Ask Chef Walter: How Federal Hill Got Its Name – Walter Potenza

Image: Provided by Walter Potenza

by Master Chef Walter Potenza, contributing writer

The Battle over an Ox Roast in downtown Providence

Friends:

In 1788, a makeshift army of angry farmers stormed into Providence, Rhode Island, and broke up a Fourth of July oxen roast at the base of a hill. That hill, thanks to the chaos, would later become known as Federal Hill. But to understand how a celebration turned into a riot—and how a hill got its name—we need to go back long before that skirmish.

Long before European settlers arrived, the local Native people called this place Nocabulabet, a name that beautifully captured its geography: “land above the river” or “land between the ancient waters.” Providence slowly grew up around that hill, and in the mid-19th century, Irish immigrants crowded into the neighborhood, followed by a wave of newcomers from Italy. Today, Federal Hill is the heart of Providence’s Little Italy, famous for its lively streets and endless restaurant choices. But in 1788, things were anything but festive.

That June, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, officially creating a framework for the new American government. Virginia followed just days later. The Constitution, as drafted by the former colonies that had become states, required approval from nine of them to take effect. As news spread that ten states had signed on, Federalists across the country rejoiced. In Rhode Island, the Fourth of July seemed like the perfect moment to celebrate the new Constitution.

There was just one problem: Rhode Island had not ratified it. Along with North Carolina, the state refused to join the new union. Rhode Island would not approve the Constitution until 1790, by which time its adoption was all but inevitable. In the meantime, Anti-Federalists held power through the dominant Country Party. They opposed the Constitution for many reasons, chiefly the loss of state independence to a strong central government. The party’s first leader, Jonathan J. Hazard of Charlestown had even kept Rhode Island from sending delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia back in 1787. Later, Arthur Fenner, another Country Party leader, won the governorship and served from 1790 to 1805.

Rhode Island’s economy after the Revolutionary War was in shambles. The state carried enormous war debts, partly because the British had occupied Newport and the rest of Aquidneck Island—along with Conanicut Island—from December 1776 to October 1779. Rhode Island had paid for three state regiments to guard against enemy attacks, plus militia regiments called up to dislodge the British from Newport or defend against raids. The tax burden fell mostly on farmers, who had lost their main market for surplus goods: the British Caribbean islands. With that outlet gone, the economy collapsed.

In response, the Country Party launched a radical plan: the state of Rhode Island would print its own money. Farmers could use this currency to pay off creditors. Almost immediately, the new bills lost value. Creditors, furious, tried to hide in their basements when debtors came calling, but under Rhode Island law, creditors had no choice but to accept the paper as full payment for debts. Leaders like John Adams condemned the scheme, arguing that printing money was dastardly behavior—something the new U.S. Constitution would forbid states from doing. Still, the plan worked surprisingly well for Rhode Island. In contrast, western Massachusetts saw indebted, angry farmers rise in Shays’ Rebellion.

As plans for the July 4, 1788, celebration took shape, one man decided he had seen enough. Retired Revolutionary War general William West had commanded the Rhode Island militia during the failed American attempt to capture the British garrison in Newport in August 1778. By 1788, West was a prosperous Scituate farmer, businessman, and judge on the state’s Supreme Court. He gathered an army of about a thousand farmers and marched on Providence. The Federalists had planned to read the Constitution aloud during an ox roast celebration at the base of Nocabulabet. But West and his makeshift army showed up to protest and shut down the festivities.

Parties from both sides met to resolve the standoff. They reached a tense compromise to prevent bloodshed: the Federalists agreed that the celebration would mark only the Fourth of July—they would not read the Constitution as planned. But the hill where the confrontation happened earned its name that day: Federal Hill, a reminder of the battle over the Constitution that had just erupted.

For more than two years afterward, the Country Party kept the Federalists at bay. They allied with many of Rhode Island’s Quakers, who opposed the federal Constitution because it allowed slavery. But the rest of the country pushed forward, dragging Rhode Island inexorably toward ratification. States that had not ratified were denied certain privileges, and businesses could not seek payment for war losses. As a final carrot, the federal government agreed to assume state debts if they were ratified.

In May 1790, Rhode Island’s constitutional convention convened. Leaders in Providence threatened to secede from the state if the convention failed to ratify. Finally, the Federalists won, and Rhode Island approved the Constitution. By then, many debtors had already paid off their debts with the state’s depreciated paper money—though not everyone was so lucky.

For West and other Anti-Federalists, opposition to the new Constitution would prove costly. The new federal government devalued state-issued currency, allowing it to be exchanged for new government treasury bonds at a rate of just one percent of face value. West tried to pay off mortgages on his Scituate farm with Continental dollars, but he failed because of a procedural problem with his appeal. The very first decision ever made by the U.S. Supreme Court denied his attempt to use Continental currency. That ruling doomed West to bankruptcy, followed by a short stay in debtor’s prison. He died in relative poverty in 1816, a forgotten general on the hill that still bore the name of the Constitution he had fought against. [Walter Potenza]

1 This writing has been redacted from the original article by Leslie Landrigan.

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Meet Chef Walter!

There is a constant, recognizable thread in the career of Walter Potenza to elevate the level of Italian culinary culture in the United States. Besides his unquestionable culinary talent and winning business perspective, Chef Walter has been a relentless educator with passion and knowledge who defeats stereotypes. His life, career, and values are a model, an example to follow by any chef of Italian gastronomy working outside Italy.

Chef Walter appears regularly on National and International Networks such as Food Network, ABC, CBS, NBC, RAI, FOX, and Publications such as NY. Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, Saveur, Gourmet, and several Italian media outlets.   And now – RINewsToday!