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Delaware and Rhode Island
Wait, Delawhere?
Wayne: Or imagine, being able to be magically whisked away to
Delaware. Hi. I'm in Delaware.
and Rhode Island? It’s not an island.
Well actually that’s Rhode Island. Today it’s more commonly known as Aquidneck Island.
The official name of Rhode Island is actually the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
So the name, as it is usually shortened to, ignores the fact that the majority of the state is on the mainland. Meh
Although I will begin by saying you shouldn’t judge a state by its size, Delaware and Rhode Island are the two smallest states in these United States.
But Delaware can brag that it’s twice as big as Rhode Island.
Ah, but Rhode Island has a bigger population, as well as the second highest population density of any state. (RI- 1.1 million, D- 970,000)
Yep, despite being the smallest state, Rhode Island also has a bigger population than South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming.
Delaware’s population IS growing at a much quicker pace, though.
Both have probably the most low-key areas of the Northeast Megalopolis (mwhahahahahaha) a part of the country that contains more than 17 percent of its entire population, or some 50 million people on less than 2% of the country’s land area.
While both can feel somewhat isolated, they are certainly not.
Providence, the largest city in Rhode Island, is just an hour drive to Boston and a 3 and a half hour drive to New York City.
Wilmington, the largest city in Delaware, is just a TWO hour drive to New York City, a half hour drive to Philadelphia, an hour and a half drive to Baltimore, and a 2 hour drive to Washington D.C.
Due to being so close to all these major cities, both states are often overshadowed by them.
Both are coastal states by the Atlantic Ocean, but Delaware is further south, part of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the country.
More specifically, part of the Delmarva Peninsula.
Rhode Island is part of a region known as New England, not to be confused with Old England.
hahaha That was a really bad joke. I do that sometimes and I’m sorry.
Rhode Island is nicknamed The Ocean State. A big reason why is because bays and inlets make up around 14% of its total area.
It has lots of beaches. Narragansett Bay is the big one.
It’s actually New England’s largest estuary, and over 30 islands are within it.
Oh but Delaware has lots of beaches as well. The Delaware Beaches are often ranked as some of the nicest in the country, and the water tends to be cleaner than in Rhode Island.
Delaware’s big bay is called the Delaware Bay, of course.
Both states are flat and have low elevation.
Delaware has the lowest elevation, on average, of all states in the country.
Rhode Island has the fourth lowest average elevation.
Delaware has a humid subtropical climate, whereas most of Rhode Island has a humid continental climate.
Basically, while the ocean can moderate temperatures in both states, it certainly gets colder in Rhode Island with it being further north and all.
While both states have four seasons, Rhode Island summers are more mild and its winters colder.
While both states get about the same amount of annual precipitation, Rhode Island generally gets more than twice as much snow as Delaware.
Both can get hurricanes, although Delaware often gets lucky and doesn’t get directly hit by them.
Rhode Island also gets hit more by Nor’easters, a special type of hurricane that gets stronger from cold air.
Rhode Island’s economy historically has been dominated by industry, while Delaware’s has historically been dominated by agriculture.
Delaware has better farmland, so that makes sense. Yeah.
Delaware is more ethnically diverse. However, the majority of people in both states trace most of their ancestry back to Europe.
Hey, yeah. How about a little history? Before Europeans settled what would become Delaware, American Indian nations lived in the area. Of course.
The Delaware, or Lenni Lenape, lived mostly along the coast, while the Nanticoke also lived throughout the Delmarva Peninsula.
Meanwhile, the Wampanoag, or specifically Narragansett, lived in the area which would become Rhode Island.
Those early days were rough, as the area got caught up in King Philip’s War.
The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle in Delaware, putting a trading post there in 1631.
Five years later, the Massachusetts Bay Colony kicked out a dude named Roger Williams for having different religious views.
He ended up at the north end of Narragansett Bay, got land from the Narragansett chief Canonicus, and called the area Providence Plantations.
He made it a place where folks could practice their religions freely.
A couple years later, other rabble rousers who wanted religious freedom, like Anne Hutchinson, joined him on nearby Aquidneck Island, aka Rhode Island, and also bought lands from the local American Indians and established settlements.
In 1644, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was established, and became well known as the “freedom of religion” place.
Meanwhile, the Swedes had also settled in Delaware.
Their colony, New Sweden, lasted 17 years before the Dutch, led by Peter Stuyvesant, conquered it and made it part of New Netherland.
