Whaling captains of color : America's first meritocracy / Skip Finley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Finley, Skip, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Whaling masters--United States--History.

Whaling masters.

African American whalers--History.

African American whalers.

Whaling masters--United States--Biography.

African American whalers--Biography.

Whaling--United States--History.

Whaling.

History.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 287 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Annapolis, Maryland : Naval Institute Press, [2020]

Summary:

"The history of whaling as an industry on this continent has been well-told in books, including some that have been bestsellers, but what hasn't been told is the story of whaling's leaders of color in an era when the only other option was slavery. Whaling was one of the first American industries to exhibit diversity. A man became a captain not because he was white or well-connected, but because he knew how to kill a whale. Along the way, he could learn navigation and reading and writing. Whaling presented a tantalizing alternative to mainland life"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Dynasty: 1778-1842 p. 9

Chapter 2 How Commercial Whaling Started p. 29

Chapter 3 Nantucket to New Bedford p. 44

Chapter 4 Whaling p. 61

Chapter 5 How Hard Was Whaling? p. 81

Chapter 6 Sometimes the Whale Won p. 109

Chapter 7 The Whale's Story p. 128

Chapter 8 Whaling versus Slavery p. 138

Chapter 9 Identity p. 151

Chapter 10 The Whaling Captain p. 156

Chapter 11 Innovators p. 166

Chapter 12 The Cape Verdeans p. 173

Chapter 13 Whaling Moves to San Francisco p. 193

Chapter 14 So Ends p. 203.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781682475096

1682475093

OCLC:

1111643788