 Rhode Island's tradition of independence and dissent gave it a prominent role in the American Revolution.At approximately 2 a.m. on June 10, 1772, a band of Providence residents attacked the grounded revenue schooner "Gaspee", burning it to the waterline for enforcing unpopular trade regulations within Narragansett Bay.Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown on May 4, 1776.