Liberty on the Waterfront. Paul A. Gilje

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      EARLY AMERICAN STUDIES

      Daniel K. Richter and Kathleen M. Brown, Series Editors

      Exploring neglected aspects of our colonial, revolutionary, and early national history and culture, Early American Studies reinterprets familiar themes and events in fresh ways. Interdisciplinary in character, and with a special emphasis on the period from about 1600 to 1850, the series is published in partnership with the McNeil Center for Early American Studies.

      A complete list of books in the series is available from the publisher.

      Liberty on the

      Waterfront

       American Maritime Culture in the Age of Revolution

      Paul A. Gilje

      UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS

      Philadelphia

      Copyright © 2004 University of Pennsylvania Press

      All rights reserved

      Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      Published by

      University of Pennsylvania Press

      Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4011

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Gilje, Paul A., 1951-

      Liberty on the waterfront : American maritime culture in the Age of Revolution /

      Paul A. Gilje.

      p. cm. - (Early American studies)

      Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.

      ISBN 0-8122-3756-0 (alk. paper)

      1. United States. Navy-History-18th century. 2. United States. Navy-History-

      19th century. 3. Sailors-United States-History-18th century. 4. Sailors-United

      States-History-19th century. 5. Seafaring life-United States-History-18th

      century. 6. Seafaring life-United States-History-19th century. 7. United States-

      History, Naval-18th century. 8. United States-History, Naval-19th century.

      E182.G55 2003 2003062756

      305.9'3875'097309033 22

      To Ann

      All that is told of the sea has a fabulous sound to an

      inhabitant of the land, and all its products have a certain

      fabulous quality, as if they belonged to another planet, from

      sea-weed to a sailor's yarn, or fish-story.

      Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod

      We must come down from our heights, and leave our

      straight paths, for the byways and low places in life,

      if we would learn the truths by strong contrasts; and in

      hovels, in forecastles, and among our own outcasts in

      foreign lands, see what has been wrought upon our

      fellow-creatures by accident, hardship, or vice.

      Richard Henry Dana, Two Years Before the Mast

      Contents

       Preface

       PART I: ASHORE AND AFLOAT

       1 The Sweets of Liberty

       2 The Maid I Left Behind Me

       3 A Sailor Ever Loves to Be in Motion

       PART II: REVOLUTION

       4 The Sons of Neptune

       5 Brave Republicans of the Ocean

       6 Free Trade and Sailors' Rights

       PART III: LEGACY

       7 Proper Objects of Christian Compassion

       8 The Ark of the Liberties of the World

       Epilogue

       Glossary

       Notes

       Index

       Acknowledgments

      Preface

      Few words are more central to understanding the American past than “liberty.” But few words have been more contested and ambiguous. Nonetheless, the Founding Fathers believed that the purpose of government was to ensure each man his liberty through protection of the individual and his property. In exchange, each individual had to concede a certain amount of his own liberty to government. Liberty could be endangered in two ways. First, if government amassed too much power, the people could lose their liberty. In 1776 revolutionary leaders argued that King George III and Parliament were guilty of this type of usurpation and that their rule threatened to lead to tyranny. But liberty could also be challenged from below through excess and licentiousness. Granting too much liberty could lead to a world where everyone pursued their own interests regardless of the rights of others, a situation which was akin to savagery. The leaders of the Revolution therefore sought a middle ground between tyranny and anarchy.

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