The College of Wooster Libraries Open Works Senior Independent Study Theses 2017 For Country, Liberty, and Money: Privateering and the Ideologies of the American Revolution Scott .D Wagner The College of Wooster, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy Part of the Military History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Wagner, Scott .,D "For Country, Liberty, and Money: Privateering and the Ideologies of the American Revolution" (2017). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 7723. https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/7723 This Senior Independent Study Thesis Exemplar is brought to you by Open Works, a service of The oC llege of Wooster Libraries. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Independent Study Theses by an authorized administrator of Open Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. © Copyright 2017 Scott .D Wagner The College of Wooster For Country, Liberty, and Money: Privateering and the Ideologies of the American Revolution by Scott D. Wagner Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of Senior Independent Study Supervised by Christina Welsch Department of History Spring 2017 Abstract Along with service in the Continental Army and Navy and the various state militias, American patriots during the Revolutionary War had the option of sailing aboard privateers, private ships authorized to attack British commerce during the war. Where studies analyzing other military forces during the Revolution have been more nuanced, scholars that have looked at privateering have either focused on its strategic effectiveness during the conflict or merely written it off as a profit-driven phenomenon of maritime plunder. Privateering played a role in the course of the Revolution to a degree, but more importantly the practice was influenced by the ideological considerations that framed the Revolution itself—considerations that are ignored when privateering is seen through the eyes of the profit-narrative. While in part motivated by profit, privateering during the American War for Independence can only be fully understood when placed in the context of contemporary debates over liberty, republicanism, and identity. These debates stretched across the range of actors involved in privateering, from the sailors crewing privateer vessels to the merchants investing in privateer expeditions. This thesis will draw upon existing literature on privateering, Revolutionary ideology, and original analysis of primary source information including correspondence, government documents, and individual narratives to place privateering within the broader framework of the Revolutionary period. In doing so, it will add a more complex and multilayered approach to privateering to place that scholarship alongside other studies of military phenomena during the American Revolution. Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................. i A NOTE ON PRIMARY SOURCE QUOTATIONS ........................................................ ii INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER ONE: PRIVATEERING AND THE FOLLY OF “LEGALIZED PIRACY” 12 The Cog and the Missing Piece: Privateering and Piracy ............................................. 13 States, Commerce, and Ideology: The Complexities of Privateering ........................... 23 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER TWO: PRIVATEERSMEN, PLUNDER, AND THE IDEOLOGIES OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIBERTY .............................................................. 38 A Revolutionary Gold Rush: Privateersmen and the Drive for Plunder ....................... 41 A Revolutionary Resistance: Privateering and Liberties .............................................. 49 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 60 CHAPTER THREE: PRIVATEER INVESTORS AND THE IDEOLOGIES OF REPUBLICANISM .............................................................................................. 62 Republicanism, Liberty, and Commerce: The Great Debate ........................................ 64 For the Public Interest: Privateering, Avarice, and Immorality .................................... 68 For the Private Interest: Privateering, Reprisal, and Victory ........................................ 76 Nathanael Greene and Privateering in Practice ............................................................. 83 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 89 CHAPTER FOUR: BRITISH OBSERVERS AND THE IDEOLOGIES OF EMPIRE .. 91 The British Empire: An Ideological Perspective........................................................... 93 Logistics, Commerce, and Pride: Privateer Attacks in the Revolution ....................... 103 Ideology and Identity: The American Perspective ...................................................... 111 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 116 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 117 APPENDIX ..................................................................................................................... 120 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 122 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The term “Independent Study” is rather erroneous for Wooster’s senior thesis program, as no student can get through the process without the support of many kind- hearted and patient souls along the way. I’d first of all like to thank my advisor, Professor Christina Welsch, for putting up with my incessant research stories and helping me constantly improve this project. Thanks also to Dr. Michael Crawford of NHHC, for showing me the finer points of naval research and supporting my bold ideas. I was fortunate enough to receive Copeland Funding to conduct research for this project; many thanks to the Copeland family and the librarians at the Mary Elizabeth Robinson Research Center in Providence, Rhode Island for helping me with my research. My humblest gratitude to the librarians of the College of Wooster as well, for letting me check out more books than any sane man should be allowed to do. Thanks as well to Lynette Matson at the Writing Center, for her enthusiasm and unbridled joy when I finally managed to sneak in a Hamilton reference. I’d like to also thank my research- partner-in-crime Sally Kendrick, for tolerating my numerous movie references and for helping me stay sane while I was so far down the rabbit hole I couldn’t see the ocean for the trees. A major thanks goes to two inspirational professors, Dale Seeds and Madonna Hettinger; my gratitude for your years of guidance and advice cannot be put into words. Finally, my eternal love and appreciation goes to my parents Bill and Marlene, whose constant support has kept me striving to do my best every step of the way. i A NOTE ON PRIMARY SOURCE QUOTATIONS This thesis quotes extensively from sources and documents written in the eighteenth century. Conventions on spelling and grammar were not standardized at that time. For this thesis, all spelling and punctuation has been preserved as written. When the meaning of the original writing is unclear, I have included the meaning in brackets. ii INTRODUCTION It was the spring of 1772, and Lieutenant William Dudingston was one of the most hated men in the colony of Rhode Island. The British Admiralty had given Dudingston command of the schooner Gaspee, and charged him to prevent Rhode Islanders from importing contraband into any of the ports in Narragansett Bay. That contraband included French molasses and sugar, items that helped Rhode Islanders grow their burgeoning distilleries. Dudingston stopped every vessel he encountered in the bay, demanding to search their holds for contraband. His actions put a drain on imports into the primary towns of Newport and Providence and were a slap in the face to Rhode Islanders who resented any form of authority. Colonists complained that his commission was “more of a fiction than anything else,” and even issued a warrant for his arrest.1 By summer, the colonists were itching to get their hands on Dudingston. On June 9, they got their chance. While pursuing a packet boat owned by Captain Lindsey, Dudingston ran the Gaspee aground.2 The tide was receding, leaving Dudingston stranded until the early hours of the morning. Providence merchant and patriot John Brown wasted little time in mobilizing the colonists, calling all interested participants to gather at James Sabin’s house to prepare an assault on the beached British vessel. A strange assortment of grizzled sea captains, roguish former privateersmen, raw wharf hands and sailors, and well-to-do merchants infuriated with Dudingston’s activities 1 Deputy governor Darius Session to Governor Joseph Wanton, March 21 1772, in William R. Staples, The Documentary History of the Destruction of the Gaspee (Providence: Knowles, Vose & Anthony, 1845), 3. 2 Some sources claim the owner of the packet was a Thomas Lindsey; see James B. Hedges, The Browns of