A “Small Vessel of Brisk Bostoneers”: The Life and Times of the Massachusetts Province Sloop Mary, c. 1688-1693
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25071/2561-5467.1080Keywords:
Anglo-American provincial naval forces, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Dominion of New England, British Empire, Glorious RevolutionAbstract
In the late seventeenth century, the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s government built its own provincial navy of several vessels to secure its coastline from French, Indigenous, and piratical threats. While the creation of provincial navies would become a regular hallmark of English colonization throughout the Atlantic world, this fleet’s flagship – the sloop Mary – and its crew would become major players in various transatlantic dramas ranging from the Glorious Revolution to the Golden Age of Piracy to the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Overall, Mary’s short service history not only gives us a novel maritime lens through which we can examine traditionally-well studied events in early American history, but also highlights the long-ignored role of Anglo-American provincial naval forces in shaping the first British Empire.
À la fin du dix-septième siècle, le gouvernement de la colonie de la baie du Massachusetts a construit sa propre marine provinciale de plusieurs navires pour protéger ses côtes contre les menaces posées par les Français, les Autochtones et les pirates. Alors que la création de marines provinciales allait devenir une caractéristique de la colonisation anglaise dans le monde de l’Atlantique, le navire amiral de cette flotte – le sloop Mary – et son équipage allaient devenir des acteurs importants dans divers drames transatlantiques, y compris la Glorieuse Révolution, l’Âge d’or de la piraterie et les procès des sorcières de Salem. Dans l’ensemble, la courte histoire de service maritime du Mary nous offre non seulement une nouvelle optique maritime à travers laquelle il est possible de considérer les événements traditionnellement bien étudiés des débuts de l’histoire américaine, mais elle souligne également le rôle longtemps ignoré des forces navales provinciales anglo-américaines dans la formation du premier Empire britannique.
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