The 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Navy, from Britain’s Perspective with Professor Evan Wilson

Thursday, October 9th, 2025
Richard I. Burnham Resource Center | 82 Touro Street, Newport
Admission $15 – $20 per person | *Student Discounts now available $10 with valid student ID
6:30pm to 7:30pm; doors open at 5:30pm for a complimentary reception

We are taught as schoolchildren that the great achievement of American independence was defeating the most powerful empire and the most powerful navy in the world. Rhode Island was central to that effort, especially at sea, and the Newport Historical Society is right to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy. Yet telling the story of American independence from the American perspective is insufficient. This lecture will ask, what did the Continental Navy look like from the perspective of the supposedly all-powerful empire? It was small and scrappy, but how much of a threat did it pose? Did ministers in London think that interdicting American maritime operations would help them win the war? Or did they have other theories of victory? Only by examining how the British thought about the war, and how their thinking about the war changed over time, can we fully understand Rhode Island’s role in American naval history and American independence.