Voters will get another chance to strip the words “and Providence Plantations” from Rhode Island’s formal name after lawmakers approved a joint resolution to put the question on the November ballot. Although the word “plantations” in Rhode Island’s name does not specifically refer to a place where slaves labored, it elicits such imagery, say sponsors of the bill approved Thursday. Metts, who traces his own family history to a Virginia plantation, points out that Rhode Island built its colonial economy on being a leader in the slave trade.
