The Wars

Presentation by: Carolyn Carrithers, { Advisor: Mark Barrow The “It is a rebellion and nothing less,”

 Governor Elihu Jackson, Md. (1888) Fig. 2: Excerpt from New Orleans Crescent, 1869 

Fig. 3: Excerpt from Helena Weekly Herald, 1888

Fig. 4: Evening Star, 1920 Overview  Causes of the Oyster Wars  Increased demand  New technologies  Uncertainty of science  Political differences  Results  Legislation  Resource management  Natural Resources Police

Fig. 5: Oystermen at work on the Chesapeake, 1884 Thesis

 The escalation of conflict in the Chesapeake Bay in the 1860s through the 1880s was caused by a clash between increased governmental interest in regulation of the oyster trade and increased harvesting pressures. Historiography Historiography cont.  Political  Environmental legislation  Grandstanding  Role of government in resource management  Environmental  Resource usage  Trends in the fishing industry Heightened Demand

 Canning  Longer shelf life  Railroads  Post-Civil War increase  Planting  New England in decline

Fig. 6: Oyster tin collection, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Increased Harvesting  New technology  Dredging  Factories  More men, more boats

Fig. 8: Tonging for

Fig. 7: An oyster Catches

Fig. 9: Chesapeake oyster catches, 1840-1980 Legislation  Taxation & Permits  Residents only  Harvesting limitations  Season  Size  Method  v  Oyster Navy  Oyster Police  Research

Fig. 10: Title page of 1892 fisheries report Conclusion

Fig. 12: Historical and current oyster habitat extent Citations  Images:  Fig. 1: Retrieved from Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002698357/  Fig. 2-4: Newspaper excerpts from Chronicling America  Fig. 5: Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002698359/  Fig. 6: Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, http://beautifulswimmers.tumblr.com/post/46359462139/just-a-little- bit-better  Fig. 7: Wikiwand, http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Fishing_dredge  Fig. 8: Virginia Places, http://www.virginiaplaces.org/natural/oysters.html  Fig. 9: Kennedy, Victor and Breisch, Linda. Sixteen Decades of Political Management of the Oyster Fishery in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay  Fig. 10: Stevenson. Report of the Commissioner for the Year Ending in 1892  Fig. 11: Ermgassen et al. Historical Ecology with Real Numbers: Past and Present Extent and Biomass of an Imperilled Estuarine Habitat, http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2012/06/07/rspb.2012.0313