Blue Water Patriots

At last the book has come along that fills the void in most histories of the Revolution where John Paul Jones seems to have been our only sea captain. Blue Water Patriots: The American Revolution Afloat, by James M. Velo, covers all aspects of the contentious period in grand historic detail from the end of the Seven Years War (called the French and Indian War in America, 1754-1763), through the Revolution. The ink was barely dry on the treaty when the British form of regulated trade known as Merchantilism was boldly challenged by American trading vessels, whalers, and slavers who sought out trade wherever they could find it in the West Indies and other ports of the world which often amounted to clandestine trading and outright smuggling. These activities grew with the passing years and inevitably clashed with the British trading empire and this eventually led to the Revolution.

The book is composed of 15 chapters following the Introduction, starting with: 1. The Enforcement crisis, 2. The Rebels Under Sail, 3. Naval Administration, 4. The Art of War at Sea, 5. Sea Officers, 6. The Continental Navy, 7. War Ships, 8. Cannon and Powder, 9. George Washington's Private Navy, 10. The Invasion of New York, 11. Whaleboat Warriors and Bateaux Battalions, 12. Invoking Poseidon, 13. The French Alliance, 14. Prisoners of War, 15. Epilogue.

This is a very important book that sheds much light upon this contentious period of our history. As a reviewer I must confess that I do feel somewhat overwhelmed by the scope and magnitude of this book, so for the purpose of this review I have selected the following passages from the Introduction and 15 chapters to give the readers an idea of just what the book is all about in the author's own words.

Introduction

Until challenged by the Americans, the British trading empire was a closed and highly profitable economic system that reached halfway around the earth, and if not highly efficient in modern times, at least its lawful side seemed so at the time. the foundation of the British economy and the empire itself was based on a form of regulated trade known as Mercantilism. Colonial shippers and merchants supposedly made their profits by moving raw materials to England and returning finished to the colonial markets, while the British government took its part of the wealth generated by this activity in the form of taxes, fees, and customs duties. By law the colonials were denied the privilege of partaking in many forms of manufacture or in any trade practiced extensively in England and specifically protected by Parliament in order to maintain a moderate level of employmment in the home islands. However, in the 1760s colonial trade with foreign markets in the Mediterranean and West Indian was growing faster than that of the British ones. The stockholders of legitimate trading and manufacturing companies in Britian were apprehensive at the loss of a large poportion of their profits to the colonials, and they complained bitterly to the ministers of government whenever the colonials skirted the regulations through illegal manufacturinng, clandestine trading, or outright smuggling.

The peacefully busy colonial port of Boston in 1722 with its "long wharf" protruding into the harbor. A half century later the city was to be the scene of hostility to government, mob action, and open violence.

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The Enforcement Crisis

Before 1764 the Royal Navy had been of little service in supressing smugglers, although it was often suggested in Parliament that it should have taken a more active roll. The Customs Service of the Exchequer, the department of government that levied taxes and duties, was the only government agency directly charged with their collection, but the colonials had a long and successful history of evading custom officials. Customs housed were generally established only in major ports, and the agents had only a few small vessels with which to patrol the coastlines. In fact, customs vessels were required to focus their patrols to within two leagues (approximately four miles) of the coast, while naval vessels were generally restricted to patrol out of sight of land. Nometheless, both services could seize a vessel in blatant contravention of the law wherever it was found.

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The ministers of government in London considered every colonial seaman and shipper a potential smuggler, and the natural coastline of New England with its many small coves and shallow inlets made enforcement of customs very difficult.

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Shippers were required by law to report their cargoes for inspection at the customs' wharf before unloading in the colonies. Of course, this regulation could easily be ignored by simply landing contraband elsewhere along the coast before reporting to the customs wharf. A common ploy of smugglers was to load with a small cargo of enumerated goods in Holland of France destined for a legitimate port in the West Indies, and then stop in some out-of-the-way British port such as the Orkney or Shetland Islands and compound the cargo with legitimate, duty-free British goods for which they received proper clearance papers and manifests. Upon arrival in America they would openly unload some of these items, pay any duties on the landed cargo, and then depart, seemingly in accordance with all the proceedures of the law. With no authority to inspect the holds of legally licenced vessels, the best customs agents could do was to carefully supervise the unloading of cargo. Having run the gauntlet of the customs once and having the clearance papers to prover it, the vessel was virtually no longer suspect, and smuggled items could be covertly landed elsewhere. It was often not worthwhile for an officer of the customs to seize these small batches of contraband because the generous bonds demanded by the courts and because of the personal liability to which the arresting officer was placed if the case was not proven. Smugglrs often used the threat of lawsuits for supposed damages in such cases to avoid prosecution.

This is a typical Royal Navy cutter as portrayed in a period illustration. Note the long bow sprit and square top-sail yardarm that distinguished the type from a simple single-masted sloop. The Union Jack at the bow was the British national flag. The flag astern, mostly red with the Union Jack in the quarter, was the Royal ensign of the period replacing a white naval ensign with the red cross of St. George from earlier times.

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Popular Resentment

Prior to 1764 American colonists had generally accepted the doctrine that Parliament could pass acts regulating trade and imposing duties on imports They had merely nullified any act that proved too irritating by smuggling, by producing enumerating goods clandestinely, or by simply ignoring the law. After 1764 the voice of a new, more radical group of politically active colonials was raised above the normal background of discontent common to the middle classes. These radicals proposed for the first time the idea that colonial legislatures could tax Americans because they were not properly represented in Parliament. Clandestine political grumblings quickly became open confrontations with calls for liberty and the rights of Englishmen permeating the air.

Those identified as enemies of American Liberty were ofter treated to less-than-careful rousting, as shown in this British illustration from the period. Note the prominent place of the sailor in his petticoat.-breeches, known as slops, and round hat in the forefront of the mob.

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The people of the colonial waterfront took an active roll in the increasing public disorder. The natural rowdiness of the waterfront denziens ranged from mere mischief such as tavern brawls to sometimes bruising battles between large groups of men. Flowing rum, loose women, and pent up frustrationsfrom being confined aboard ship for long periods made seamen prime candidates for inclusion in any public demonstration. Repeatedly resistance to British officials and the enforcement of customs regualtions included the type of crowd action that commonly appeared on the waterfront. Sometimes the participants thought in terms of the theoretical concept of political "Liberty"; sometimes they acted in terms of their personal freedom to do as they wished; most times there were several ideas about liberty swirling through their heads simutaneously. "Whatever definitions of liberty appeared on the waterfront, the maritime world's understanding of liberty helped to shape the struggle for American independence" Any effort to restrict trade or limit smuggling threatened the livelihood of a whole segment of the waterfront population, and maritime workers of all types provided the mobs for the earliest calls for liberty in America.

Vessels like this Royal Navy brig were often the only posts of Royal authority left in the colonies during the Stamp Act crisis. Two-masted vessels of 20 guns or less like this one, commanded by junior officers such as lieutenants, were ofter referred to as Sloops-of-War even though their spar and sail plan had little similarity to the single-masted commercial vessel known as a sloop.

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The Boston Tea Party is possibly the best known event of the period before the outbreak of the war. Yet New York held its own tea party on the city's wharf some time later, and other tea ships sent to other colonies were turned away at the entrance to their destined ports. Many of the stockholders of the company were high government officials, which may help to explain the the intensity of the government's response.

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