Session 7: “A New Birth of Freedom: Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and the Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877,” taught by Dr. Peter Ferdinando
July 13 and 15; July 20 and 22
10am – 12pm

The Caribbean had successive waves of raiders, from privateers like Francis Drake and Piet Heyn to buccaneers like Henry Morgan and, of course, Blackbeard, Mary Read, Anne Bonny, and other out-and-out pirates. These men and women were famous in their own times. Their exploits appeared in numerous published accounts that became best sellers of the day and are important primary source evidence for historians. Those same exploits remain hugely popular today, now mixed in with dashes of Hollywood fiction and pinches of Disney magic. From the gripping voyage of Jim Hawkins and the animated adventures of Peter Pan to a thrilling ride through the Pirates of the Caribbean, encounters with pirates are prominent in popular culture. This class will take you through the history of Caribbean privateers, buccaneers, and pirates while at the same time sprinkling in that popular culture from then and now. Whether you cheered or booed Long John Silver, Captain Hook, and Captain Jack Sparrow, this class is for you. Watch ya step as you board the boat and ye be warned that you may get a little wet!

Meet your instructor: Peter J. Ferdinando is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He studies the history of the maritime Atlantic, especially the interaction of Europeans and Native Americans in the waters of Florida and the Caribbean. His current book project, “Rich from the Sea”: Indigenous Wrecking and Maritime Trade in the Atlantic World, examines how Florida’s Native Americans adapted their existing maritime skills as an effective strategy to exploit the Spanish, French, English, and Dutch vessels dashed on the rocks and reefs during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.