Where:
Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boyleston St
Boston, MA 02215
Admission:
$10
Categories:
History, Lectures & Conferences, Virtual
Event website:
https://www.masshist.org/events/rebels-sea-privateering-american-revolution
This is a hybrid event. In person, $10 per person fee, no charge for MHS Members, EBT Cardholders, or virtual guests. The in-person reception starts at 5:30 and the program will begin at 6:00.
In Rebels at Sea, author Eric Jay Dolin posits that privateers were critical to the American victory in the Revolution: diverting critical British resources to protecting their shipping, playing a key role in bringing France into the war on the side of the Contientals, providing much-needed supplies at home, rushing to fill the gaps of a young Continental Navy of about sixty ships, and bolstering the new nation’s confidence that it might actually defeat the most powerful military force in the world. Creating an entirely new pantheon of Revolutionary heroes, Dolin reclaims forgotten privateersmen such as Captain Jonathan Haraden and Offin Boardman, putting their sacrifices, and exploits, at the very center of the conflict.