This ending is based loosely on Rhode Island Governor Stephen Hopkins. Actually from Providence, Hopkins wrote a pamphlet that critiqued the passage of the Sugar Act in 1764 (which can be read in full here). The pamphlet prompted a stinging public response by Newport lawyer Martin Howard, whose home was destroyed in Newport's Stamp Act riot. While Hopkins didn't participate in Newport's Stamp Act riot, several of Newport's elite citizens did. Hopkins went on to sign the Declaration of Independence and resigned from the Continental Congress in 1770. Many Newporters did move to Providence when Newport was occupied by the British army. As a Providence native, Hopkins lived there until his death in 1785.