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FREEPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY - “FREE TRADE AND SAILORS RIGHTS”

May 6, 2012

“Free Trade and Sailors Rights”—
Maine, Casco Bay &Freeport in the War of 1812
Illustrated Presentation

“Free Trade and Sailors Rights”— Maine, Casco Bay & Freeport in the

War of 1812, is the topic of an illustrated presentation by Dr. Joshua M. Smith.

taking place on Sunday, May 6th at 1:30pm at 45 Main Street. The public is invited to this fascinating look at the impact of this devastating conflict, in this, its bicentennial year. The event is sponsored by Freeport Historical Society.

The program’s title, in part, refers to a rallying cry of the war (“Free Trade & Sailors Rights”) in what was seen as unjust taxation and illegal impressment of American sailors and merchants by the British.

The War of 1812 was the catalyst for statehood in 1820, yet few Mainers understand the hardships the war brought to the region. Harassment by British warships, government trade regulations and high taxes, and of course the death or maiming of those who served their country. In this presentation, award-winning historian Josh Smith explores the personal stories of Mainers
caught in a war they did not want, focusing on Casco Bay and Freeport, a coastal region where smugglers, privateers, and naval vessels engaged in a shadowy conflict on the foggy waters, never sure who was friend and who was foe.

Dr. Joshua M. Smith is an Associate Professor of Humanities and Interim Coordinator of the American Merchant Marine Museum at the US Merchant Marine Academy.

Among other publications, he is author of Borderland Smuggling: Patriots, Loyalists, and Illicit Trade in the Northeast, 1783-1820.

This presentation is funded, in part, by the Maine Humanities Council.

Tickets are $5.00 FHS Members, free


FMI: www.freeporthistoricalsociety.org or call us at 207.865-3170