The Unrighteous Traffick: Slavery in Rhode Island

The Providence Journal is publishing a series on the place that slavery holds in RI history, calle The Unrighteous Traffick. The index to the text of the series can be found here (here's part 1 and part 2 with 5 more to follow). (There is also a multimedia presentation that can be found at the "front page" of the ProJo website). I suspect that most Americans don't associate Rhode Island and slavery, but as a vital link in the Triangular Trade, RI certainly played it's part. Newport came of age during this time and was one of the hubs of the trade. How could a colony found on the ideals of religious freedom as espoused by such as Roger Williams or Anne Hutchinson simultaneously encourage and profit from chattel slavery? I suspect the series will help answer some of these questions.