2320 UNITED STATES (Rhode Island) - Rhode Island map

Rhode Island, officially the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is located in New England region, and is bordered by Connecticut, Massachusetts, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is the smallest in area, the eighth least populous, and the second most densely populated (behind New Jersey) of the 50 U.S. states. It is only 60km wide and 77km long, yet has a tidal shoreline on Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic Ocean of 618km, reason why it is nicknamed the Ocean State. 

The state is mostly flat with no real mountains, and the state's highest natural point is Jerimoth Hill (247m). Narragansett Bay is a major feature of the state's topography. Within the Bay, there are over 30 islands, the largest being Aquidneck, Conanicut, and Prudence. A rare type of rock called Cumberlandite, found only in Rhode Island (specifically in the town of Cumberland), is the state rock. The capital and the largest city is Providence, one of the oldest cities in the US (founded in 1636).

Indian inhabitants, including the Wampanoag, Narragansett, and Niantic tribes, occupied most of the area now known as Rhode Island, but the majority were killed by diseases contracted through contact with French settlers, and through warfare with the Europeans. In 1636, Roger Williams, after being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious views, settled at the tip of Narragansett Bay. In 1644, Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport united for their common independence as the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

During King Philip's War (1675–1676), a force of european setllers had massacred the Indians. Slaves were introduced, and the colony later prospered under the slave trade, distilling rum to sell in Africa as part of a profitable triangular trade in slaves and sugar with the Caribbean. On May 4, 1776, Rhode Island became the first of the Thirteen Colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, and later, was the fourth to ratify the Articles of Confederation between the newly sovereign states.

On the other hand, it boycotted the 1787 convention that drew up the United States Constitution, and initially refused to ratify it. On May 29, 1790, Rhode Island became the thirteenth and last state to ratify the Constitution. It was heavily involved in the slave trade during the post-revolution era, its merchants controlling between 60% and 90% of the American trade of African slaves. In addition, it was also heavily involved in the Industrial Revolution.

During the American Civil War, Rhode Island was the first Union state to send troops in response to President Lincoln's request for help from the states, and in 1866 abolished racial segregation in the public schools throughout the state. After the WWI, the state was hit hard by the Spanish Influenza. In the 1920s and 1930s, rural Rhode Island saw a surge in Ku Klux Klan membership. Since the Great Depression, the Rhode Island Democratic Party has dominated local politics.

Rhode Island has one of the highest percentage of Roman Catholic in the nation mainly due to large Irish, Italian, and French Canadian immigration in the past; recently, significant Portuguese and various Hispanic communities have also been established in the state. The Jewish community is centered in the Providence area, and emerged during a wave of Jewish immigration (predominately from the Shtetl between 1880 and 1920).

About the stamps
The first stamp is part of the series Spectrum Eagle, designed by Ethel Kessler (after an illustration by Michael Osborne) and issued on January 3, 2012. These Presorted First-Class Mail stamps celebrates the grandeur of the bald eagle, adopted on June 20, 1782, as America’s national symbol. The eagle’s powerful profile is depicted in white set boldly against a sequence of six varying shades of reds, yellows, greens, and blues. Each color subtly blends with the one following, resulting in a gradual spectrum from left to right across six stamps.
• red - It's on the postcard 2320
• yellow
• green 1
• green 1
• blues
• purple 

About the second stamp, featuring a portrait of George Washington, I wrote here. About the last stamp, The Star-Spangled Banner, I wrote here.

References
Rhode Island - Wikipedia

Sender: Denise
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 04.03.2014