Answer:
The slave trade made them rich.
I believe that slavery itself is a negative thing in all aspects.
Explanation:
Rhode Island was one of the points of the triangular trade, a practice where the Thirteen Colonies trade with Africa and the Antilles. So, slavery was commonplace in the 17th century, and Rhode Island had the major slave population among the colonies. This created a society strictly based on the slavery practices, to maintain the farms and the cottage plantations. In any case, the slave trade was profitable, and the practice itself, as well as the treatment with the captives, were something bad at all.
