Newport

Newport was the third English settlement in Rhode Island. Its founder, William Coddington, was a follower of clergyman Roger Williams, who left Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636 in order to create a community that permitted greater religious freedom. Coddington settled at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in 1638, but in 1639 a dispute with other Portsmouth settlers led him and his adherents to move to the southern tip of Aquidneck Island, where they built the town of Newport. Like other 17th-century Rhode Island communities, Newport was a haven for religious dissenters. A Quaker meeting was established in Newport in 1657 and a Jewish congregation in 1658.

Newport was an important seaport and commercial center throughout the colonial era. Shipbuilding thrived, and merchants exported horses, salt fish, and wood products to the West Indies. In the 18th century Newport also became a center of the infamous “triangle trade.” New England merchants shipped rum to Aerica and exchanged it for slaves, sold the slaves in the West Indies in exchange for molasses, and carried the molasses back to Newport, where it was distilled into rum. Triangle traders also brought some slaves to Newport, where in 1696 they outnumbered white servants 11 to one. Many urban merchants and artisans relied on slave labor, as did cattle ranchers and dairy farmers in the surrounding countryside. By 1760 Aerican Americans made up nearly 20 percent of Newport’s population, perhaps the highest concentration of slaves in the northern colonies.

The combination of long-distance trade and religious liberty made Newport an unusually cosmopolitan community. The town competed with Providence for cultural dominance of the colony. James Franklin, Jr., started printing Rhode Island’s first newspaper, the Mercury, in Newport in 1758. By the mid-18th century Newport had also begun to attract summer visitors fleeing the malarial climates of South Carolina and the British West Indies. In spite of its diverse population, however, Newport remained a hierarchical society in which a small number of wealthy merchants and shipmasters monopolized political offices and other public leadership roles.

Further reading: Elaine Forman Crane, A Dependent People: Newport, Rhode Island in the Revolutionary Era (New York: Fordham University Press, 1985).

—Darcy R. Fryer

Newport, Christopher (1561-1617) English mariner Christopher Newport was born near Harwich, England, around December 1561 and went to sea at an early age. During hostilities with Spain in the 1580s, Newport turned to privateering. He participated in the capture of numerous vessels and the assault on Cadiz, losing his right arm in battle. Newport found fame and fortune by capturing a Spanish treasure ship, investing his winnings in privateers of his own.

In 1606 the Virginia Company oe London selected Newport to command the seaborne phase of its upcoming expedition. The fleet sailed in December for Virginia. Arriving at Chesapeake Bay, Newport named the capes at its mouth for the monarch’s sons, Charles and Henry. The expedition proceeded to the site of Jamestown. Newport retained naval command, but a council, of which he was a member, ruled ashore. As settlement building and gold mining commenced, Newport scouted the James River. Upon returning he found a colony under attack from local tribes. Newport recommended conciliation; others demanded retaliation. This debate, fed by personality clashes, polarized the council.

Newport soon sailed for London with news and “gold.” Although the gold was identified as base metals, Newport obtained continued funding. In the following years Newport made several round trips, becoming enmeshed in the colony’s domestic politics at every turn. Despite poor relations with key council members, Newport became vice admiral of a larger fleet in 1610 and was rewarded with additional shares in the enterprise. He was also given an honorary commission in the Royal Navy. In 1612 Newport transferred his loyalties to the East India Company. After undertaking several cruises he died in those regions, probably in August 1617.

See also John Smith.

Further reading: Ivor Noel Hume, The Virginia Adventure: Roanoke to James Towne: An Archaeological and Historical Odyssey (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1997).

—Michael S. Casey