The British Navy in the Caribbean

The British Navy in the Caribbean PDF Author: John D. Grainger
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 1783275898
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
This book charts the involvement of the British navy in the Caribbean from the earliest times to the present. It recounts the voyages of sixteenth century English adventurers such as John Hawkins and Francis Drake and their attacks on Spanish territories, outlines the capture of Jamaica during the time of Oliver Cromwell's rule and describes the growth of the British slave trade. It goes on to discuss the late seventeenth century and eighteenth century conflicts and wars with the Dutch, Spanish and French and the War of American Independence, analyses the effect of the abolition of the slave trade and explores the British dominance which prevailed throughout much of the nineteenth century. The book concludes by examining how in the twentieth century the British navy withdrew almost entirely from the Caribbean, tacitly ceding control to the United States. Throughout the book relates developments in the Caribbean to developments in Britain and in the British navy more widely. John D. Grainger is the author of numerous books for a variety of publishers, including eight previously published books for Boydell and Brewer, including The British Navy in the Baltic, Dictionary of British Naval Battles and The First Pacific War: Britain and Russia, 1854-56.

The British Navy in the Caribbean

The British Navy in the Caribbean PDF Author: John D. Grainger
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 1783275898
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book

Book Description
This book charts the involvement of the British navy in the Caribbean from the earliest times to the present. It recounts the voyages of sixteenth century English adventurers such as John Hawkins and Francis Drake and their attacks on Spanish territories, outlines the capture of Jamaica during the time of Oliver Cromwell's rule and describes the growth of the British slave trade. It goes on to discuss the late seventeenth century and eighteenth century conflicts and wars with the Dutch, Spanish and French and the War of American Independence, analyses the effect of the abolition of the slave trade and explores the British dominance which prevailed throughout much of the nineteenth century. The book concludes by examining how in the twentieth century the British navy withdrew almost entirely from the Caribbean, tacitly ceding control to the United States. Throughout the book relates developments in the Caribbean to developments in Britain and in the British navy more widely. John D. Grainger is the author of numerous books for a variety of publishers, including eight previously published books for Boydell and Brewer, including The British Navy in the Baltic, Dictionary of British Naval Battles and The First Pacific War: Britain and Russia, 1854-56.

The British Navy in the Baltic

The British Navy in the Baltic PDF Author: John D. Grainger
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
ISBN: 1843839474
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
A comprehensive overview of the activities of the British navy in the Baltic Sea from the earliest times until the twentieth century.

The British Navy in the Mediterranean

The British Navy in the Mediterranean PDF Author: John D. Grainger
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 1783272317
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
A comprehensive overview of the activities of the British navy in the Mediterranean from the earliest times until the present.

The British Navy in Eastern Waters

The British Navy in Eastern Waters PDF Author: John D. Grainger
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 1783276770
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
Provides a comprehensive overview of the activities of the British navy in the Indian and Pacific Oceans from the earliest times to the present. This book outlines the early voyages of the English East India Company, its building of its own naval forces and its conflicts with Indian states. It examines the opening up of the Pacific Ocean, the wars with the French in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and the activities of the British navy in the later nineteenth century, both off the coasts of China and Japan, and also in the many other places to which the navy's very great power extended. It goes on to consider the wars of the twentieth century, Britain's withdrawal from east of Suez, and Britain's continuing relative decline. Throughout, the book provides accounts of battles and other actions, and relates the activities of the British navy to the wider political situation and to the activities of other European and Asian navies.

Disciplining the Empire

Disciplining the Empire PDF Author: Sarah Kinkel
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674985311
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
“Rule Britannia! Britannia rule the waves,” goes the popular lyric. The fact that the British built the world’s greatest empire on the basis of sea power has led many to assume that the Royal Navy’s place in British life was unchallenged. Yet, as Sarah Kinkel shows, the Navy was the subject of bitter political debate. The rise of British naval power was neither inevitable nor unquestioned: it was the outcome of fierce battles over the shape of Britain’s empire and the bonds of political authority. Disciplining the Empire explains why the Navy became divisive within Anglo-imperial society even though it was also successful in war. The eighteenth century witnessed the global expansion of British imperial rule, the emergence of new forms of political radicalism, and the fracturing of the British Atlantic in a civil war. The Navy was at the center of these developments. Advocates of a more strictly governed, centralized empire deliberately reshaped the Navy into a disciplined and hierarchical force which they hoped would win battles but also help control imperial populations. When these newly professionalized sea officers were sent to the front lines of trade policing in North America during the 1760s, opponents saw it as an extension of executive power and military authority over civilians—and thus proof of constitutional corruption at home. The Navy was one among many battlefields where eighteenth-century British subjects struggled to reconcile their debates over liberty and anarchy, and determine whether the empire would be ruled from Parliament down or the people up.

The Rise And Fall of British Naval Mastery

The Rise And Fall of British Naval Mastery PDF Author: Paul Kennedy
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141983833
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
Paul Kennedy's classic naval history, now updated with a new introduction by the author This acclaimed book traces Britain's rise and fall as a sea power from the Tudors to the present day. Challenging the traditional view that the British are natural 'sons of the waves', he suggests instead that the country's fortunes as a significant maritime force have always been bound up with its economic growth. In doing so, he contributes significantly to the centuries-long debate between 'continental' and 'maritime' schools of strategy over Britain's policy in times of war. Setting British naval history within a framework of national, international, economic, political and strategic considerations, he offers a fresh approach to one of the central questions in British history. A new introduction extends his analysis into the twenty-first century and reflects on current American and Chinese ambitions for naval mastery. 'Excellent and stimulating' Correlli Barnett 'The first scholar to have set the sweep of British Naval history against the background of economic history' Michael Howard, Sunday Times 'By far the best study that has ever been done on the subject ... a sparkling and apt quotation on practically every page' Daniel A. Baugh, International History Review 'The best single-volume study of Britain and her naval past now available to us' Jon Sumida, Journal of Modern History

The Evil Necessity

The Evil Necessity PDF Author: Denver Alexander Brunsman
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 081393351X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 615

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Book Description
A fundamental component of Britain's early success, naval impressment not only kept the Royal Navy afloat--it helped to make an empire. In total numbers, impressed seamen were second only to enslaved Africans as the largest group of forced laborers in the eighteenth century. In The Evil Necessity, Denver Brunsman describes in vivid detail the experience of impressment for Atlantic seafarers and their families. Brunsman reveals how forced service robbed approximately 250,000 mariners of their livelihoods, and, not infrequently, their lives, while also devastating Atlantic seaport communities and the loved ones who were left behind. Press gangs, consisting of a navy officer backed by sailors and occasionally local toughs, often used violence or the threat of violence to supply the skilled manpower necessary to establish and maintain British naval supremacy. Moreover, impressments helped to unite Britain and its Atlantic coastal territories in a common system of maritime defense unmatched by any other European empire. Drawing on ships' logs, merchants' papers, personal letters and diaries, as well as engravings, political texts, and sea ballads, Brunsman shows how ultimately the controversy over impressment contributed to the American Revolution and served as a leading cause of the War of 1812. Early American HistoriesWinner of the Walker Cowen Memorial Prize for an Outstanding Work of Scholarship in Eighteenth-Century Studies

The War Against the Pirates

The War Against the Pirates PDF Author: Barry Gough
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137314141
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
Based on hitherto unused sources in English and Spanish in British and American archives, in this book naval historian Barry Gough and legal authority Charles Borras investigate a secret Anglo-American coercive war against Spain, 1815-1835. Described as a war against piracy at the time, the authors explore how British and American interests – diplomatic and military – aligned to contain Spanish power to the critically influential islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, facilitating the forging of an enduring but unproclaimed Anglo-American alliance which endures to this day. Due attention is given to United States Navy actions under Commodore David Porter, to this day a subject of controversy. More significantly though, through the juxtaposition of British, American and Spanish sources, this book uncovers the roots of piracy – and suppression– that laid the foundation for the tortured decline of the Spanish empire in the Americas and the subsequent rise of British and American empires, instrumental in stamping out Caribbean piracy for good.

Yellow Jack and the Worm

Yellow Jack and the Worm PDF Author: Duncan Crewe
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 0853232679
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
Between 1739 and 1742, Britain’s major war effort against Spain was concentrated in the Caribbean. This book sets out to examine the problems involved in operating and administering the overseas naval bases at the heart of this effort. Drawing largely on unpublished archive material, it paints a detailed picture of the organization and development of the yard facilities at Jamaica and English Harbor, as well as examining the problems of manning and supplying the ships stationed there. Making extensive use of ships’ muster books, the author provides for the first time a quantitative assessment of the problems of sickness and desertion facing the commanders in the West Indies. The title of this book is taken from the two most common diseases suffered by the men stationed in the Caribbean.

Poseidon's Curse

Poseidon's Curse PDF Author: Christopher P. Magra
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316875911
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
Poseidon's Curse interprets the American Revolution from the vantage point of the Atlantic Ocean. Christopher P. Magra traces how British naval impressment played a leading role in the rise of Great Britain's seaborne empire, yet ultimately contributed significantly to its decline. Long reliant on appropriating free laborers to man the warships that defended British colonies and maritime commerce, the British severely jeopardized mariners' earning potential and occupational mobility, which led to deep resentment toward the British Empire. Magra explains how anger about impressment translated into revolutionary ideology, with impressment eventually occupying a major role in the Declaration of Independence as one of the foremost grievances Americans had with the British government.