The English Navy 1649-1815

artorius castus blog ^ | July 2006 | unknown

[cardinal4]

The British Empire relied on its military and economic strength to further its aim. This process largely began after the end of the English Civil War which pinned King against Parliament and ended with the dictatorship of a highly talented but authoritarian general Oliver Cromwell in 1649. At this time the navy began to develop, eventually it would become the most powerful in the world. It would rely on foreign trade by English merchants for its finance. And in return the navy would provide the English merchant class with access to foreign markets through war and coercion whenever needed. This paper will primarily deal with the development of the navy from the period 1649-1815, which is the subject of N.A.M Roger’s groundbreaking book, The Command of the Ocean. After studying the development of the English navy from 1649-1815, it is clear that it played a crucial role in establishing Great Britain as the foremost, military, economic and imperial power in the world by the end of the Napoleonic wars.

[cardinal4]

Interesting article on the early British Navy..

[thundrey]

Why call it the ‘English Navy’ though? after 1707, it would have been the ‘British Navy’. Although the correct title throughout it’s entire history has been the ‘Royal Navy’ and that is what it should be called, as there is no other navy in the English-speaking world called the ‘Royal Navy’....

[cardinal4]

Who knows? The politically correct academic world has so muddied the waters of history, thats its tough to discern the agendas..

[DManA]

If you are interested in this period of history and like historical novels, Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle covers this era and IMO is excellent.

[BroJoeK]

"When the Seven Years War began, the navy had increased to 239 total ships in commission, in which 90 were ships of the line.[37] And the manpower had increased to over sixty thousand.[38]

At the height of the Seven Years War in 1759, the Navy had increased to about 300 ships with over 80,000 Navy personnel.[39]

However, the attempt to tax the American colonies in the 1760s would reveal the limitation of the fiscal power of the early British Empire.[40] The wars in this period would lead to a shortage of government revenue that would eventually lead to the loss of the American colonies in 1776.[41]"

[testing photo post]

[BroJoeK]

GOT IT!! ;-)

[hellbender]

Why did they bother with a navy? They could have just kept a token militia force at home and relied on “free trade” with everybody, including their potential enemies, and everyone would have been rich and happy. /s

[BroJoeK]

[watch out, now I'm getting dangerous ;-)]

[BroJoeK]

"Why did they bother with a navy? They could have just kept a token militia force at home and relied on “free trade” with everybody, including their potential enemies, and everyone would have been rich and happy. /s"

Sure, just like America's Founding Fathers, right? ;-)

USS Constitution:

awarded: 1794 under under "isolationist" Founding Father, President Washington.

launched: 1797 under "pacifist" Founding Father, President Adams.

cost: $302,000 equivalent in terms of today's GDP & government revenues to $13 billion!

Sent to fight Barbary Pirates in North Africa: 1803 by that well known "non-interventionist" President Jefferson.

Used to fight the Brits: War of 1812, by that "peace loving" President Madison.

[hellbender]

Gorgeous picture. I'm always amazed that people would try to row a becalmed warship out of trouble.

Washington was no isolationist, but a realist, and his statement about "entangling alliances" is usually quoted completely out of context. He was writing at a time when the Republicans (Jefferson's party) wanted to side with the French, and the extreme Federalists sympathized with Britain. Adams was strongly in favor of a navy to protect our interests, esp. against the French. The Republicans sounded a lot like today's loony libertarians.

The OP shows that anyone who wants to carry on peaceful trade better have a strong military. A nation's trade is inevitably attacked in time of war. Our greatest potential enemy, China, is behaving like all the great powers of the past, trying to sew up access to vital raw materials and potentially deny them to us, not engaging in wishful thinking that "free market magic" will always get them what they need.

[cardinal4]

What got me interested in this period was “Master and Commander”. Thanks for the movie tip!

[DManA]

Sorry for the confusion, The Baroque cycle is a series of novels.

[BroJoeK]

"The [Jeffersonian] Republicans sounded a lot like today's loony libertarians."

Or Ron Paul Republicans? Is there a difference?

We might note that, once in office, President Jefferson was as internationalist, interventionist and expansionist as any president in history. Witness the First Barbary War and the Louisiana Purchase.

[tet68]

Well, as they say, “ A stern chase is a long chase.”.
I think their sails were “wing and wing”, set to catch any
hint of air.

Great Painting.

[BroJoeK]

"Interesting article on the early British Navy.. "

Battle of the Nile, 1798.

Nelson defeats Napoleon.

They don't do it this way any more...

[cardinal4]

Thats a beautiful pic. I added it to the original story. crediting a fellow freeper..

[hellbender]

I've been reading some books about that period, including ones by Joseph Ellis. Jefferson was a shifty, rather duplicitous person. He hired a scandalmonger to spread slander about John Adams, then denied doing so when caught. Part of the reason for the LA Purchase was actually defensive. Before he decided to sell LA, Napoleon had entertained grandiose plans to restore French power in N. America. The idea of Boney in control of the Mississippi, the lifeline of the U.S. West, filled Jeff. with horror. Jeff. actually drafted a Constitutional amendment to cover the purchase, thinking it unConstitutional, but scrapped the idea because ratification would have taken too long. So he was a man for whom reality could trump theory, unlike many of today's libertarian ideologues.

Ironically, the Navy eventually used against the Barbary pirates (and against the Brits by Jeff's disciple Madison) had been built at the instigation of the Federalists over the opposition of the Jeffersonians.