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Gallery 1: Introductory Theater An informative video introduces the themes of the exhibit: pirates and their ships, the Caribbean as an economic center, slave trade, and life on-board ships and on plantations.

Gallery 2: The Bell Gallery The Whydahs bell was a significant find, definitive proof that Barry Clifford had located the shipwreck.

Gallery 3: The Caribbean We enter a tavern and meet the pirates, hear their music, and read their Articles of conduct. A map shows the trade routes centered in the Caribbean.

Gallery 4: The Slave Ship Whydah The Whydah is shown loading captives and then traveling the Middle Passage from Africa to the Caribbean. A video describes the slave trade.

THE WHYDAH From Slave Ship to Pirate Ship

The Whydah Galley was launched in London in 1715. She was designed as a slave ship, and represented the latest technology of the day. Equipped with the most up-to-date weapons, she was fast and easy to maneuver, essential qualities if she were to cross the Middle Passage as quickly as possible to minimize the loss of human cargo. She had a three-masted sailing rig, but was also fitted out for rowing. The lower decks could hold hundreds of captives and had large galleys with provisions to feed them. All of these featuressize, speed, weaponrymade slave ships very attractive to pirates. In time, pirates would turn their attention to the lucrative slave trade, attacking slaving ships off the West African coast. It was this that eventually led to the pirates downfall. The navies of the European powers sought to exterminate them. But we are getting ahead of our story. After leaving London, the Whydah sailed to the west coast of Africa, trading goods for a total of 367 captives. Of these, 312 survived the Middle Passage and were sold at the slave market in Jamaica. Weighted down now with valuable cargo, the ship made sail for England. But she was never to reach her home port.

BACKGROUND
THE CARIBBEAN IN THE EARLY 18TH CENTURY
The Caribbean was once the economic powerhouse of the Atlantic world. Ships laden with rich cargo traveled the high seas on trade routes that linked Europe, Africa, and North and South America in the complex webs of an economy fundamentally driven by slavery. Lets trace one common trade route. A ship on the first leg of its journey, from Europe to Africa, would be loaded with manufactured goods such as firearms, cloth, liquor, iron, beads, and tools. It would work its way down the west coast of Africa, trading manufactured goods for human captives and also for gold and ivory. When fully loaded with human cargo, the ship would set out on the next leg of its journey, the infamous Middle Passage, sailing across the Atlantic from Africa to the Caribbean slave markets. Crammed into the stinking hold for two to three months, the captives endured heat, malnutrition, disease, and emotional trauma. Those that survived were sold as slaves, and the ship took on new cargo, products from the plantations in the Caribbean and South America destined for European markets. With the use of unpaid slave labor, these vast plantations were able to produce huge quantities of sugar, tobacco, and coffee for export at enormous profits. There was other trade too. Gold and silver mined by Indians under slave conditions was shipped from South America to Spain. Rum from the North American colonies was smuggled illegally into the Caribbean. With all this treasure on the open seas, is it any wonder that pirates took advantage?

CAPTURED BY PIRATES
In February of 1717, Sam Bellamy, captain of the pirate ship Sultana, spied the Whydah while she was still in Bahamian waters. Hoisting the Jolly Roger, he gave chase for

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Gallery 5: Capturing the Whydah Weaponry fills the gallery cannon, swords, pistols, grenades. Four banners show the featured pirates, and two murals depict pirate attacks.

Gallery 6: Entering the Whydah Climb onboard this large scale replica of the Whydahs hull. She is at dock in the Caribbean on a moonlit night.

Gallery 7: The Captains Cabin Here is a close-up look at Captain Bellamys quarters. After a series of spectacular raids, he is shown examining his charts to set his course for Cape Cod and home.

Gallery 8: Below Decks In this glimpse of pirate life, we see a surgeon sawing off a leg; a sailor asleep in his hammock; the quartermaster recording the booty; and the carpenter dismantling the slave quarters.

three days nonstop. When Captain Lawrence Prince realized capture was inevitable, he lowered his colors and his sails, and surrendered the Whydah without a fight. The pirates lost no time in transferring their loot from the Sultana onto their new prize. They quickly repositioned more weaponry, placing cannons both on the upper deck and below. To make the ship less top heavy, the pirates probably leveled the upper deck by clearing off cabins and other structures. Thus was a slave ship transformed into a pirate ship. As was their custom, the pirates invited the crew of the Whydah to join them. A few did, but those who declined were freed with Captain Prince to sail away, unharmed, on the Sultana. This may seem surprising, but there is much about the pirate way of life that runs counter to the modern stereotype, as we will soon see.

