The Yankee Privateersman of 1776

Abstract

A MERICA at war in 1944 differs in most respects from iv America at war in 1776. The technique of war, the nation itself, and the world at large have so changed that parallels between the two ages can be drawn only with caution. Certainly warfare today offers the young patriot no such opportunity to seek his own fortune while fighting his country's battle as did privateering in the eighteenth century. One thing which remains essentially unchanged, however, is the spirit of young men toward war and its experiences. Today the citizen-soldier is stirred by the same emotions as in Revolutionary times: the painful wrench of leaving home and loved ones, the thrill of crossing unknown waters toward new lands, the fear and excitement of going into battle for the first time, the homesickness that reaches its most acute form in enemy prisons. Privateering in the Revolutionary War was an institution concerning which there were contrasted opinions. Soberminded public leaders shook their heads over its nefarious effects on the morals of the community. Statesmen like John Adams sought to evaluate it as an instrument of national policy. But to a host of youngsters throughout New England, privateering appeared in a vastly more exciting light. Few red-blooded boys could remain impervious to the lure of the game, displayed in a thousand ways, including such advertisements as this: