Talk:Marblehead, Massachusetts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

During a lecture at the University of Massachusetts, a Teachers assistant tried to explain why Wikipedia is not a reliable source for papers by vandalizing this page. He put in that Marblehead is the sailing capital of the world, an obviously incorrect fact. I was appalled by his actions and felt I should record it somewhere.

[edit] "sailing capital of the world"

Actually, I grew up in Marblehead and it does like to occasionally claim the title "yachting capital of the world". It's certainly a hard thing to measure but it is important to understanding the town's local mythology and image of itself. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.207.233.44 (talk) 20:46, 11 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Marblehead is the home of American Slavery not Dixie...

Marblehead, Mass; is where the first Slave ship was built, and is where the majority of slaves made entry into the United States. This needs to be noted in this, more then the cities beauty and sailing. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by PBFloyd (talk • contribs) 13:37, 9 March 2007 (UTC).

It certainly was not where the majority of slaves came to the United States. Though it is the site where the first colonial ship that would be used to carry slaves was built, that is hardly relevant to the history of the town itself and no more than a minor historical footnote. The slave trade in Marblehead was always minimal to nonexistant, and only Marblehead's status as an important port in the early colonial period caused any slaves to ever be brought to Marblehead at all. In any case, slaves were already being carried to Charleston, Savannah and Baltimore via British ships long before the colonies started building slave ships themselves. —Cuiviénen 19:22, 11 March 2007 (UTC)