Bellamys Voyage
On a spectacular looting voyage through the Caribbean, Bellamy captured more than 50 prizes. Laden with bootyperhaps as much as 4.5 tons of treasurethe Whydah set course for New England, where legend says Bellamy intended to pick up his lady-love, Maria Hallett. But on April 26, 1717, a violent noreaster off the coast of Cape Cod sent the pirate ship to a watery grave where its treasures remained undiscovered for nearly 300 years.

were ruthless opportunists with nothing to loseexcept their lives. The penalty for piracy was hanging.

LIFE AT SEA Sailors, Seamen, and Pirates

This was the so-called Golden Age of Piracy, from about 1660 to 1730, a brief but action-packed period of history. Pirates were outlaws who pledged allegiance to no country and ravaged ships of all nations indiscriminately. They

Onboard Democracy
Yet these outlaws evolved a kind of seagoing democracy at a time when it was unknown in Europe and the colonies. Upon joining a pirate crew, new recruits signed the Ships Articles. They swore an oath of loyalty and agreed to a code of conduct. In return, they were given an equal vote in electing

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Gallery 9: The Treasure Gallery A large, dramatic case holds a chest overflowing with coins, just some of the loot recovered from the Whydah. Around the gallery, more cases display featured coins.

Gallery 10: The Storm Gallery The visitor is surrounded by the violent storm that took down the Whydah, all but two of her crew, and her vast treasure.

Gallery 11: The Loss of the Whydah The ship has broken apart. Walking over a glass panel, visitors see contents of the Whydah strewn across the sandy ocean bottom off of Cape Cod.

Gallery 12: The Pirates Fate When captured, pirates faced trial and death by hanging. A full-size replica of a gibbet where their bodies were left to rot as a warning to others, hangs menacingly in the room.

the ships officers, an almost equal share of the loot (the captain and quartermaster got a larger share), and compensation for injuries or loss of limbs. By contrast, on merchant and naval vessels, there was a strict hierarchical order and pitifully low wages. To an international crew consisting of blacks, whites, and Indians, these were the rights and privileges unheard of at sea or on land. It is no wonder that many willingly signed on. The pirates also created onboard living conditions far superior to those on merchant or naval ships. Because they had crews of as many as a couple of hundred, the workload was lighter than on merchant ships which typically were worked by only 1215 men. On a merchant ship, food and clean water were in short supply and diseases caused by malnutrition were rampant. The officers fared much better than the crew, however. On a pirate ship, everyone ate and drank equally. With frequent raids to restock supplies and with more leisure time to catch fresh food, the pirates ate (and drank) well.

during World War II, adding even more debris to the seabed. Barry Clifford is not put off by challenges. He had been fascinated by the tale of the Whydah since childhood, and in 1983 began searching for the wreck. It was not until 1985 that he brought up incontrovertible evidence that the wreck was indeed the Whydahher bell.

Technology and Conservation

The recovery process has required the use of some high-tech equipment, such as lasers, CT scans, x-rays, a proton precision magnetometer, and diving gear. The work is painstaking, and like an archaeological dig, the area is divided into grids. Clifford and his crew investigate one square at a time and carefully record their findings. They have also been careful to conserve what they recover. Metal objects such as cannons and coins, for example, are encrusted in concretions, formations that occur over time when metal disintegrates and combines with sea salts to make a concretelike mass. Concretions preserve the artifacts as long as they are kept wet. Further conservation requires a long process called electrolytic reduction to break down the salts without damaging the artifacts. The Whydah is the first authenticated pirate shipwreck ever found. Barry Clifford and his team continue making new discoveries. Their dedication has provided us with a window into the past, a glimpse of the little known life aboard ship in the Golden Age of Piracy. As Clifford said, Its not what you find, its what you find out.

