 The colony was amalgamated into the Dominion of New England in 1686, as King James II attempted to enforce royal authority over the autonomous colonies in British North America, but the colony regained its independence under the Royal Charter after the Glorious Revolution of 1688.Slaves were introduced in Rhode Island at this time, although there is no record of any law legalizing slave-holding.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.Rhode Island's legislative body passed an act in 1652 abolishing the holding of slaves (the first British colony to do so), but this edict was never enforced, and the proportion of enslaved Blacks exceeded 6% of the colony's population by 1800 (nearly twice the ratio of other New England colonies).