From the Free Press, a story of the privateers of the American Revolution, Don't Call Them Pirates.*
Washington had a realistic view of what motivated men. Though he himself had refused to accept a salary for his service in the Continental Army (he accepted only reimbursement for expenses), he saw the importance of marrying patriotism with appeals to the pocketbook. “I do not mean to exclude altogether the idea of patriotism. I know it exists, and I know it has done much in the present contest,” he wrote. “But I will venture to assert that a great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle alone—It must be aided by a prospect of interest or some reward.”
I am a subscriber, and I don't know how much of the article is above the paywall. But with FP the first paragraphs are usually enough to get you started thinking, anyway. And I have some 1-month free subscriptions to give if you get in touch with me at wymanhome (comcast). It is also why I included a section from further down. Letters of marque and reprisal figure prominently, and a further reading list is there.
*Not that that would be a bad thing.
2 comments:
The History Guy did a video recently on one Revolutionary War privateer (Gustavus Conyngham) who sailed out of various ports in Europe to harass British shipping. One of the things he noted was Conyngham insisted at the time and afterward he had been commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy. There does seem to be a fair amount of confusion on the point because he was never given a Letter of Marque by the Continental Congress but his activities were often supported by US commissioners who had been sent to Europe to solicit equipment and support for the Revolution.
Just picked up a different book about the privateers, this one is called Patriots or Privates.
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