Privateers of Fell's Point

Fell’s Point, in Baltimore, was a shipbuilding center in the late 18th and early 19th century. Two dozen shipyards employed hundreds of craftsmen and produced fast schooners used for trade and, eventually, for combat in the Anglo-American War of 1812. At a time when the United States Navy had fewer than twenty ships, Congress issued Letters of Marque authorizing private captains to attack British ships the high seas and confiscate their cargo. Over fifty ships sailed from Fell’s Point to help in the war effort. To celebrate this legacy, every year Baltimore holds the Fell's Point Privateer Festival, an open air gathering of hundreds of people dressed as privateers flocking together and enjoying a weekend of music, food, drink, and merriment. Over the years I've been photographing some of the attendees.