Rhode Island was the first colony to renounce allegiance to Great Britain during the independence movement.
The Rhode Island legislature formally ended its allegiance to the British Crown on May 4, 1776. This occurred before the Continental Congress passed the Lee Resolution on July 2 and before Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4.
The event should not be confused with the first colony to authorize its congressional delegates to vote for independence. That distinction belongs to North Carolina, whose Halifax Resolves were adopted on April 12, 1776. Different colonies took different kinds of pro-independence actions at different times.
Rhode Island’s earlier break reflected the colony’s strong resistance to British authority. Its action helped demonstrate that separation was already being pursued by individual colonies before Congress made independence a united national declaration.