Providence Island is in the western Caribbean and for eleven years between 1630-1641, it was the site of an English Puritan colony that was under constant threat of Spanish attack. “The Battle for Providence: How the Portuguese, English, Spanish and Africans Fought for Control of Providence Island, 1629-1670″ argues that scholars have paid insufficient attention to the role of the Portuguese, Africans, and Native Americans regarding the history of Providence Island and their relationship to early America.

This project seeks to address these deficiencies by describing the central role the Portuguese played in the fighting on the Spanish side and the roles the Africans and Native Americans played on the English side.

Luce’s work will also show how slavery and piracy were linked in the early colonial period between the Caribbean and the East Coast of America.