American Merchant Ships and Sailors

A survey traces the development of American shipbuilding and seafaring from colonial wooden craft through the age of sail to the rise of steam and steel. It describes commercial routes, packet lines, and the everyday skills, dangers, and responsibilities of sailors and captains. The narrative examines darker chapters including domestic complicity in the transatlantic slave trade and efforts to suppress it. Separate sections treat the whaling and sealing industries, the practice and effects of privateering, and the hardships of Arctic exploration. Regional maritime roles such as Great Lakes navigation, river steamers, and coastal fisheries are outlined alongside technological and economic change.