Don't forget that smugglers (i.e., the political leadership of RI) declared RI's independence from England on May 4, 1776. Besides smuggling goods, one branch of the family from Bristol were major slave traders with big interests in the triangle trade (slaves, rum, molasses). Other members of the family later kept Henry Ford from building a factory in RI (reputedly) because he paid his workers too well, fought unionization at Browne and Sharpe for decades, and founded Brown University.
Also, don't forget that RI was the birthplace of religious freedom, with a charter that welcomed Catholics, Jews, 'Turks', and atheists as well as Protestants of all stripes. (The founders of the Massachusetts colonies wanted religious freedom only for themselves. They almost fought a war against RI because RI refused to execute Quakers.)