The Liberty to Take Fish: Atlantic Fisheries and Federal Power in Nineteenth-Century America

Thomas Blake Earle's The Liberty to Take Fish explores the relationship between the fisheries and the state in the Civil War era, highlighting the importance of the cod fisheries of the Grand Banks, the Bay of Fundy, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the economic health of the United States. The fisheries issue was a near-constant concern in American statecraft, impacting Anglo-American relations, federalism, and the marine environment. Earle returns fishing to its once-central place in American history and shows that the nation of the nineteenth century was indeed a maritime one.

Format: Hardback
Length: 294 pages
Publication date: 15 August 2023
Publisher: Cornell University Press

The Liberty to Take Fish, written by Thomas Blake Earle, provides a comprehensive and insightful history of the long American Revolution, highlighting the complex interplay between political freedom and economic imperatives in the fishing industry. The book explores how the American Revolution led to the United States gaining the liberty to take fish from the waters of the North Atlantic, which became a significant symbol of American independence in an Atlantic world dominated by Great Britain. The fisheries issue became a persistent concern in American statecraft, affecting relations with Great Britain, the operation of American federalism, and the marine environment. Earle delves into the relationship between the fisheries and the state during the Civil War era, when closer ties between the United States and Great Britain finally surpassed the contentious interests of the fishing industry. The book takes readers on a journey from the staterooms of Washington and London to the decks of fishing schooners and into the Atlantic itself, shedding light on how ordinary fishermen and the fish they pursued shaped and were shaped by the far-off political and economic forces. Earle restores fishing to its once-central place in American history and demonstrates that the nation of the nineteenth century was indeed a maritime one.

Weight: 454g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501768927