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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1819 edition. Excerpt: ... "This table is certainly a flattering statement of the mercantile marine of the united kingdoms and colonies. It is a poor compliment to the spirit and policy of the country, that, possessing in the employment of her merchants 180,000 seamen, recourse should still be had to Impressment for Manning her Royal Navy! The number of men that I deem adequate to Manning the Royal Navy, is as follows. In the present state of Europe, even if all the maritime powers were to unite against us, this supply would be sufficient; but this number is not to be the only resource of the country. My plan is, to put it in the power of government, to increase the Naval quota, as may be found necessary for the public service. Present peace establishment, including marines 0,000 Seamen to be raised--, -60,000 Landmen and marines---30,000 Inland navigation... 3,000 113,000 The fifteen thousand of the peace establishment, are expected to be prime seamen, and experienced in the duty of a King's ship; that in the event of a war breaking out, they might serve to supply new commissioned ships with petty officers, such as gunners, boatswain's and carpenter's mates, &c. so necessary for the compleat formation of a ship's company. The marines also of the peace establishment, as being experienced soldiers, are expected to become serjeants, corporals, &c. in order to bring new recruits into order and discipline.. It is also intended by the plan under consideration, that all future peace establishments shall be raised by it, as soon as an armament, or a war shall cease.-- The seamen and marines of the peace establishment without landmen, shall be raised for three years, for five years, and for seven years. At the end of each period, when the men are discharged, there...

A fundamental component of Britain's early success, naval impressment not only kept the Royal Navy afloat--it helped to make an empire. In total numbers, impressed seamen were second only to enslaved Africans as the largest group of forced laborers in the eighteenth century. In The Evil Necessity, Denver Brunsman describes in vivid detail the experience of impressment for Atlantic seafarers and their families. Brunsman reveals how forced service robbed approximately 250,000 mariners of their livelihoods, and, not infrequently, their lives, while also devastating Atlantic seaport communities and the loved ones who were left behind. Press gangs, consisting of a navy officer backed by sailors and occasionally local toughs, often used violence or the threat of violence to supply the skilled manpower necessary to establish and maintain British naval supremacy. Moreover, impressments helped to unite Britain and its Atlantic coastal territories in a common system of maritime defense unmatched by any other European empire. Drawing on ships' logs, merchants' papers, personal letters and diaries, as well as engravings, political texts, and sea ballads, Brunsman shows how ultimately the controversy over impressment contributed to the American Revolution and served as a leading cause of the War of 1812. Early American HistoriesWinner of the Walker Cowen Memorial Prize for an Outstanding Work of Scholarship in Eighteenth-Century Studies

From the mid 18th century up till after memories of the Napoleonic wars and the glories of 'Nelson's navy' had faded, the Royal Navy was the bulwark of Britain's defence and the safeguard of trade and imperial expansion. While there have been political and military histories of the Navy in this period, looking at battles and personalities, and studies of its administration and the life below decks, this book is the first study of the Navy in a cultural context, exploring contemporary attitudes to war and peace and to ideologies of race and gender. As well as literary sources, Dr Lincoln draws on the vast collections of the National Maritime Museum, in paintings, cartoons, and ceramics, amongst others, to focus attention on material that has hitherto been little used - even research into the general culture of the late-Georgian age has, curiously, neglected perceptions of the Navy, which was one of its major institutions. Individual chapters discuss the attitudes of particular groups towards the Navy - merchants, politicians, churchmen, women, scientists, and the seamen themselves - and how these attitudes changed over the course of the period.