Lecture: Rum and Slavery: The Evil Twins that Fueled the Rise of Rhode Island as a Colonial Maritime Power
Historic Hale House 2625 Commodore Perry Hwy, South Kingstown, RI, United StatesIn the 1700s, the colony of Rhode Island dominated the North American slave trade, bringing more than 100,000 captives from Africa to the Americas. Most were obtained in exchange for rum distilled in New England from molasses, a byproduct of the refinement of sugar grown by enslaved Africans in the West Indies. Over thirty distilleries … Continued