But in 1664 the English conquered the Dutch and took it over.
In 1682, William Penn, the Quaker dude who started the Province of Pennsylvania, wanted better access to ports for his colony, so he leased Delaware.
Pennsylvania governed Delaware until 1701, although both colonies shared the same governor until the American War of Independence.
During colonial times, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations maintained its status as a safe place for religious freedom, whereas Delaware became known as a place where indentured servants and later slaves came after Virginia and Maryland started to become more crowded.
On May 4, 1776, Rhode Island became the first of the 13 colonies to break away from British rule.
Ah, but on December 7, 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1790, the American Industrial Revolution sort of just began in Rhode Island after Samuel Slater started the first textile mill in Pawtucket.
While Delaware was mostly an agricultural state in the early years of the United States, a dude named um (Éleuthère Irénée du Pont) I am just going to say du Pont, started a gunpowder factory just north of Wilmington.
That company would become the biggest supplier of gunpowder by the beginning of the Civil War, and du Pont’s descendants became one of the richest and most successful families in American history.
Rhode Island had a long history of abolitionism-in fact it was the first to outlaw slavery- but while Delaware was a slave state even during the Civil War, it remained loyal to the Union, and over 90% of its African American population was free anyway.
However, after the Reconstruction period ended, Delaware was just as bad as states further south by passing Jim Crow laws, laws that essentially made blacks second-class citizens.
During the Gilded Age, Rhode Island became one of the richest states in the country.
Many of the robber barons had homes, and/or summer homes in the state.
Throughout the 20th century, both states became more and more similar, strangely enough.
Today, both states lean to the left politically, and reliably have voted for the Democratic Party for the past few decades, although Delaware has more conservatives.
Both have exactly three state forests. Exactly three.
The cost of living is generally pretty darn similar in both states. However, Delaware is famous for its low taxes.
Only one state has lower taxes than Delaware, and that’s Alaska.
Oh, and because Delaware has such low taxes, as well as very business-friendly laws, more than half of all publicly traded companies in the country are incorporated there.
There are more companies there than residents.
Meanwhile, Rhode Island has some of the HIGHEST taxes in the country.
Delaware residents tend to make more money than Rhode Island residents and the state has a much higher GDP.
However, the poverty rate is higher in Delaware. (RI-11.6%, D-13.6%).
Rhode Island has a higher minimum wage. (RI- 10.50 per hour, D- 8.75 per hour) Unemployment is nearly identical in both. (RI- 4.2%, D- 4%)
Residents in both states tend to be older on average compared with residents in most other states. (RI- 40.2, D- 40.6)
More residents in Rhode Island have at least a bachelor’s degree (RI-33.5%, D- 31.5%)
I'm not sure if these two specifically have bachelor's degrees. I'm just saying in general. Ok?
Delaware has much more crime. Well dad gomit Delaware, cut it out!
Residents of both states are mostly Christian, like the rest of the country, but the single largest denomination in both is Roman Catholic.
Heck, 42% of Rhode Island residents identify as Roman Catholic, which is the highest percentage of any state in the country.
Let’s see, other random facts? I’m a big fan of the Farrelly brothers, and they are from Rhode Island, which is why three of their films are based there.
Seth MacFarlane set Family Guy in Rhode Island likely because he went to school in the state.
Believe it or not, Bob Marley lived in Delaware off and on for several years.
It’s true. He worked for the Dupont Company and at the Chrysler assembly plant in Newark.
You're just jealous because you're not gonna be the first Dunphy to go to college.
Rhode Island residents seem to have a more distinct accent. It’s like a mix of New York City and Boston.
And those weird Rhode Islanders call drinking fountains bubblers (or bubahluh) and some even call milkshakes cabinets? Ok.
Delaware residents often divide themselves up into Northern Delaware and Slower Lower, split by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
Put very simply...north of the canal, you’re a city slicker who tends to vote for Democrats.
South of it, you’re country folk who tends to vote for Republicans.
Rhode Island was one of two states that rejected Prohibition. The other was Connecticut.
Delaware has the fastest internet speeds in the country.
In conclusion, don’t overlook these two states just because they’re small. They’ve got A LOT going on for them.
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So which is better? Rhode Island or Delaware?
Let me know in the comments.
Which two states should I compare next?
Thanks for watching.
Let's see, what else do I want to say?
I usually have some sort of script, but this time I'm just sort of winging it. (That's alright)
hahaha