Pirates!!
(1/8 credit in English or social studies)
(information and tasks adapted from Highwired)
When the word "pirate" is mentioned, I think of a fierce, mean, downright evil band of guys in tattered clothes and eye-patches attacking any ship that accidentally came near.
In reality, though, the government often used pirates to cause trade disruption in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. That time was called the "Golden Age" of piracy. The pirate ships weren't always under the control of cut-throat captains but were often run by middle-class merchants in New England looking for ways to get around England's trade laws.
Pirates were so important to the American economy during the Revolutionary War that Congress recruited some of the 10,000 Americans who were involved in piracy to act as the US Navy! Britain had refused to let American colonists build a navy, so when the War started, America had no ships or sea captains at all!
Both the English and the Spanish governments also used pirates around the Caribbean islands to help them out in the wars between England and Spain. Recruiting a pirate and his boat were easier than training men and building boats!
In this project, you'll learn more about the reality of pirating in the Americas
and the role of pirates in the history and economy of the New World.
THE PROCESS: You'll need to type and turn in the answers to several questions.
Those questions appear here, but you'll need to go searching for information on
the Internet. These will be short answer questions, but do NOT "copy and
paste" off the Internet. Write the answers in your own words! Type them, of
course, and don't forget the spell and grammar check step! The search places
appear below the questions. There is a final project below that.
1. What British law encouraged North American merchants to commission
pirate ships and journeys?
2. When did Britain pass a law to stop the colonists from working with
pirates?
3. What's the difference between a pirate and a privateer?
4. Why were the Americas such fertile ground for pirates?
5. How were pirate crews paid?
6. Name three wars involving England that influenced the Americas pirate
trade.
7. Who was Esek Hopkins?
8. Who captained the Whydah, and how did he become famous?
9. Where was New Providence, and what was its role in pirate history?
10. Who was Henry Morgan?
Go to Tanuja Goulet's Pirates, Privateers, Buccaneers page for a history
of American piracy ~ just click the link!
Then go to Pirate
Ghosts at the Discovery Channel online for histories of
two famous pirate ships that were recently recovered.
Go to the Treasures of Expedition Whydah
to learn more about this shipwreck and what it reveals.
Go to Pirates! Fact and
Legend; click on Fact, then on Pirate Facts under "Information about pirate lifestyles, habits, activities,
and other related information" for a pirate reality check
See a section of The American Revolution Homepage
for information on the role of the pirate in the War
FINAL PROJECT!!
Using HotPotatoes software or a word processing program, create a multiple choice quiz about this lesson with at least 20 questions. Each question must have four possible answers, all of which are reasonable. HotPotatoes software builds in its own key, but if you use a word processing program, you must also provide a separate answer key.
benchmarks: 138, 140, 142, 143, 145, 146, 153, 154, 157, 158, 163, 164, 176, 177, 178, 179, 365, 369, 375, 388,
