University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1972 Privateering and piracy : the effects of New England raiding upon Nova Scotia during the American Revolution, 1775-1783. John Dewar Faibisy University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Faibisy, John Dewar, "Privateering and piracy : the effects of New England raiding upon Nova Scotia during the American Revolution, 1775-1783." (1972). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 1320. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/1320 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. University of Massachusetts LibraryAmherst Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/privateeringpira02faib 72-18,043 FAIBISY, John Dewar , 1943- PRIVATEERING AND PIRACY: THE EFFECTS OF NEW ENGLAND RAIDING UPON NOVA SCOTIA DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1775-1783. University of Massachusetts, Ph.D., 1972 History , modern Arbor, Michigan University Microfilms, A XEROX Company , Ann 5) 1972 by John Dewar Faibisy All rights reserved. MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN INFORMATION TO USERS This dissertation was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1. 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RAIDING UPON NOVA SCOTIA DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 177 5-1783 A dissertation Presented By JOHN DEWAR FAIBISY Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY February 1972 (month) (year) Major Subject History ) PRIVATEERING AND PIRACY: THE EFFECTS OF NEW ENGLAND RAIDING UPON NOVA SCOTIA DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1775-1783 A Dissertation Bv JOHN DEWAR FAIBISY Approved as to style and content by (Chairman of Committee) __ ^ (Head of Department) (Member) Ov<--j- ;j:-r/- l sv.Cs-. J.-\ //Member February 1972 (Month) (Year) . PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. F i 1 med as rece i ved University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company Privateering and Piracy: The Effects of New England Raiding upon Nova Scotia during the American Revolution, 1775-1783. (February 1972) John Dewar Faibisy, B.A., University of Maine M.A. , University of Massachusetts Directed by: Dr. Franklin B. Wickwire This study aims to explore the effects of pri- vateering and piracy upon the revolutionary movement in Nova Scotia during the war years 1775-1783. Specifically, it purports to show how Yankee raiders first precluded the possibility of rebellion in the colony during the critical years 1775 and 1776, and then transformed the initial pro- revolutionary sentiment of many Nova Scotians into antip- athy toward the rebel cause. In 177 5 the population of Nova Scotia numbered approximately 20,000 persons, three-quarters of whom had migrated from New England at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War. These settlers remained bound to the Yankee colonies by ties of friendship, tradition and trade. As tensions grew between Great Britain and her colonies, they showed their approval of the latter by joining the demon- strations against royal authority. By the outbreak of hostilities in the spring of 1775 Halifax officials pre- dicted that the province would soon be engulfed by revolu- tion. Nova Scotian dissidents either set up Committees of Safety or trekked to Machias, a small lumbering outpost in easternmost Massachusetts (Maine) , in the hope of raising a revolutionary army. While Nova Scotian radicals looked forward to a full-scale American invasion of their colony, the Royal Navy swept Yankee merchantmen from the seas. With their lucrative global trade interrupted, frustrated New Eng- landers turned to privateering and piracy. Their atten- tion focused upon Nova Scotia, which, because of its proximity to New England, offered them a splendid chance to recoup their losses. Soon a tidal wave of Yankee raiders surged along the Nova Scotian coast. The intrud- ers seized vessels, invaded shore towns and spread con- sternation throughout the colony. If Nova Scotians had been alerted to the presence of revolutionary sentiment throughout their province as well as Yankee intentions, they might well have chosen to cast their lot with the rebels. But the sudden impact of the New Englanders, while not strong enough to chase British men-of-war from the Halifax station, proved sufficiently powerful to drive Nova Scotian vessels from the seas. Thus the raiders kept the potentially rebel- lious Nova Scotians isolated from each other and the out- side world by smashing their only means of communication. Consequently, when Nova Scotians and New Englanders from Machias attempted an invasion of the colony in the autumn of 1776, their foray ended in disaster. Even after the Yankee failure to seize their prov- ince many Nova Scotians clung stubbornly to their repub- lican principles. But privateersmen and pirates, greedy for the spoils of war and certain that Nova Scotia's attempt at neutrality in reality reflected Tory senti- ments, began to transform sympathy into antipathy. They wreaked economic havoc upon the colony and terrorized the populace with their brutal and lawless acts. As the Yan- kee depredations increased, the pendulum of Nova Scotian opinion swung slowly at first, but with increasing momen- tum, against the American cause. The vast majority of Nova Scotians, who had hoped to adopt an outwardly neutral stance during the war, now looked to the crown for mili- tary and economic assistance. By 17 83 only a few diehard dissidents remained in a province which in 1775 had seemed to Tories and republicans alike ready to raise the banner of rebellion. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS During the course of my research I received assistance from many persons and incurred many obligations. My first thanks must go to Professor George A. Rawlyk of Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, who raised the possibility that I explore the effects of privateering upon Nova Scotia during the American Revolution and was most helpful in his suggestions. I am fur cher indebted to the following people for their aid, advice and criticism: Professor Robert G. Albion of Harvard University; Professor Hugh Bell of the University of Massachusetts; Mr. David Bull, Chief Archi- vist of Lloyd's of London; Professor Ian Christie of the University of London; Professor William A.. Davis of the University of Massachusetts; Professor Julian Gwyn of the University of Ottawa; Professor Joseph Hernon of the University of Massachusetts; Mr. William J. Morgan, Direc- tor of the Historical Research Section, United States Department of Navy; Professor Samuel Eliot Morison of Har- vard University; Professor Alice Stewart of the University of Maine; and Admiral William F. Royall of East Boothday, iii Maine. Thanks also are due to Mr. John Goyette of Old Town, Maine for his maps of New England and Nova Scotia. His map of Nova Scotia is based upon William Leuder T s map, which appears in John Bartlet Brebner's Neutral Yankees of Nova Scotia . A special word of praise must go to my typist, Mrs. Mildred Babine, whose perseverance was much appreciated. I wish to bestow collective thanks upon the staffs of the following institutions: in Canada, the Public Archives of Nova Scotia and the New Brunswick Museum; in England, the Public Record Office, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Library, the British Museum, the London Guildhall and the Stafford County Office; in New England, the Maine Historical Society, the New Hampshire Historical Society, the Massachusetts Archives, the Massa- chusetts Historical Society, the Essex Institute, the American Antiquarian Society, the Rhode Island State Archives, the Connecticut State Library and the University of Maine Library. Finally, I wish to thank my supervisor, Professor Franklin B. Wickwire, without whose suggestions, construc- tive criticism and encouragement this dissertation never would have been completed. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....