colony's local history, including the scuttling, dismasting, and torching of the British custom ship Liberty in Newport on July 19,
1769 and the boarding and burning of the schooner and British revenue ship Gaspee on June 9, 1772 off Pawtuxet Village. This
incident including the shooting of the Captain of that vessel, one Captain Dudingston who become the first Englishman to shed
blood in what would become the American Revolution. The captain and his crew were captured and removed to Pawtuxet and
the vessel was burned to the waterline whereupon the powder magazine exploded. We also had our own "tea party" in March
1775 (before the more famous one in Boston) and our colonial legislature declared its independence from the British Crown on
May 4, 1776 ... two full months before the delagates in Philadelphia signed the declaration of independence. I call to your
attention several links for those interested in more information concerning the burning of the Gaspee and the Liberty.
http://gaspee.org/ is particularly extensive, with links to many original documents of the period as well as illustrations of the event
such as the one below. The site even includes the British reward offers for information leading to the apprehension of the
perpetrator's of these deeds and the official reports submitted by the colonial governor to the British Admiraty Courts. British
investigations were unsuccessful in bringing any of the rebels to justice.
Other links to interesting documents and illustrations of the period:
http://gaspee.org/Brownell7a.jpg
http://gaspee.org/gasbur7.gif
http://gaspee.org/Wanton.gif
http://gaspee.org/GeorgeIII.gif http://gaspee.org/GeorgeIIItext.htm
http://gaspee.org/CommissionersReport.htm
http://gaspee.org/HorsmandenReport.htm
joels@ids.net