Aquidneck Island in the context of "Rhode Island"

Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering 147 square miles (380 km), 120.5 square miles (312 km) of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. Small parts of the bay extend into Massachusetts.

There are more than 30 islands in the bay; the three largest ones are Aquidneck Island, Conanicut Island, and Prudence Island. Bodies of water that are part of Narragansett Bay include the Sakonnet River, Mount Hope Bay, and the southern, tidal part of the Taunton River. The bay opens on Rhode Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean; Block Island lies less than 20 miles (32 km) southwest of its opening.

The Battle of Rhode Island (also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill) took place on August 29, 1778. Continental Army and militia forces under the command of Major-general John Sullivan had been besieging British forces in Newport, Rhode Island on Aquidneck Island, but they had finally abandoned their siege and were withdrawing to the northern part of the island. The British then sortied, supported by recently arrived Royal Navy ships, and they attacked the retreating Americans. The battle ended inconclusively, but the Continental forces withdrew to the mainland and left Aquidneck Island in British hands.

The battle was the first attempt at cooperation between French and American forces following France's entry into the war as an American ally. Operations against Newport were planned in conjunction with a French fleet and troops, but they were frustrated in part by difficult relations between the commanders, as well as by a storm that damaged both the French and British fleets shortly before joint operations were to begin. The battle was also notable for the participation of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, a multiracial unit under the command of Colonel Christopher Greene.

Middletown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,075 at the 2020 census. It lies to the south of Portsmouth and to the north of Newport on Aquidneck Island, hence the name "Middletown."

Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Providence, 20 miles (32 km) south of Fall River, Massachusetts, 74 miles (119 km) south of Boston, and 180 miles (290 km) northeast of New York City. It is known as a New England summer resort and is famous for its historic mansions and its rich sailing history. The city has a population of about 25,000 residents.

Newport hosted the first U.S. Open tournaments in both tennis and golf, as well as every challenge for the America's Cup between 1930 and 1983. It is also the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport, which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and an important Navy training center. It was a major 18th-century port city and has many buildings from the colonial era.

41°31′00″N 71°23′00″W / 41.5167°N 71.3833°W / 41.5167; -71.3833

Conanicut Island (/kəˈnænəkʌt/ kə-NAN-ə-kut) is an island in Narragansett Bay in the American state of Rhode Island. The second-largest in the Bay, it is connected on the east to Newport on Aquidneck Island by the Claiborne Pell Bridge, commonly known as the Newport Bridge, and on the west to North Kingstown on the mainland via the Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge. The town of Jamestown comprises the entire island. The U.S. Census Bureau reported a land area of 24.46 km (9.44 sq mi) and a population of 5,622 in 2000. A tombolo connects the southern part of Conanicut to an extension of the island to the southwest.

The Sakonnet River is a tidal strait in the state of Rhode Island which flows approximately 14 miles (23 km) between Mount Hope Bay and Rhode Island Sound. It separates Aquidneck Island from the eastern portion of Newport County.

John Clarke (October 1609 – 20 April 1676) was a New England English-born politician, physician, and Puritan Baptist minister, co-founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, author of its influential charter, and a leading advocate of religious liberty in America.

Clarke was born in Westhorpe, Suffolk, England. He received an extensive education, including a master's degree in England followed by medical training in Leiden, Holland. He arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 during the Antinomian Controversy and decided to go to Aquidneck Island with many exiles from the conflict. He became a co-founder of Portsmouth and Newport, Rhode Island, and established America's second Baptist church in Newport. Baptists were declared heretics in Massachusetts and were banned there, but Clarke wanted to make inroads there and spent time in the Boston jail after making a mission trip to the town of Lynn, Massachusetts. Following his poor treatment in prison, he went to England where he published a book on the persecutions of the Baptists in Massachusetts and on his theological beliefs. The fledgling Rhode Island colony needed an agent in England, so he remained there for more than a decade handling the colony's interests.