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The Burning of the Gaspee

A Presentation of the Gaspee Days Committee

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v1.2004Elementary

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• Rhode Island back in 1772

• The attack on the British ship, Gaspee

• And what led to….

This show talks about --

INDEPENDENCE.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• Rhode Island became a Colony of Great Britain in 1636.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• By 1772, people of Rhode Island were used to doing things their own way.

• They did not like to pay taxes to the British King.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• Rhode Island people would buy and sell things that were sent by ships.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• Many people in Rhode Island tried to avoid paying taxes on these things they bought and sold.

• They would try to sneak past tax collectors.

• This is called smuggling.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• The Gaspee was a British ship sent to Rhode Island to stop smuggling.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• The crew of the Gaspee, stopped and searched all boats and ships to make sure no one smuggled.

• This made people in Rhode Island mad.

• They made a plan to get rid of the Gaspee.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• On June 9th, 1772, a ship named the Hannah, sailed from the town of Newport and headed for Providence.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• The Gaspee demanded that the ship stop to be searched.

• But the Hannah didn’t stop, so the Gaspee chased it up the bay to Namquid Point -- a place now called Gaspee Point.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• Here are maps of the chase:

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• The ships sailed up until the Gaspee ran over a sand bar and got stuck.

• The crew of the Hannah laughed at the Gaspee, and sailed on to the city of Providence.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• A drummer was sent into the streets to ask people of Providence to join in a raid on the Gaspee.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• That night a large crowd of men met to plan to attack the Gaspee.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• The men got into eight big rowboats and rowed down the river.

• The Gaspee was still stuck on the sand bar.

• After midnight, they attacked the Gaspee.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• Then men in the rowboats scrambled on board the Gaspee

• They captured the crew of the Gaspee and kept them prisoners on the shore.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• Then they set fire to the Gaspee.

• The fire soon caused a loud explosion that blew the Gaspee to bits.

©Karl Doerflinger

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• The rowboats then went back to Providence.

• The British were very mad about the loss of their ship.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• The King offered a big reward to tell them who did it.

• But Rhode Island people wouldn’t tell.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• The British then set up a their own court to demand answers to who burned the Gaspee.

• If they found out who was involved, the British court would then send them off to England to be hanged.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• This made Americans very mad because they wanted to keep their own courts.

• All British people had a right to a court that was close to their home.

• The British were trying to take that same right away from Americans.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• This made the Americans mad.

• The American Colonies began to write letters to each other.

• This got them to think alike.

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• They began to think they would like to make their own country.

• And later, they did just that --

The United States of America

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The Burning of the Gaspee

• The British never found out who destroyed the Gaspee.

• But it was America’s….

‘First Blow for Freedom’®

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The Burning of the Gaspee

For more stuff about the Gaspee visit the Gaspee Virtual Archives at:

www.gaspee.org

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The Burning of the Gaspee

written and directed by

Dr. John Concannon

“Royal American Medley”

background music courtesy of

The Old Guard Fife & Drum CorpsFort Myer, Virginia

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The Burning of the Gaspee

This Program was Produced by the

Gaspee Days CommitteeApril, 2004

Program ©Gaspee Days Committee

Text only is public domain material and may be freely distributed.

Copyrights may apply to graphic

and audio material.Home