As the 250th Anniversary of American independence draws near in 2026 several Rhode Island writers and historians have turned their attention to describing the series of local events from the 1764 protest over the Sugar Act to the July 4, 1776 approval of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress – a session that included Rhode Island delegates Stephen Hopkins of Providence and William Ellery of Newport.

However, I would suggest that the Rhode Island’s road to declaring independence (as distinct from achieving it) does not end in Philadelphia. The finish line for such a bold assertion was at the Colony House in Newport on July 19, 1776.

This observation needs explanation. Our signer Stephen Hopkins and his Providence colleague Silas Downer in concert with John Dickinson of Pennsylvania had developed the theory of American federalism in the 1760s. This concept made it necessary for each colony to ratify the momentous Philadelphia declaration just as states are now required to ratify a federal constitutional amendment proposed by Congress.

After Hopkins and Ellery voted for the Declaration of Independence and became two of the eventual 56 signers of that document, the “General Congress”, as it was called, then sent the Declaration to the 13 colonies for approval in compliance with federal doctrine.

On July 18 exactly two weeks later, the Rhode Island General Assembly convened in Newport to ratify this bold proclamation. It is probable that the lower house (the Deputies) voted its approval on July 18, but the manuscript journal of that body has not survived to confirm that supposition. Because the legislature convened on July 18, that date has been used as our real Independence Day by knowledgeable historians from Secretary of State John Russell Bartlett onward, myself included. Bartlett’s published edition of Rhode Island’s early records in the 1860s gives the impression that our state’s ratification process was completed on July 18.

Recently, however, the Center for the Study of the American Constitution, headed by my colleague Dr. John Kaminski, has discovered entries in the House of Magistrates’ journal indicating that this upper house adjourned to July 19 before giving its assent to independence. On that fateful day, this chamber, that then included Governor Nicholas Cooke of Providence and Lieutenant Governor William Bradford of Bristol as voting members, completed the approval process. Their handwritten journal reads as follows: “Vote of the Lower House approving the Resolution of the General Congress declaring the United Colonies free and independent states was read and concurred.”

On July 20, after vowing that “we will support the said General Congress with our Lives and Fortunes”, the legislators altered Rhode Island’s official name by requiring that henceforth the “Title of this Government, in all Acts and Instruments, whether of a public or private nature, shall be the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.” From May 4, 1776 to July 20, 1776 Rhode Island had continued to designate itself as an “English colony.” Our much- heralded May 4 resolution only renounced allegiance to King George III and did not declare separation from the British empire.

If the time ever comes to create another state holiday to give workers a respite from the hot and humid days of summer, perhaps our General Assembly will select July 19 in commemoration of its most momentous achievement — the establishment of Rhode Island as an independent state.

If we can nationally observe Juneteenth for a June 19, 1865 announcement about the end of slavery in Texas, why not a local Julyteenth for our state’s declaration of sovereignty and independence on July 19, 1776?

Patrick T. Conley, is a historian and former volunteer chairman of the Rhode Island Bicentennial Commission (ri76)