The Etymology of "Gaspee"

As you know, my new residence is on Gaspee Road. Now, the word has some obviously rude connotations to it (ask any 5th grader), being the seeming compound of two words related to relieving oneself: gas and pee. But the word actually relates to an amazing story from the Revolutionary War.

The British Crown sent the HMS Gaspee to Rhode Island in order to attempt to enforce a revenue tax that the colonists refused to pay. The ship was most likely named for the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec. On June 9-10, 1772, the Rhode Islanders did battle with the Gaspee and won. They stormed the ship and burned it. This weekend is the start of the Gaspee Days festival here in RI, where we celebrate the victory and the burning of the ship.

For more information on all things Gaspee, visit the Gaspee archives via this link.

I find it remarkable that the event is still celebrated more than some 235 years later. But it's also very much in keeping with the great big personality of this, the tiniest state in the USA. Rhode Island was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, after he was kicked out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and headed south to do his own thing and create a place dedicated to religious and personal freedom. Rhode Island has been from its inception a strong-willed, independent, and even sometimes contrary little place. For example, we were the last to ratify the first constitution, at the barrel of a gun, by the way, to become the 13th state.

I love the defiant history of this state, and how proud of it we are. It's cool living on a street with a weird name and a great story behind it.