"Privateers of the Americas"

Two hundred years ago, in the summer of 1817, a group of pirates and privateers invaded Amelia Island, then still a Spanish colony, in hopes of striking a blow for the Spanish American Revolutions. Drawn from his book Privateers of the Americas, Dr. Head’s presentation will tell the stories of these revolutionary rogues and their leaders, Gregor MacGregor and Louis-Michel Aury, how they planned to free Florida from Spanish rule, and how the United States intervened to chase them away.

Dr. David Head teaches history at the University of Central Florida.