{"product_id":"the-first-fleets-colonial-navies-of-the-british-atlantic-world-1630-1775-paperback-softback-9780817362065","title":"The First Fleets; Colonial Navies of the British Atlantic World, 1630-1775 (Paperback \/ softback) 9780817362065","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe First Fleets\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eColonial Navies of the British Atlantic World, 1630-1775\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eBenjamin C. Schaffer (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780817362065\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 15 May 2025\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e232 pages, 9 bw figures - 1 map\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.313 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe First Fleets \u003c\/i\u003eis one of the most original topics in naval history I’ve seen in a decade. Schaffer's narrative flows in such a way to make it approachable and appealing to a broader audience.\" —Claude Berube, author of \u003ci\u003eOn Wide Seas: The US Navy in the Jacksonian Era\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “\u003ci\u003eThe First Fleets\u003c\/i\u003e is a model for writing maritime history. Schaffer connects us not with stories of yard arms and tar barrels, but with social, economic, and political history. . . . It is thoroughly researched, beautifully written, interesting and engaging on every page, and on an important and previously unexplored topic.” —Robert J. Allison, author of \u003ci\u003eThe American Revolution: A Concise History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"The First Fleets\u003c\/i\u003e tells the fascinating story of one of the least studied aspects of American history:  the development of colonial navies.  Historians have long recognized the importance of colonial soldiers and land-based militias.  As Benjamin C. Schaffer reminds us, colonial governments built and manned provincial warships on the high seas.  In the process, they created the infrastructure and skills that state and Continental navies used to help Americans win their independence from Britain.  Beautifully written and meticulously researched, this book should be required reading for anyone interested in the military history of early America.\" —Eliga H. Gould, University of New Hampshire\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eA revealing study on the little-known and misunderstood provincial navies established by North American British colonists\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe First Fleets\u003c\/i\u003e, Benjamin C. Schaffer reveals how, contrary to widespread beliefs, the American colonies had a long tradition of independent naval defense decades before the Revolution. He demonstrates that Anglo-American governments established and maintained significant provincial naval forces and that the history of provincial navies illuminates broader aspects of colonial history and the colonies' ultimate break with the British Crown.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBased on meticulous research, Schaffer recounts the sea-borne threats that American colonies faced from the French, Spanish, pirates, and others. He reviews colonial governance and the relationships between colonial governments and Great Britain. Highlighting Britain's scant naval power in North America, Schaffer demonstrates how the vulnerable coastal colonies undertook their own self-defense.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSchaffer's readable study offers many fascinating episodes from colonial history. Establishing a navy was controversial in pacifist-minded, Quaker-dominated Pennsylvania. South Carolina deployed its scout-boat navy to pursue enslaved Africans who fled colonial capture. The first paper money issued in North America was an initiative to pay for a naval expedition against French Quebec in 1690. These and other episodes show the intimate connection between these little-known provincial navies and the major sociopolitical developments of their day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe First Fleets\u003c\/i\u003e will be of great interest to historians and readers of early American history, particularly colonial maritime and naval activities. Readers interested in the political and military dynamics of pre-Revolutionary America, as well as enthusiasts of naval history and maritime trade, will find \u003ci\u003eThe First Fleets\u003c\/i\u003e both a valuable resource and an engrossing narrative.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e Acknowledgments \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Glossary of Naval Terminology \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e A Note on Early Modern Dates and Historical Grammar \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Introduction \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Chapter 1. The Transatlantic Roots of Provincial Navies up to 1685 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Chapter 2. Provincial Navies in the First Imperial Wars of 1689–1713 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Chapter 3. Provincial Navies and Irregular Warfare on Imperial Borderlands, c. 1713–1739 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Chapter 4. The War of Jenkins' Ear and the Incomplete \"Royalization\" of American Naval Defense \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Chapter 5. The Replacement of Provincial Navies by the Royal Navy in the Seven Years’ War, c. 1756–1763 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Chapter 6. The Legacy of Provincial Navies and the Navies of the American Revolution, c. 1762–1775 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Conclusion \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Notes \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Bibliography \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Index \u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"The University of Alabama Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52739469312280,"sku":"9780817362065","price":24.37,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-first-fleets-colonial-navies-of-the-british-atlantic-world-1630-1775-paperback-softback-9780817362065","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}