Educational Resources

This space is intended by the filmmakers to serve as a supplementary resource for academics and teachers of all levels. Here you will find original documentary evidence and testimonials about the various issues raised by the documentary.

• The life of William J. Brown, of Providence, R.I.; with personal recollections of incidents in Rhode Island digital e-book transcription at Internet Archive. This memoir, written by a free African-American grandson of a slave, gives an accounting of the history of race relations in Rhode Island dating back to the American Revolution. His grandfather was owned by Moses Brown, and the grandson provides an accounting of various dealings over the decades with the Browns that is in stark contrast with the popular heroic portrayal of Moses Brown as a great abolitionist.
• An article on Aaron Briggs published in The Bridge newspaper by Dr. Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Rhode Island College.
  • The Gaspee Historical Archives web-page about Aaron Briggs. The Gaspee Days Committee recognizes Aaron Briggs (or Biggs) as one who took part, willingly or unwillingly, in the attack on the HMS Gaspee in June of 1772.
• A timeline of American Slavery, particularly in New England history, and historic instances in ethnic relations in Rhode Island after the Civil War, compiled by Dr. Richard Lobban, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Rhode Island College, and former head of Education at the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society.
• An excerpt from Prof. Gerald Horne's book THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION OF 1776: SLAVE RESISTANCE AND THE ORIGINS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Horne argues that the American Revolution was in fact a war of opposition to British abolitionist efforts to outlaw slavery in the British empire.
• Michel Montaigne is considered the first Western writer to create the non-fiction writing style we would now call 'editorial essays' or 'opinion pieces', and Dr. Harold Bloom of Yale ranks him as central to the Western Canon of literature. His work Of Cannibals, published in 1580, is a unique protest for the era because it condemns the exploitation and enslaving of peoples from America and Africa. While certainly problematic in many regards, it does bear certain relevance to the history of the American Abolitionist movement, both for the content of its argument but also for the reason that the author was himself a member of high social standing at the time of publication, whereas Quakers were considered religious radicals.
• A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies by Bartoleme de Las Casas, a Dominican friar who sailed with Columbus and was an eyewitness to the enslavement of the Arawak peoples. de Las Casas was disturbed and sickened by the behavior of the Spanish, and he could be considered perhaps one of the earliest Abolitionists in America.
• 1688 Petition Against Slavery, issued by Germantown Quakers, this is a key document in the history of the Abolitionist movement in America.
• An article on Slavery and Native Americans in New England, from 1600 to 1865, by Tony Seybert.
• Providence Journal 2002 article on installation of Black Heritage plaque at John Brown House.
• John Brown House pamphlet dealing with slavery in history of the building.
• Economics of slavery diagram.
• Brown University's report on the issue of Slavery and the Brown infrastructure. While living mere feet from meetings regarding the historical exegesis of this question, Dr. Ruth Simmons never met with either of the Lobbans about these topics, despite the fact they were scholars with the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society for several decades.
• The Rhode Island Black Heritage Society.
• The Sudan Studies Association, dedicated to scholarship regarding Western Africa and sub-Nilotic society. A major component to the Triangle Trade was the history of slavery in Africa, and how ethnic and social biases created a system of human selling that spanned the width and breadth of the continent. Khartoum, in modern Sudan, was perhaps one of the most important eastern ports for slave sales, and understanding this important region led the Lobbans to a greater understanding of Rhode Island also.
• Race and Racism by Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, an introductory text about issues regards race, ethnicity, and discrimination, the text is written for college-level classes but is quite readable and should be quite accessible for high school aged students interested in the study of sociology and the history of race relations in the West.
• Sons of Providence by Charles Rappleye is a history of the links between the Browns and the slave trade, including a chapter about the Gaspee attack (no mention of Aaron Briggs in here, either). While certainly worthwhile for its new translations of letters originally written in Old Colonial English, it has some weak spots.
• The Mayflower Papers, a supplementary text collection edited by Nathaniel Philbrick and meant as a companion to the editor's own history of Plymouth Colony, this book features several accounts of the Indian Wars in New England and slavery during the pre-Revolutionary era.
• MLA Style Guide by the Purdue University On-Line Writing Lab.

NOTICE: NEITHER THE FILM MAKERS NOR PRODUCERS CLAIM ANY AFFILIATION OR REPRESENTATION OF ANY GROUP, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITTEE, OR OTHER BODY RELATED IN ANY FASHION TO PAWTUXET VILLAGE OR THE HMS GASPEE ATTACK. ALL VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE INTERVIEW SUBJECTS IN THE FILM, AND BELIEVING OTHERWISE WILL BE CONSIDERED A THOUGHT CRIME PUNISHABLE BY DETENTION AND RE-EDUCATION IN ROOM 101.