Hopkins and William Ellery, and which the Rhode Island General Assembly, meeting at the Newport Colony House, formally ratified on July 19, 1776; and

WHEREAS, Rhode Islanders made important contributions to the American Revolution, including the brilliant generalship of Nathanael Greene; and

WHEREAS, After the conclusion of the Revolution and the formation of the United States of America under the Articles of Confederation, Rhode Island persisted in its independent streak, refusing to attend the Constitutional Convention; and

WHEREAS, In 1788, Rhode Island at first voted against ratifying the United States Constitution, but became the last of the 13 states to do so in 1790 after pressure from Congress and assurances of the passage of the Constitution’s Bill of Rights; and

WHEREAS, On May 26, 1908, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed Public Laws

Section 1591, declaring the fourth of May as Rhode Island Independence Day to be commemorated as a “just tribute to the memory of the members of the general assembly who passed an act renouncing allegiance of the colony to the British Crown . . . the first official act of its kind by any of the thirteen American colonies”; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby commemorates May 4, 2026 as Rhode Island Independence Day and the 250th anniversary of the General Assembly’s historic Act of Renunciation; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Honorable Daniel J. McKee, Governor of the State of Rhode Island, and the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation.