Rhode Island

Rhode Island flag
Skills available for Rhode Island fourth-grade social studies standards

Standards are in black and IXL social studies skills are in dark green. Hold your mouse over the name of a skill to view a sample question. Click on the name of a skill to practice that skill.

Show alignments for:

Actions

1 Geography and Environment

2 Indigenous Peoples, Roger Williams, and Rhode Island Colonists

  • SS4.2.1 Indigenous peoples in Rhode Island

    • SS4.2.1 Analyze the history and culture of the Indigenous peoples who live in what is now known as Rhode Island.

      • SS4.2.1.a Identify the locations of the Nahaganset (Narragansett), Nehantick and Eastern Nehantick (Niantic), Nipmuc, Manissean, Massachuset, and Wampanoag (Pokanoket) peoples on a map and analyze the relationship between geography and settlement patterns.

      • SS4.2.1.b Explain cultural aspects of these Indigenous groups (e.g., language, art, clothing, homes, food, kinship system).

      • SS4.2.1.c Explain ways Indigenous groups used available resources (e.g., fish for food; deer for food, clothing, tools; trees for homes, canoes; stones for tools) and analyze the relationship between geography and resource availability.

      • SS4.2.1.d Analyze the relationships among Indigenous groups, including those who lived nearby (e.g., Pequot, Mohegan).

      • SS4.2.1.e Analyze contemporary tribal governments and organizations of Indigenous people in Rhode Island today and ways the peoples today continue to practice cultural traditions.

      • SS4.2.1.f Analyze different ways we know and understand the past (e.g., oral traditions from Indigenous descendants, documentation from early explorers and colonists - including Roger Williams' A Key into the Language of America, historical records, archaeology, anthropology), and identify the biases of different types of sources.

  • SS4.2.2 Roger Williams and the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Colonies

    • SS4.2.2 Analyze Roger Williams' leadership, banishment from the Massachusetts colonies, and relocation to what is now known as Rhode Island.

      • SS4.2.2.a Explain Williams' beliefs about religion and analyze how those beliefs went against what leaders in Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Bay colonies wanted colonists to believe and how they wanted them to worship.

      • SS4.2.2.b Explain Williams' journey after banishment, who helped him, and analyze why he eventually settled in the location he named "Providence".

      • SS4.2.2.c Explain what the area of Providence was like and analyze the ways nearby resources supported the new settlement.

      • SS4.2.2.d Identify other people who joined Roger Williams to settle Providence (e.g., Chad Brown, Alice Daniels, Richard Waterman, Thomas Olney) and explain their significance.

  • SS4.2.3 The founding of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

    • SS4.2.3 Argue how Williams' religious beliefs informed the establishment of Providence, the addition of more settlements, and the formation of its early government.

      • SS4.2.3.a Analyze the components and rationale for Williams' "Civil Compact" and his ideas about religious freedom.

      • SS4.2.3.b Analyze the similarities and differences between the town of Providence and other New England towns (e.g., religious beliefs, how home lots were divided) and argue the ways Williams' beliefs influenced the spatial layout of the town of Providence.

      • SS4.2.3.c Identify the founders of other English settlements in the Rhode Island colony (e.g., Anne Hutchinson, William Coddington, Samuel Gorton, Richard Smith, and William Harris) and analyze their reasons for creating other settlements and the conditions of those settlements.

      • SS4.2.3.d Analyze the rationale for and components of the charter John Clark and Roger Williams obtained from England (e.g., freedom of religion, elected government) and argue who benefited.

      • SS4.2.3.e Identify the range of other religious groups who settled in the Rhode Island colony (e.g., Quakers, Jews) and explain why they were welcomed to do so.

  • SS4.2.4 Indigenous peoples and relationships with the Rhode Island colonists

    • SS4.2.4 Argue the impacts of the relationships and conflicts between the Indigenous peoples and the English colonists in Rhode Island.

      • SS4.2.4.a Argue the impacts early European explorers and tradesmen had on Indigenous populations (e.g., trade, diseases).

      • SS4.2.4.b Analyze major conflicts between the English colonists and the Indigenous people, identify who was involved, and argue who benefited from the outcomes (e.g., Pequot War, King Philip's War, Great Swamp Massacre, the sale of Indigenous people after the wars into slavery).

      • SS4.2.4.c Argue the impacts of colonial encroachment on Indigenous lands, culture, and activities (e.g., instances of English settlers allowing their pigs to stomp on and eat Indigenous crops, fencing off hunting areas).

      • SS4.2.4.d Analyze the range of perspectives on land use of the Indigenous peoples and the English colonists.

      • SS4.2.4.e Explain the system of indenture and "binding out" Indigenous children for indentured service and argue who benefited from that system.

      • SS4.2.4.f Analyze trade and land use "agreements" between Indigenous and English leaders (especially Roger Williams and the Narragansett) and argue who benefited from those agreements.

3 Early Rhode Island

  • SS4.3.1 Colonial lifeways

    • SS4.3.1 Argue how the geography and environment supported a new way of life for Rhode Island Colonists while their lifeways in turn impacted the environment and Indigenous peoples.

      • SS4.3.1.a Identify examples and analyze the ways the areas' natural resources were used to support settlement and a way of life (e.g., wood for building homes, available resources for food, clothing, and trade).

      • SS4.3.1.b Explain the uses of resources imported from England into the colony (e.g., livestock, furniture, grains, metal pots, weapons) and analyze the ways resources contributed to their lifeways.

      • SS4.3.1.c Identify the natural features of the area and argue how those features are related to the growth of the economy (e.g., the ocean for shipping, travel, and fishing; waterways for travel, trade, and fishing; forests for wood; soapstone quarries for bowls).

      • SS4.3.1.d Explain English-style forestry and agriculture and argue the ways those methods impacted the land.

      • SS4.3.1.e Explain the conditions for expansion of English settlement and the growth and establishment of the Rhode Island colony and argue its impact on colonists and the Indigenous peoples.

  • SS4.3.2 Rhode Island economy and the maritime industry

    • SS4.3.2 Argue the impact of Rhode Island's relationship with the world through maritime trade, including participation in the transatlantic slave trade.

      • SS4.3.2.a Explain the relationship between Rhode Island's geographic position and the development of cities and maritime trade, and identify the location of major port cities on a map (e.g., Providence, Newport, Bristol).

      • SS4.3.2.b Identify goods imported into Rhode Island through maritime trade (e.g., mahogany, cacao beans, molasses, silk, porcelain, tea) and where they came from (e.g., Europe, Africa, Caribbean, India, China), explain their significance in the development of Rhode island's economy, and argue the impacts of this trade on others.

      • SS4.3.2.c Identify goods (e.g., chocolate, rum, spermaceti candles, cod, iron) exported to other parts of the world from Rhode Island, explain their significance in the development of Rhode Island's economy, and argue the impacts of this trade on others.

      • SS4.3.2.d Identify goods (e.g., furniture, rice, cotton, tobacco, spermaceti oil) traded with other American colonies (e.g., Massachusetts, Connecticut, colonies in the American South, English colonies in the Caribbean), explain their significance in the development of Rhode Island's economy, and argue the impacts of this trade on others.

      • SS4.3.2.e Analyze the conditions of the enslavement and trade of Africans, explain how the triangular trade functioned, and argue who benefited.

      • SS4.3.2.f Explain Rhode Island's involvement in the trade of enslaved Africans, and argue who was complicit and who benefited.

  • SS4.3.3 Enslaved and free Africans

    • SS4.3.3 Analyze the lives of free and enslaved Africans in Rhode Island.

      • SS4.3.3.a Analyze ways enslaved Africans resisted enslavement (e.g., insurrection on ships, refusal to work, self-emancipation).

      • SS4.3.3.b Analyze the work enslaved people in Rhode Island were forced to do and what parts of Rhode Island they supported (e.g., farm labor on South County plantations, domestic labor in city households, labor on merchant shops).

      • SS4.3.3.c Explain ways some Black Rhode Islanders obtained their freedom (e.g., buy their or family members' freedom, enslavers granting freedom).

      • SS4.3.3.d Analyze the ways enslaved and free Africans maintained culture and re-created a new culture (e.g., naming traditions, foods, music, religion, forming of social organizations such as the African Free Union Society, Negro elections).

      • SS4.3.3.e Identify free and enslaved Black Rhode Islanders from this time period and analyze their contributions to society (e.g., Duchess Quamino, Newport Gardner).

4 The American Revolution and Becoming a State

  • SS4.4.1 Activities leading to the American Revolution

    • SS4.4.1 Argue the impact of the acts and events leading to Rhode Island's participation in the American Revolution.

  • SS4.4.2 Rhode Island participation in the American Revolution

    • SS4.4.2 Analyze Rhode Islanders' participation in the American Revolution.

      • SS4.4.2.a Explain what privateers were, and analyze their role in establishing the Navy.

      • SS4.4.2.b Explain the conditions of the occupation of Newport, and analyze how it affected Newport's economy.

      • SS4.4.2.c Identify the location and circumstances of the Battle of Rhode Island, and explain what happened.

      • SS4.4.2.d Explain the roles Rhode Island women fulfilled during the American Revolution.

      • SS4.4.2.e Explain the elements of the Gradual Emancipation Act, and analyze ways the abolition movement was tied to the ideals of the Revolution.

      • SS4.4.2.f Explain the formation of and recruitment for the 1st Rhode Island Regiment (e.g., enslaved Black Rhode Islanders, free Black and Indigenous people), and analyze the reasons men decided to join the Regiment (e.g., promise of freedom after the war for enslaved soldiers, belief in the ideals of the Revolution).

  • SS4.4.3 Rhode Island becomes a state

    • SS4.4.3 Analyze the circumstances that lead to Rhode Island's eventual ratification of the Constitution of the United States and why it was the last of the thirteen colonies to do so.

      • SS4.4.3.a Analyze the reasons Rhode Islanders did not go to the Constitutional Convention (rights of a smaller state, fear of a central authority).

      • SS4.4.3.b Analyze the reasons the addition of the Bill of Rights led Rhode Island to ratify the Constitution of the United States and become a state.

5 Immigration, Labor, and Industry

  • SS4.5.1 Industrial Revolution

    • SS4.5.1 Argue how the development of the textile industry impacted Rhode Island economically, socially, and environmentally.

      • SS4.5.1.a Explain Samuel Slater's role in starting the Industrial Revolution in America and the structure of the "Rhode Island System of Manufacture".

      • SS4.5.1.b Analyze the ways geography and the environment supported the development of a mill system, how Rhode Island's geography influenced the mill system and argue how this type of industry impacted the environment.

      • SS4.5.1.c Identify reasons for changes in rural agricultural production to more factories and argue how this impacted families and communities.

      • SS4.5.1.d Explain the rationale behind child labor, analyze labor conditions and efforts to end child labor (including Lewis Hine's visits to Rhode Island mills to document child labor), and argue who benefited.

      • SS4.5.1.e Explain the textile industry's connection to southern slavery despite the end to slavery in the North.

      • SS4.5.1.f Identify examples of immigration to Rhode Island during this era (e.g., Irish, French Canadians) and analyze the reasons people came to Rhode Island.

  • SS4.5.2 19th and 20th century industries and peoples

    • SS4.5.2 Analyze the major industries that contributed to Rhode Island's economy in the 19th and 20th centuries and how these industries encouraged people looking for opportunity to come to the area.

      • SS4.5.2.a Analyze how major industries contributed to Rhode Island's economy into the late 20th century (e.g., fishing, agriculture, costume jewelry, textiles, banking, tourism).

      • SS4.5.2.b Analyze the conditions that led immigrant groups to come to Rhode Island to participate in those major industries and their contributions to the culture of Rhode Island (e.g., Cape Verdeans, Chinese, Dominicans, Guatemalans, Hmong, Italians, Irish, Portuguese, Puerto Ricans).

  • SS4.5.3 Peoples and industries in Rhode Island today

    • SS4.5.3 Argue how industries, diverse peoples, and landmarks impact the development of state identity.

      • SS4.5.3.a Identify the industries and jobs in Rhode Island today (e.g., tourism, healthcare, education, military) and argue how they impact the state.

      • SS4.5.3.b Identify the location of Rhode Island's cities and explain the reasons for their locations.

      • SS4.5.3.c Analyze the population and demographics of Rhode Island (e.g., gender, age, ethnic background, race) and explain why there are areas where there are concentrations of people.

      • SS4.5.3.d Explain ways that Rhode Islanders celebrate and continue cultural traditions (e.g., Narragansett August Meeting, Columbus Day Parade on Federal Hill, 4th of July Parade in Bristol).

      • SS4.5.3.e Explain ways that diverse backgrounds influence the culture of Rhode Island today (e.g., Indigenous Johnny cakes, Italian calamari, Portuguese bread).

      • SS4.5.3.f Identify landmarks and monuments that honor historical events and people in Rhode Island and explain their importance.

6 Rhode Island Governments

  • SS4.6.1 The Rhode Island State House and government

    • SS4.6.1 Explain Rhode Island's state government, rules, and laws.

      • SS4.6.1.a Identify the state-level leaders who represent students' district(s) and explain how they are elected and what issues they address.

      • SS4.6.1.b Identify the Rhode Island representatives in the United States Senate and House of Representatives and explain what issues they address.

      • SS4.6.1.c Identify the location of the Rhode Island State House and explain what decisions are made there.

      • SS4.6.1.d Explain how laws are made at the state level, why we have laws, and ways people can participate in lawmaking (e.g., sign a petition, write a letter to a representative, testify at a hearing, vote).

  • SS4.6.2 Local town/city hall and government

    • SS4.6.2 Explain local city or town government, rules, and laws.

      • SS4.6.2.a Identify city/town leaders and explain how they are elected and what issues they address.

      • SS4.6.2.b Identify the location(s) of students' town/city hall(s) and explain what decisions are made there.

      • SS4.6.2.c Explain how local laws are made and enforced, and ways people can participate in lawmaking at the local level (e.g., vote, send an email to the mayor, speak at a town/city council meeting).

  • SS4.6.3 Government participation in the past

    • SS4.6.3 Analyze ways Rhode Islanders participated in state government in the past.

      • SS4.6.3.a Analyze the history of voting rights in Rhode Island and how people participated to gain those rights (e.g., woman suffrage, Dorr Rebellion).

      • SS4.6.3.b Analyze ways different groups of people gained civil rights in Rhode Island and how they gained those rights (e.g., Narragansett peoples regaining tribal land, Gay Pride Parade for LGTBQIA+ recognition and rights, textile union strikes, Black Rhode Islanders working on fair housing laws).

      • SS4.6.3.c Explain ways children in Rhode Island have participated in some of these movements (e.g., student walkouts at Hope and Central High Schools for Black student rights in the 1960s, young girls participating in woman suffrage demonstrations in the 1910s, Hope High School students forming the Providence Student Union in the 2010s), and analyze the role children can play in government today.

  • SS4.6.4 Participating in state and local governments today

    • SS4.6.4 Analyze ways Rhode Islanders can participate in local and state governments today.

      • SS4.6.4.a Explain Rhode Island's voting process and who is allowed to vote.

      • SS4.6.4.b Analyze ways that students can participate in their local and state governments despite not being of voting age (e.g., writing letters to state or local leaders, speaking at local council meetings).

      • SS4.6.4.c Identify issues that Rhode Islanders are debating today at the local and state levels (e.g., affordable housing, funding for education, taxes, access to healthcare), and analyze the reasons why these issues are important to Rhode Island communities.