Kendra Perez
Mrs. Hardison
ECE World Maritime History
16 October 2015
Young Men and the Sea Book Critique Young Men and the Sea by Daniel Vickers provides evidence about shipboard life along with what happened on shore with the towns seafarers. Vickers studied seamen based in Salem, Massachusetts between the 17th and 19th century. Vickers analyzed many sources to be precise about his claims. In his analysis he takes just as much interest in the citizens on shore as well as the ones at sea. With the town of Salem only being approximately 2 ½ miles long there was a street running east to west through it, which was considered to be the main street. This street had a hand in all maritime trades in which everyone had a place. Throughout chapter …show more content…
Sailors from British North America were multi-ethic, multiracial, and different genders. Making them far from unique. The men Vickers studied were quite the opposite. Vickers explains how Salem men moved within a small circle of maritime employers and employees, in which everyone had ties to eachother. Vickers claims that it was just as normal to go out to sea as young men from Salem as it was to men in the British Atlantic. “Seafaring enriched very few of them, but for most men in the maritime societies of the age of sail, it was a customary apprenticeship for adult life” (Vickers 130). Many young men went to out sea as a part of a masculine rite. In Young Men and the Sea it follows Salem’s maritime downturn after the American Revolution. Vickers explains the economic upswing and explains how the merchants responded to it. “War and independence removed Massachusetts’s merchant fleet from under the protection of the British navy and launched it on a tumultuous fifty years’…” (Vickers 163). One of the problems resulted by this downfall was massive unemployment. New England merchants tried to make their way as small …show more content…
It explains in detail the lives of the sailors and at some points throughout the book it gives the different points of view. I would recommend this book to anyone who has interest in the lives of sailors from the 17th through 19th century. This book was very interesting to an extent, while providing very valuable evidence. The only problem with Young Men and the Sea is I think it could have used more references to the current century. Vickers did a phenomenal job with addressing all sides of arguments, even though there wasn’t many arguments that happened throughout the book. Vickers also did a great job in explain how the sailor’s lives were very tough if you were not linked with other seafarers. An appropriate audience for Young Men and the Sea is anyone above the age of 18. This book includes complicated words and you have to infer a lot. This book is also very difficult to comprehend so therefore you need to have some background knowledge to understand it to a better
Mrs. Hardison
ECE World Maritime History
16 October 2015
Young Men and the Sea Book Critique Young Men and the Sea by Daniel Vickers provides evidence about shipboard life along with what happened on shore with the towns seafarers. Vickers studied seamen based in Salem, Massachusetts between the 17th and 19th century. Vickers analyzed many sources to be precise about his claims. In his analysis he takes just as much interest in the citizens on shore as well as the ones at sea. With the town of Salem only being approximately 2 ½ miles long there was a street running east to west through it, which was considered to be the main street. This street had a hand in all maritime trades in which everyone had a place. Throughout chapter …show more content…
Sailors from British North America were multi-ethic, multiracial, and different genders. Making them far from unique. The men Vickers studied were quite the opposite. Vickers explains how Salem men moved within a small circle of maritime employers and employees, in which everyone had ties to eachother. Vickers claims that it was just as normal to go out to sea as young men from Salem as it was to men in the British Atlantic. “Seafaring enriched very few of them, but for most men in the maritime societies of the age of sail, it was a customary apprenticeship for adult life” (Vickers 130). Many young men went to out sea as a part of a masculine rite. In Young Men and the Sea it follows Salem’s maritime downturn after the American Revolution. Vickers explains the economic upswing and explains how the merchants responded to it. “War and independence removed Massachusetts’s merchant fleet from under the protection of the British navy and launched it on a tumultuous fifty years’…” (Vickers 163). One of the problems resulted by this downfall was massive unemployment. New England merchants tried to make their way as small …show more content…
It explains in detail the lives of the sailors and at some points throughout the book it gives the different points of view. I would recommend this book to anyone who has interest in the lives of sailors from the 17th through 19th century. This book was very interesting to an extent, while providing very valuable evidence. The only problem with Young Men and the Sea is I think it could have used more references to the current century. Vickers did a phenomenal job with addressing all sides of arguments, even though there wasn’t many arguments that happened throughout the book. Vickers also did a great job in explain how the sailor’s lives were very tough if you were not linked with other seafarers. An appropriate audience for Young Men and the Sea is anyone above the age of 18. This book includes complicated words and you have to infer a lot. This book is also very difficult to comprehend so therefore you need to have some background knowledge to understand it to a better