HIS106Y1 Lecture 34: Seafaring and Piracy
Document Summary
Ships were more than simply vessels of transportation, they symbolized like and death, both the possibilities and the dangers of the atlantic. It was like a floating state, the captain represented law and order and government. Everyone in the ship found their way into the socio-hierarchy on the ship. For some it was a religious experience in the hands of divine providence. a social leveler, a terrifying place, and a lawless frontier. When they were at sea they were far from the law of their countries. Both land and sea is being competed for no one group (cid:272)ontrolled the sea. We would not (cid:271)e studying the atlanti(cid:272) world if it weren"t for ships. Fiction on piracy was written at the time - a certain amount of fascination on the criminals. Ships symbolized: technological superiority, european civilization, economic trade, salvation, rescue, cruelty, and slavery (propaganda against slavery). For all people who crossed the oceans, ships represented a necessary rite of passage.
