re: Rhode Island Governor moves to change state's name due to racism

Rhode Island's formation happened in a peculiar period of English history: the English Civil War. Roger Williams was the first to establish a settlement and several followed, initially while Charles I was still king. However, the Massachusetts Bay Colony also laid claim to these territories. Subsequently, many of these parcels of land (plantations) were granted a parliamentary charter with assistance from the Earl of Warwick, an opponent of Charles and leader of the Parliamentary faction in the English Civil War. However, by the 1660's, the monarchy in Britian was restored and a royal charter was needed to establish a government. So Charles II established the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations as a way to ensure that all of the parliamentary charters by the Earl of Warwick were combined to avoid any future conflict.