LEADER 04502nam 2200661Ia 450 001 9910458012503321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-674-02847-3 024 7 $a10.4159/9780674028470 035 $a(CKB)1000000000396505 035 $a(StDuBDS)AH23050603 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000083879 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11126309 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000083879 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10163293 035 $a(PQKB)10169169 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000112844 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11140501 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000112844 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10098364 035 $a(PQKB)10735724 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3300703 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3300703 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10331289 035 $a(OCoLC)923116722 035 $a(DE-B1597)571772 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780674028470 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000396505 100 $a19960919d1997 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur||||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aBlack jacks$b[electronic resource] $eAfrican American seamen in the age of sail /$fW. Jeffrey Bolster 210 $aCambridge, MA $cHarvard University Press$d1997 215 $a1 online resource (352 p. ) $c37 halftones, 3 maps, 3 tables 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-674-07627-3 311 $a0-674-07624-9 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [241]-296) and index. 327 $aIntroduction: To Tell the Tale 1. The Emergence of Black Sailors in Plantation America 2. African Roots of Black Seafaring 3. The Way of a Ship 4. The Boundaries of Race in Maritime Culture 5. Possibilities for Freedom 6. Precarious Pillar of the Black Community 7. Free Sailors and the Struggle with Slavery 8. Toward Jim Crow at Sea Tables Notes Acknowledgments 330 $aAiming to reveal the role sailors played in helping forge new identities for black people in America and how they actively contributed to the Atlantic maritime culture, this book traces the history of black seamen to the end of the American Civil War. 330 $bFew Americans, black or white, recognize the degree to which early African American history is a maritime history. W. Jeffrey Bolster shatters the myth that black seafaring in the age of sail was limited to the Middle Passage. Seafaring was one of the most significant occupations among both enslaved and free black men between 1740 and 1865. Tens of thousands of black seamen sailed on lofty clippers and modest coasters. They sailed in whalers, warships, and privateers. Some were slaves, forced to work at sea, but by 1800 most were free men, seeking liberty and economic opportunity aboard ship. Bolster brings an intimate understanding of the sea to this extraordinary chapter in the formation of black America. Because of their unusual mobility, sailors were the eyes and ears to worlds beyond the limited horizon of black communities ashore. Sometimes helping to smuggle slaves to freedom, they were more often a unique conduit for news and information of concern to blacks. But for all its opportunities, life at sea was difficult. Blacks actively contributed to the Atlantic maritime culture shared by all seamen, but were often outsiders within it. Capturing that tension, Black Jacks examines not only how common experiences drew black and white sailors together--even as deeply internalized prejudices drove them apart--but also how the meaning of race aboard ship changed with time. Bolster traces the story to the end of the Civil War, when emancipated blacks began to be systematically excluded from maritime work. Rescuing African American seamen from obscurity, this stirring account reveals the critical role sailors played in helping forge new identities for black people in America. An epic tale of the rise and fall of black seafaring, Black Jacks is African Americans' freedom story presented from a fresh perspective. 606 $aAfrican American merchant mariners$xHistory 606 $aSailing ships$zUnited States$xHistory 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aAfrican American merchant mariners$xHistory. 615 0$aSailing ships$xHistory. 676 $a387.5/08996073 700 $aBolster$b W. Jeffrey$0140839 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910458012503321 996 $aBlack jacks$9500760 997 $aUNINA