THE RECOVERY OF THE WRECK OF THE WHYDAH

Pounded by 40-foot waves, the Whydah ran aground, and was battered to bits. This kind of exploded wreck is very difficult to recover. In addition, the sea floor off of Cape Cod has a shifting sandy bottom, so the ship and its contents were not only scattered but also buried under 10 to 30 feet of sand. The area is treacherous and over 3,000 ships have gone down there in a 400-year period. The site was also used as a firing range

Gallery 13: Recovery/Discovery We learn how Barry Clifford spearheaded the discovery of the Whydah, and how his team is ensuring that artifacts are conserved. High-tech equipment essential to the process is shown.

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ACTIVITIES COME PREPARED

PRE-VISIT
Be ready for a rich and exciting experience that engages visitors from their very first step into the exhibit. Young visitors are especially enthralled, drawn to the authentic artifacts presented in a range of media. Try to build some flexibility into your planning to allow students to follow their own interests for at least part of the visit. The exhibit may be viewed from many different perspectives and thus lends itself naturally to interdisciplinary studies. You may want to decide on several focus points for your class, or you may prefer to let them range widely and absorb the concepts more broadly. Some of the content areas you will discover embedded in the exhibit include: geography, history, and social studies; science and technology; art and music; language arts; math and measurement. Students always get more out of a museum visit when they are prepared and know what to expect. You can generate enthusiasm by previewing some of the galleries using the map and illustrations provided, discussing major concepts, or examining some of the pictured artifacts with the class. Please see Pre-Visit Activities for suggestions. 1. Discuss the commodities traded between Europe, West Africa, the Caribbean, and North America in the early 1700s. Distribute copies of the insert map, Map of the World 1719. Ask students to draw these trade routes on the map. 2. Examine the artifacts pictured on the insert. Speculate on what they are, how they were used, the stories they might tell, and why there were important enough to be included in the exhibit. Set up a Treasure Hunt Activity to take place during the visit. Ask students to try to find all the artifacts and also to answer some of the questions about their usage, historical importance, and personal stories. 3. (Optional) Use the descriptions of the exhibition galleries to preview highlights of what the class will see. Show the students the website http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mission/realpirates/ and encourage them to explore the "Pirate and Slave Ship Features" section. 4. On the way into the exhibit, you will receive a copy of the Ships Articles (a code of conduct for pirates). If time, read and discuss the Articles before entering the exhibit.

DURING VISIT
1. Carry out the Treasure Hunt Activity. 2. Observe, critique, and appreciate the murals, photos, videos, music, and artifacts throughout the visit. 3. Focus on trade in the Caribbean. Trace the flow of goods, money, and human captives. Find out: What kinds of raw materials were shipped, from where to where? What kinds of manufactured goods were shipped? What were they traded for? Who were the slaves? What were the conditions on board a slave ship? What was the Middle Passage? 4. Four pirates are featured at different points throughout the exhibition. Who are they and what can you find out about each of them? 5. Who were the pirates? Find out more about: Their ethnicity. Their code of conduct. Their life on board ship as compared with life on a merchant or naval vessel. Compare and contrast their food, drink, clothing, quarters, amusements, hours, and pay. The roles, duties, and rights of different crew members such as the captain, quartermaster, surgeon, and carpenter How the Golden Age of Piracy ended 6. How was the Whydah recovered? The technology involved in recovering the wreck: the magnetometer, the mailbox, x-rays, and CT scans The importance of concretions, and the science involved in their formation and removal

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POST-VISIT
1. Summarize some of the main themes of the exhibit by discussing or by writing and illustrating (perhaps with a mural in the style of the exhibit): What was the legacy of the Golden Age of Piracy? What was the importance of the Caribbean in the 18th century? What does the Whydah tell us about life at that time? 2. Write a profile of: A pirate. A naval or merchant seaman. A human captive 3. Tell the story of your favorite artifact. Why is it important? What evidence does it give of the history of the time? 4. Do further research on the science and technology of the recovery and conservation of historical artifacts. Find out about other underwater archaeological sites. 5. Search the web for information on Olaudah Equiano who wrote a first hand account of his experiences as a slave. 6. Measure out the dimensions of space typically allotted to human captives on a slave ship. For men, 6 feet by 1 foot 4 inches. For women, 5 feet 10 inches by 1 foot 4 inches. Then lie down in the space. Describe what it must have felt like to be shackled in that space for months while crossing the ocean.

