Whaleman & White Slavery

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I'm reading Eric Jay Dolin's Leviathan, about whaling in America. I came across an interesting quote from the 1850s, not only for the comparison made but also the literary reference made: [emphasis added]

"Too many ships that float are in reality prison ships - their crews, for the time being, perfect slaves. White slavery exists this side of Algiers. There are Legrees in spirit - and as far as power extends, in practice - north of the sugar fields of Louisiana. Uncle Tom has many nephews on the sea. We hope some gifted mind will soon faithfully and fully exhibit the interior of 'jack's' cabin."
-George Whitefield Bronson, Glimpses of the Whaleman's Cabin, 1855 (per endnote)

 

[WJC]

I'm reading Eric Jay Dolin's Leviathan, about whaling in America. I came across an interesting quote from the 1850s, not only for the comparison made but also the literary reference made: [emphasis added]

"Too many ships that float are in reality prison ships - their crews, for the time being, perfect slaves. White slavery exists this side of Algiers. There are Legrees in spirit - and as far as power extends, in practice - north of the sugar fields of Louisiana. Uncle Tom has many nephews on the sea. We hope some gifted mind will soon faithfully and fully exhibit the interior of 'jack's' cabin."
-George Whitefield Bronson, Glimpses of the Whaleman's Cabin, 1855 (per endnote)

Not unlike those today who occasionally call military service or their job slavery and refer to their officer or supervisor as a 'slave driver' or a 'Simon Legree'.
Although employment was voluntary (except earlier press gangs used to man Naval vessels), conditions at the time were harsh. One need only read any of the many books about service on a sailing ship to understand the analogy. The ship's master was the supreme authority. Work was never-ending. Food was terrible.
Yet men endured it, and often returned to it again and again before finally 'swallowing the anchor'.

 

[Drew]

Yeah, I think there's a good quote about this, probably in James Oakes', "The Scorpion's Sting." Everyone in early America made reference to slavery. They imagined themselves on the cusp of it, constantly.

A ship's crew, btw, is always at the whim of the captain (master). This is of necessity and the crew (slaves) doesn't typically understand why this is so. I'd be interested to know whether/how author Bronson explains this.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Not unlike those today who occasionally call military service or their job slavery and refer to their officer or supervisor as a 'slave driver' or a 'Simon Legree'.

I would be very impressed by someone in the 21st century making a Simon Legree reference anywhere except a Civil War forum.

 

[Borderruffian]

Well back then if you needed hands, it wasn't unheard of to "Shanghai" the needed crewmen.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Well, having read many whaling and true ship stories, the bosun mate is the driver. Most captains stayed remote from their crews. The best ones had the "common touch" but we're few and far between. Whaling ships leaving New England would be gone for an average of 3 years. However everyone in a whaling ship from highest to lowest had a share in profits so they would stay and put up with stuff.

Read "Two Years Before The Mast" written around 1820 for a true story. It was the first guide book (in a way) of California written by a man who became a lawyer in Boston. You'll be ready to off the captain when you get to the end. Not a whaling story but a trading story. Crew didn't have shares and that was miserable.