State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations to Change Name to RI?

[jimotis4heisman]

Plan to change RI state name advances | General Assembly | projo.com | The Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE -- After one of the most earnest debates of the session thus far, the House late Thursday approved scheduling a referendum on whether to change Rhode Island's formal name from State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations to simply Rhode Island.
If approved by the Senate, the question will be on the November 2010 ballot.
"This bill is just what it is, a question," said its sponsor, Joseph Almeida, D-Providence, one of several lawmakers who have pushed for the referendum question for more than a decade. A name change, he said, would erase a word that recalls the centuries of slavery.

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R.I. may vote on striking ‘plantations’ from state’s name | Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal

Voters next year may have the opportunity to do something that African-American legislators have been unable to accomplish for decades: strike the phrase ?and Providence Plantations? from the state?s name.
In actions Thursday and Friday that some described as historic, the House and then the Senate voted overwhelmingly to send to voters in November 2010 a constitutional amendment that would rename the state simply ?Rhode Island.?
It?s not quite a done deal yet. Even though two identical bills were passed, one of them must be approved by both sides of the legislature. Senate leaders say they plan to meet again this week, so the Senate will have an opportunity to pass the House bill. House leaders were less specific about when they will meet again saying only that they will come back briefly in July. So that would give them a crack at the Senate bill and provide two possible paths for the question to go to referendum.
The sponsors sounded confident that the voters will finally be able to weigh in on changing the state?s name ? a debate that never before even reached the full House, despite years of efforts by several legislators.
Governor Carcieri does not support the name change, according to spokeswoman Amy Kempe. His argument is similar to those voiced by the handful of legislative opponents. When plantations became part of the state?s name in the 1600s, the word referred to the expanse of settled land in the state. It had nothing to do with the farms cultivated by slaves.
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[buckiprof]

What is the point of this thread?

[jimotis4heisman]

Originally Posted by buckiprof

What is the point of this thread?

a state is changing its name. relatively big political event, no?

[Jake]

I'm thinking of relocating to Rhode Island. Any state where something like this rises to the top of the legislature's "to do" list must be a great place to reside, free of the issues facing the rest of us today.

[OSUsushichic]

I'm wondering what percentage of the U.S. population even knows that State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is the name of the state anyway. 5% maybe?

[buckiprof]

Originally Posted by jimotis4heisman

a state is changing its name. relatively big political event, no?

I was on my way out earlier and couldn't be more precise and probably shouldn't have posted until I could have added more.

First, to answer your question, this type of change is, to me, not a big deal at all. Seriously, how many people know what the formal name for Rhode Island is? My guess is that percentage is damn small, maybe smaller than sushi's estimate. No matter how small or large the percentage is, this isn't a drastic name change. Kentucky or Commonwealth of Kentucky? Not a big deal. Now if a state decides to make a true significant name change, like say for example Utah changing its name to Smithsylvania, well that would probably interest the majority of the country.

Second, and more directly to my original post, I asked that question in my original post since there was no comment in the post that started this thread. BrutuStrength has stickied an announcement on guidelines pertaining to linking articles here that didn't adhere to his first item on the list.

Not trying to be a dick about it, but my post was more along the lines of "What is the point of this thread? Is it major news that some state is thinking of making a cosmetic change to its formal name that the vast majority don't even know? Or is it more along the lines of Jake's post that we all need to live in a state where this is at the top of the legislature's "to do" list since they don't have any of the problems the other 49 states are facing?" Or was there another reason why it was started? Agian, not being a dick, simply didn't know what the intent was.

Which brings me to Brutus' stickied announcement. A little commentary would have indicated why this thread was started and helped my poor sun baked brain.

[Deety]

THE State of Rhode Island would sound better.

[Best Buckeye]