RESOURCES
Websites National Geographic Society. Real Pirates: The Untold Story of The Whydah from slave ship to pirate ship: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mission/real-pirates/
New York Public Library, Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture. Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery: http://digital.nypl.org/lwf/flash.html

NATIONAL STANDARDS The content of the exhibition covers many curriculum subjects. Please visit the following websites for links to topic-specific national standards.

Books
W. JEFFREY BOLSTER, Black Jacks: African American Seamen in the Age of Sail. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998. BARRY CLIFFORD and KENNETH J. KINKOR with SHARON SIMPSON, Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2007. BARRY CLIFFORD with PAUL PERRY, Expedition Whydah: The Story of the World's First Excavation of a Pirate Treasure Ship and the Man Who Found Her. New York: Harper Collins, 1999. DAVID CORDINGLY, Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Amongst the Pirates. New York: Random House, 2006. PETER EARLE, The Pirate Wars. London: Methuen, 2003. OLAUDAH EQUIANO, The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings. New York: Penguin, 2003. ROBERT HARMS, The Diligent: A Voyage Through the Worlds of the Slave Trade. New York: Basic Books, 2003. COLIN A. PALMER, Human Cargoes: The British Slave Trade to Colonial America, 17001739. Chicago: University of Illinois, 1981.

Science National Science Education Standards http://www.nap.edu/readingroom /books/nses/ Mathematics Principles and Standards for School Mathematics http://standards.nctm.org/ Social Studies Expectations of Excellence www.socialstudies.org/standards/ History National Standards for History in the Schools http://nchs.ucla.edu/standards Geography The National Council for Geographic Education: Standards www.ncge.org/standards/ The Arts ARTSEDGE: Standards artsedge.kennedycenter.org/teach/standards.cfm Language Arts The National Council of Teachers of English: Standards www.ncte.org/about/over/ standards

CREDITS
PRODUCER: AUTHOR:

MARCUS REDIKER, Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age. New York: Beacon, 2005.

This guide was produced for National Geographic Society. Sharon Simpson, SJS Projects

Patricia McGlashan Karen Davidson, Davidson Design, Inc. Kenneth L. Garrett Frederick Judd Waugh/Getty Images Gregory Manchess

DESIGNER:

ARTIFACT PHOTOGRAPHY: ILLUSTRATIONS:

CENTER COVER ILLUSTRATION:

MAPS: Cape Cod, permission of Harvard Map Collection; World Map 1719, Library of Congress EXHIBIT PHOTOGRAPHY:

Matt Prefontaine Kenneth L. Garrett

PHOTO OF BARRY CLIFFORD:

ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: Canon Medical Systems, Canon-USA, Christina Wright, and Tom Fricker SPECIAL THANKS:

Dana Chivvis, National Geographic Books and Christina Wright, Arts and Exhibitions International

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MISSION PROGRAMS:

Terry Garcia, Executive Vice President Sarah Laskin, Vice President Kathryn Keane, Director, Traveling Exhibitions Development Frederik Hiebert, Archaeology Fellow Ford Cochran, Director, Missions Online This exhibition is organized by National Geographic and Arts and Exhibitions International in cooperation with Cincinnati Museum Center

Draw the trade routes that carried goods and people between Europe, West Africa, the Caribbean, and North America in the early 1700s

2007 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

1. gold water snail

2. carpenters grindstone

4. shackles 3. dive suit

How many of these artifacts can you find as you go through the exhibition? When you find an object, think about these questions:

5. navigational dividers 6. bar iron

7. grenades

8. ships model

What was it used for? How was it made? What materials were used?

9. gibbet

10. John Kings stocking and shoe 11. syringes

12. Royal Strike

Where did they come from? Why was it made? What other questions can you come up with?

13. bar shot

15. Queen Anne teapot 14. machine gun bullet with concreted coin 18. cannon 17. Whydah bell 19. pile of coins

16. Sun King pistol

20. vent picks and gun worms

2007 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY