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Politics

A History of Election Tickets in Rhode Island
3 months ago

A History of Election Tickets in Rhode Island

[This article is based mostly from the introduction by Patrick T. Conley appearing in Russell J. DeSimone’s recent book, Rhode Island Election Tickets: A Survey of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century …
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The Canonization of Thomas Wilson Dorr
3 years ago

The Canonization of Thomas Wilson Dorr

In 1912 a third edition of Jacob Frieze’s book, A Concise History of Efforts to Obtain an Extension of Suffrage in Rhode Island; from 1811 to 1842, was reprinted by …
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The Constitutional Party in Rhode Island, 1834 -1837
3 years ago

The Constitutional Party in Rhode Island, 1834 -1837

Rhode Island has frequently had third parties appear in its statewide elections. Almost always these parties had a single purpose, whether Anti-Masonic, Liberty (opposed to the expansion of slavery), American/Know-Nothing …
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The Crime Castle: Murder and Mayhem in New England
3 years ago

The Crime Castle: Murder and Mayhem in New England

On May 2, 1935, the Boston Traveler published an article comparing the career of two professionals: the first, Rhode Island-born James Howard McGrath, represented moral certitude and industry, a model …
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Election Fraud in Rhode Island: Bribery, Intimidation, Ballot-Stuffing, and Other Disreputable Practices
4 years ago

Election Fraud in Rhode Island: Bribery, Intimidation, Ballot-Stuffing, and Other Disreputable Practices

With every election year there is talk of election fraud.[1] The 2020 elections are no different except that this year’s elections will be held in the midst of the COVID-19 …
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Charles Brayton, Rhode Island’s Most Powerful Political Boss, Departs the Scene
5 years ago

Charles Brayton, Rhode Island’s Most Powerful Political Boss, Departs the Scene

[Rhode Island politics in the late 1800s and early 1900s was run by the Republican Party’s political machine. From 1884 to 1907, it was led with an iron fist by …
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Robert E. Quinn and the Political Revolution of 1935 (Part II)
5 years ago

Robert E. Quinn and the Political Revolution of 1935 (Part II)

A major trend that produced the new (but briefly tenuous) Democratic ascendancy was the movement of Franco-American voters into the Democratic Party, especially after Governor Aram Pothier’s death in …
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Robert E. Quinn and the Political Revolution of 1935
5 years ago

Robert E. Quinn and the Political Revolution of 1935

Robert Emmet Quinn, named for the noble Irish patriot, led the political transformation of Rhode Island from Republican to Democratic ascendancy during the turbulent 1920s and 1930s. A similar …
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Rhode Island in the 1800s Failed to Elect a Governor in Eleven General Elections
6 years ago

Rhode Island in the 1800s Failed to Elect a Governor in Eleven General Elections

Rhode Island from its earliest days as a colony had a large degree of political freedom. Unlike most other English colonies that had either an appointed royal governor, such as …
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Rhode Island: A State for Sale
7 years ago

Rhode Island: A State for Sale

[From the editor: The most famous article ever written about Rhode Island is almost certainly the article below by the legendary muckraker Lincoln Steffens, which ran in the February 1905 …
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