Salem Harbor
Coordinates: 42°31′25″N 70°51′58″W / 42.52361°N 70.86611°W
Salem Harbor is a harbor in northeastern Massachusetts spanning an area north and south of Salem. Historically the Salem Harbor was the site of one of the major international ports in the colonies. During the American Revolutionary War, merchant ships were enlisted as privateers, an important role to augment the ill-prepared Continental Navy. In 1790, Salem Harbor was a world-famous seaport and sixth-largest in the United States of America. Now the harbor is used for commercial and recreational purposes and the Salem Maritime National Historic Site is very popular with tourists from around the world.
Salem merchants defended the colonies during the American Revolutionary War through privateering. When the 13 colonies declared independence, the Continental Navy had only 31 ships. To support their efforts Letters of Marque were issued to private merchant ships to authorize them to attack enemy merchant ships. George Washington's Army numbered 11,000 men; there were 11,000 privateers at sea in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and between Ireland and England. One of the goals was to obtain gunpowder, outlawed for import by the British. Over 2 million pounds of gunpowder and saltpeter were brought in by the privateers and merchantmen. They also prevented British soldiers and over 10,000 seamen out of the British Navy, with the Continental Navy the total was 16,000 captured British.
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