To the editor:

In 2020, a slim majority of voters foolishly erased the words “Providence Plantations” from the name of our country’s smallest state, a state which played a pivotal role in forming our country by the burning of His Majesty’s Ship (HMS), “The Gaspee.”

This state had the unique distinction of being “the smallest state with longest name.”  It was built upon the principle of ‘religious freedom’ and ‘separation of church and state,’ ideals we cherish to this day.

Maryland was founded by the Catholics; Pennsylvania was founded by the Quakers; Massachusetts was founded by the Anglicans, but Rhode Island was founded by Roger Williams for all denominations.  The first Jewish synagogue was built in Newport, RI. “Inclusion” was always paramount in Rhode Island’s charter, and was demonstrated by rotating its capital city among five towns so ‘participatory government’ was exemplified.

In the 1520’s, Giovanni da Verrazano was sent by the King Francis I of France to explore the East Coast of North America, thus sailing into what became known as New York Harbor and further north, “Rhode Island,” which he named after the Greek Isle of Rhodes in the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1636, Roger Williams escaped religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony traveling  to the land of the Narragansett Indians, where he founded the “Providence Colonies” from land that he purchased on the mainland of Narragansett Bay.

The counties of “Providence,” “Kent,” “Washington,” and “Bristol” today comprise the “Providence Colonies,” aka “Providence Plantations.”

The name “Rhode Island” only applies to Aquidneck Island comprising Newport and Portsmouth.

The mainland of our smallest state (west of Narragansett Bay) has been erased, thus eliminating US Senatorial District 2, held by Jack Reed and US Congressional District 2, held by Seth Magaziner.

Rhode Islanders in those districts should pay no federal nor state taxes since they’ve been erased, and are now, not represented in the US Congress nor the RI General Asssembly. Similarly, RI state senatorial districts and state representative districts in those “western” counties should be disbanded with those legislators’ roles being eliminated.

Nick De Mayo, M. Ed.

Franconia, NH