British Naval Impressment Research Articles

Poseidon's Curse: British Naval Impressment and Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution

Poseidon's Curse: British Naval Impressment and Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution

The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World by Denver Brunsman; Poseidon’s Curse: British Naval Impressment and Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution by Christopher P. Magra

<i>The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World</i> by Denver Brunsman; <i>Poseidon’s Curse: British Naval Impressment and Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution</i> by Christopher P. Magra

Editor’s Introduction

Editor’s Introduction

Sources and methods in the British impressment debate

British naval impressment has been the subject of debate for centuries. In the 18th century, it produced political debates and resistance from maritime communities, and it was generally disliked by naval officers tasked with pressing men into naval service. After the effective end of the practice in 1815, it was hotly debated in parliament and finally abolished in the mid-19th century. Since then, impressment has been the topic of a scholarly debate that has become increasingly active over the last two decades. In the 21st century, impressment matters for its political and moral implications. The modern debate has, regrettably, broken down and entrenched historians into camps where the different sides have begun to talk past one another, rather than examining how different approaches to the subject actually fit together. This article examines the current state of the debate and offers a path forward that illustrates that none of the scholarly approaches are mutually exclusive. Rather, they can be combined to produce a greater historical understanding of the 18th-century Atlantic world.

Christopher P. Magra. Poseidon’s Curse: British Naval Impressment and Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution.

Christopher P. Magra. Poseidon’s Curse: British Naval Impressment and Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution.

Book Review: Poseidon’s Curse: British Naval Impressment and the Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution

Book Review: Poseidon’s Curse: British Naval Impressment and the Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution

Poseidon’s Curse: British Naval Impressment and the Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution by Christopher P. Magra

Poseidon’s Curse: British Naval Impressment and the Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution by Christopher P. Magra

An Empire of Liberty's Evil Necessity: Naval Impressment and the Nature of the Eighteenth-Century British Empire

A review of Denver Brunsman's The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World

Review of 'Poseidon’s Curse: British Naval Impressment and Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution'

Review of 'Poseidon’s Curse: British Naval Impressment and Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution'

The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World by Denver Brunsman

The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World by Denver Brunsman

The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World, by Denver Brunsman

The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World, by Denver Brunsman

Denver Brunsman. The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World.

Denver Brunsman. The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World.

The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World by Denver Brunsman (review)

The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World by Denver Brunsman (review)

The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World

The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World

The Wars of 1812

The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World. By Denver Brunsman. Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights in the War of 1812. By Paul A. Gilje. The War of 1812: Writings from America’s Second War of Independence. Edited by Donald R. Hickey.

Denver Brunsman. The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World. Early American Histories series. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013. Pp. 376. $29.95 (cloth).

Denver Brunsman. The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World. Early American Histories series. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013. Pp. 376. $29.95 (cloth). - Volume 53 Issue 1

Book Review: The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World

Book Review: The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World

Book Review: Denver Brunsman: The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World

Book Review: Denver Brunsman: <i>The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World</i>

The evil necessity: British naval impressment in the eighteenth-century Atlantic world

The evil necessity: British naval impressment in the eighteenth-century Atlantic world

Anti-Impressment Riots and the Origins of the Age of Revolution

AbstractThis essay details the relationship between anti-impressment collective actions, the American Revolution, and the age of revolution. Naval impressment represented the forcible coercion of laborers into extended periods of military service. Workers in North American coastal communities militantly, even violently, resisted British naval impressment. A combination of Leveller-inspired ideals and practical experience encouraged this resistance. In turn, resistance from below inspired colonial elites to resist British authority by contributing to the elaboration of a political discourse on legitimate authority, liberty, and freedom. Maritime laborers stood on the front lines in the struggle for freedom, and their radical collective actions helped give meaning to wider struggles around the Atlantic world.