Table Of ContentWITH SAILS WHITENING EVERY SEA
A volume in the series
The United States in the World
edited by Mark Philip Bradley, David C. Engerman, Amy S. Greenberg, and
Paul A. Kramer
A list of titles in this series is available at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.
WITH SAILS WHITENING
EVERY SEA
Mariners and the Making of an
American Maritime Empire
Brian Rouleau
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2014 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this
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First published 2014 by Cornell University Press
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rouleau, Brian, author.
With sails whitening every sea : mariners and the making of an
American maritime empire / Brian Rouleau.
pages cm — (United States in the world)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8014-5233-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Sailors—United States—Social conditions—19th century. 2. United
States—Foreign relations—19th century. 3. Sea-power—United
States—History—19th century. I. Title. II. Series: United States in the
world.
G540.R68 2014
331.7'61387097309034—dc23 2014024630
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To the memory of my mother and father
Hail Land of light and joy! thy power shall grow
Far as the seas, which round thy regions flow;
Through earth’s wide realms thy glory shall extend,
And savage nations at thy scepter bend.
Around the frozen shores thy sons shall sail,
Or stretch their canvas to the Asian gale.
—Timothy Dwight, America, 1790
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction: “Born to Rule the Seas” 1
1. Schoolhouses Afl oat 16
2. Jim Crow Girdles the Globe 43
3. Maritime Destiny as Manifest Destiny 74
4. A Maritime Empire of Moral Depravity 102
5. An Intimate History of Early America’s Maritime Empire 134
6. Making Do at the Margins of Maritime Empire 164
Epilogue: Out of the Sailor’s Den, into the Tourist Trap 195
Notes 209
Index 257
Acknowledgments
This book, like most others, owes many debts to many people. First, let
me thank the terrifi c group of scholars who mentored me along the way.
Danny Vickers was the original inspiration for what appears here. I walked
into his classroom at the University of California, San Diego, a student of
East Asia and stepped out an American historian. His boundless enthusiasm
for the subject, effortless brilliance, and willingness to nurture students have
amazed me. The University of Pennsylvania, meanwhile, introduced me to
Mike Zuckerman and Dan Richter. Mike has improved me in many ways,
both as a historian and, perhaps more important, as a thinking human being.
More than anything, he has never failed to challenge me to become better,
to consider more carefully, and to delve deeper, even as he has humored
me more than once when I lost my way. It is his special ability to some-
how approach any issue from all sides at once. That talent has immeasurably
sharpened and enriched what appears here. Last, but by no means least, is
Dan Richter, to whom I am perhaps most indebted. He does not need me
to rehearse the merits of his dazzling and penetrating intellect here, although
I have benefi ted immensely from it. More important, Dan deserves to be
commended for taking a chance on a book to which he might never have
seen himself contributing. His dedication has been unyielding, and I will
Acknowledgments ix
always remain most grateful for that. Dan has no doubt been exposed to
more of this book’s (and my own) growing pains than anyone else, and yet he
somehow always knew just what to say at exactly the right moment to nudge
me back on track. It is one of his many gifts as both a mentor and a friend,
and I will always feel indebted to him for that reason. Kathy Peiss, Kathy
Brown, Steve Hahn, Ron Granieri, Rick Beeman, and many other faculty in
Philadelphia also contributed signifi cantly to the fantastic educational envi-
ronment at Penn, out of which this work grew. Jason Colby and Jason Opal
provided many insightful comments as the project progressed. Finally, thanks
to the series editors, Mark Bradley, David Engerman, Amy Greenberg, and
Paul Kramer; Michael McGandy; Max Richman; Susan Specter; and every-
one else at Cornell University Press who helped make this a better book.
Since joining the history department at Texas A&M in 2010, many
friends, colleagues, and staff have done much to provide a welcoming and
stimulating academic environment. I would like thank everyone in what is
a very large department. The members of the Atlantic world and U.S. in
the World clusters have provided particular insight and inspiration. Quince
Adams, Carlos Blanton, Al Broussard, Walter Buenger, Rebecca Hartkopf
Schloss, April Hatfi eld, Andy Kirkendall, John Lenihan, Brian Linn, and
David Vaught have donated generous amounts of time to mentoring a
young colleague. Olga Dror, likewise, helped a rookie Texan learn how
to two-step. Last but not least, here’s to my fellow assistant professors, Side
Emre, Felipe Hinojosa, Lisa Ramos, Dan Schwartz, Katherine Unterman,
and Erin Wood. From writing groups to Friday dinners, I feel as though
I never could have thrived in Aggieland without your good cheer.
Friends from all walks of life have also made the book possible. Though
I am sure to forget a few, many come to mind. Josh and Maggie Keegan Gross
and their entire family have been a joy in my life. In San Diego, I met and
have been glad to know Vitria Adisetiyo, Mike Friedman, Leo Goldbard, Erin
Hoppe, and so many others. And in Philadelphia, Greg Ablavsky, Kate Bal-
danza, Stephanie Corrigan, Ushma Domadia, Lauren Fox, Cassie Good, Kath-
erine Hill, Matt Karp, Sean Kiley, Will Kuby, Andrew Lipman, Vanessa Mongey,
Dael Norwood, Matt and Shelley Schauer, Patrick and Laura Spero, and Karen
Tani made my time at Penn not only enriching but downright entertaining.
Beyond social debts, however, there are institutional and fi nancial debts
to be acknowledged. Many institutions have provided funding and other
forms of support. The University of Pennsylvania offered invaluable fi nan-
cial assistance in the form of multiple research and writing fellowships.
Texas A&M University also allocated signifi cant amounts of money and
x Acknowledgments
leave time that contributed mightily to the fi nished product. The College
of Liberal Arts, the Department of History, the Glasscock Center for the
Humanities, and the Scowcroft Institute for International Affairs deserve
particular mention for helpful travel and research disbursements. In ad-
dition, the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia (with a spe-
cial thank-you to Matt Herbison), the New Bedford Whaling Museum
(with special thanks to Mark Procknik), and the Peabody Essex Museum
in Salem, Massachusetts, each offered generous short-term research fellow-
ships. Moreover, the staff at those institutions provided enormously helpful
assistance as I navigated the archives. I would also like to thank dedicated
librarians and curators at the Clements Library, the Chrysler Museum (with
special thanks to Melanie Neil), the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the
Library of Congress, the Marblehead Museum, the Mariners’ Museum, the
National Archives, the Naval Historical Center, the Mystic Seaport Mu-
seum, the New-York Historical Society, the New York Public Library, the
New Bedford Free Public Library, the Providence Public Library, the Scott
Polar Research Institute (with special thanks to Lucy Martin), and the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania Rare Book Room. At Texas A&M’s Evans Library,
Joel Kitchens and Carolina De Leon have patiently tracked down many a
resource. Randall Bond has shared a wealth of bibliographic knowledge.
In addition, I would like to thank the extraordinary group of fellows and
scholars who comprise the McNeil Center for Early American Studies. It
has long been my academic home away from home: a source of great con-
versation, even better friends, and quite simply an extraordinary place to be.
Portions of chapter 3 were published in “Maritime Destiny as Manifest
Destiny: American Commercial Expansionism and the Idea of the Indian,”
Journal of the Early Republic 30, no. 3 (Fall 2010): 377–411; copyright © 2010
Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, all rights reserved.
Portions of chapter 4 were published in “How Honolulu Almost Burned
and Why Sailors Matter to Early American Foreign Relations,” Diplomatic
History, fi rst published online June 18, 2013, doi: 10.1093/dh/dht105; by
permission of Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Histo-
rians of American Foreign Relations.
Finally, let me end where I began, with my family. To Grandma and the
memory of my grandfather, to Grammie C, and to Carol and Jerry, thank
you for your constant encouragement. To my sisters, Lauren and Allison, the
fi rst and longest-lived friends I have had in this life: as my most steadfast sup-
porters, you two are owed a debt that words do little to pay. My mother and
father both passed away as research and writing were in progress. I never got
