What, exactly, was a pirate? Did pirates really have pet parrots? Did they bury their treasure? Just how much did pirates drink? And did they really talk like pirates–you know, saying “arrgh!” all the time? In this fun and educational presentation, Dr. David Head answers these and other Frequently Arrgh-st Questions about the real history of everyone’s favorite maritime rogues.

The golden age of piracy—the time when notorious cutthroats like Blackbeard, Sam Bellamy, and Bartholomew Roberts sailed—began in Florida with a shipwreck. Caught by a hurricane, the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet sank in the Florida Straits. When a salvage operation began, British pirates from Jamaica swooped in and robbed the Spanish on the beach. This program examines the wave of piracy that followed and how it provided inspiration for countless works of fiction and shaped modern day ideas of pirates.

As 13 of Britain’s colonies declared independence in 1776, the empire’s Florida colonies, East Florida and West Florida, remained loyal to King George. Eyed by American and Spanish forces alike, the Floridas were soon engulfed in war. This lecture tells the often-overlooked story of Florida in the War of Independence.

This presentation tells the story of the Newburgh Conspiracy, a mysterious event at the end of the American Revolution in which Continental Army officers, disgruntled by a lack of pay and pensions, may have collaborated with nationalist-minded politicians such as Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Robert Morris to pressure Congress and the states to approve new taxes and strengthen the central government. Fearing what his men might do with their passions inflamed, Washington averted the crisis with an impassioned speech to a group of angry officers and an unexpected gesture: donning new glasses. Why the army and civilians were so suspicious of each other throughout the American Revolution will be explored, as will whether there was really a coup in motion to supplant Washington’s command. How Washington, a man of action, diffused the crisis with his words and his reputation for virtue and why demobilizing an army is so difficult even when a war ends in victory will also be examined.