Contribution to Book
Black Tars
Britain's Black Past
(2020)
Abstract
During the long eighteenth century (1680-1815) Great Britain created a sprawling global empire. This imperial project resulted in two paradoxes. First, that while Britons’ identity was based upon the power to move where one wanted and the personal security of one’s body, more than one-third of Royal Navy crews were impressed against their will. Second, that at a time when Great Britain’s empire was predicated upon slave labor, free blacks found some economic and social independence in the British Isles, although their freedom was often limited as they were vulnerable to being re-enslaved, particularly if they moved across the Atlantic or returned to slave colonies. At the heart of these two paradoxes, and playing a critical role in the creation and operation of the British empire, were black seamen.
Using my Black Mariner Database that contains data on more than 33,000 black mariners and maritime fugitives this article illustrates how the two paradoxes created by Britain’s imperial ambitions shaped black seamen’s lives, both in the British Isles, as well as in its colonies, and in doing so, emphasize the Atlantic nature of these men’s lives and identities.
British black seamen often found themselves subject to forces beyond their control – varied legal systems, whites’ racist attitudes, imperial regulations and war. Maritime labor needs, particularly during the wars of the 18th century, offered many British maritime fugitives in the Americas opportunities to find freedom. At the same time, local traditions, such as the crews of collier vessels being frequently limited to family and friends, meant black sailors in the British Isles had limited economic opportunities during peacetime. It was often contingencies, such as being captured and brought to England, and connections with white Britons which determined whether doorways to freedom and economic independence were opened to Britain’s black mariners.
Keywords
- Maritime History. Black Mariners,
- Race and Slavery,
- Atlantic History,
- British History
Disciplines
Publication Date
2020
Editor
Gretchen Grezina
Publisher
University of Liverpool Press
Citation Information
Charles R. Foy. "Black Tars" Liverpool, United KingdomBritain's Black Past (2020) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/charles_foy/29/