Pirates in Rhode Island

Yesterday evening, we attended a lecture at the East Providence public library on the history of pirates and privateers in Rhode Island. It was mildly informative and entertaining. One thing I learned is how democratic pirate ships were. The crews signed a contract, agreed on how to share the spoils, voted for the captain. Only during actual combat did the captain become the dictator. The crews were multiracial and multiethnic. In some respects, this resembled whaling ships at the time.

The presenter was a local* middle school teacher. During the Q&A, one audience member asked the teacher if Rhode Island history was taught at his middle school. He replied that it wasn't. I remarked to Linda that Rhode Island history wasn't taught at our junior high, either. Indeed, if you'd asked me back then to name the 50 states, I'm not sure I would have even remembered Rhode Island.

*I suppose you might say that everything in Rhode Island is "local" since the state is so tiny

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