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Radical Protestantism and
doux commerce: the trials and
tribulations of Nantucket's
Quaker whaling community
Andreas Hess
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To cite this article: Andreas Hess (2012): Radical Protestantism and doux commerce:
the trials and tribulations of Nantucket's Quaker whaling community, Economy and
Society, 41:2, 227-257
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Economy and Society Volume 41 Number 2 May 2012: 227 257
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Radical Protestantism and
doux commerce: the trials and
tribulations of Nantucket’s
Quaker whaling community
Andreas Hess
Abstract
This paper discusses the complex relationship between morals and markets and
uses the case of Nantucket as an illustration. I argue that it was a specific Protestant
work ethic promoted by Quakerism that facilitated the rise of Nantucket to
become the capital of the American whaling fleet for more than a century. However,
I also argue that the same morals and values that helped to give birth to the
Quaker whaling empire contributed significantly to the downfall of the Quaker
community, decades before whaling in general got into crisis. In more general terms
this paper attempts to be a historical case study that illustrates the complexities of
Albert O. Hirschman’s doux commerce argument and particularly the way the
Protestant spirit fits into Hirschman’s explanation.
Keywords: Quakers; Nantucket; whaling; doux commerce; Protestant work ethic;
A. O. Hirschman.
Let America add Mexico to Texas, and pile Cuba upon Canada; let the
English overswarm all India, and hang out the blazing banner from the sun;
two-thirds of this terraqueous globe are the Nantucketer’s. For the sea is his;
he owns it, as Emperors own empires; other seamen having but a right of way
through it.
(Herman Melville, Moby-Dick)
Andreas Hess, University College Dublin, School of Sociology, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
E-mail: a.hess@ucd.ie
Copyright # 2012 Taylor & Francis
ISSN 0308-5147 print/1469-5766 online
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2012.661628
228
Economy and Society
True Godliness doesn’t turn men out of this world, but enables them to live
better in it, and excites their endeavours to mend it.
(William Penn)
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Since asceticism undertook to remodel the world and to work out ideals
in the world, material goods have gained an increasing and finally an
inexorable power over the lives of men as at no previous period in history . . .
Victorious capitalism, since it rests on mechanical foundations, needs its
support no longer.
(Max Weber, The Protestant Work Ethic)
Introduction
J. Hector St John de Crèvecæur, the author of the famous Letters from an
American Farmer [1979 (1782)] praised and admired Nantucket and its
industrious Quaker entrepreneurs. He noted that, in contrast to the mainland
American farmer who ploughs the soil, the Nantucketers ‘plough the rougher
ocean. They gather from its surface, at an immense distance and with
Herculean labours, the riches it affords; they go to hunt and catch that huge
fish, which, by its strength and velocity, one would imagine ought to be beyond
the reach of man’ (Crèvecæur, 1979 [1782], p. 105). Obviously, the island’s very
scarcity of resources had driven its inhabitants to the sea. They had made a
fortune through their own labour, which, in his mind, made the Nantucket
community even more interesting: ‘Idleness and poverty, the causes of so many
crimes, are unknown here; each seeks, in the prosecution of his lawful business,
that honest gain which supports them; every period of their time is full, either
on shore or at sea’ (1979 [1782], p. 105). A few pages later Crèvecæur tries to
give a more detailed explanation. He praises good Quaker education, their
affectionate care, their ‘taste for neatness’, the ‘very tone of voice’, their
‘softness of direction’. The inhabitants, he argued:
frugal, sober, orderly, parents, attached to their business, constantly following
some useful occupation, never guilty of riot, dissipation, or other irregularities,
cannot fail of training up children to the same uniformity of life and manners.
If they are left with fortunes, they are taught how to save them, and how to
enjoy them with moderation and decency; if they have none they know how to
venture, how to work, and toil, as their fathers have done before them.
‘The Friends’, he continues, show ‘obedience to the laws, even to nonresistance, justice, love of order, fondness and appetite for commerce’
(Crèvecæur, 1979 [1782], pp.108f.). Crèvecæur had an astute sense of what
was going on the island of Nantucket and went to considerable length to
describe it, even praising it as a social and economic model. He had a point,
one that I would like to elaborate upon in this paper.
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229
While the relationship between Quakers and whaling has been subject
to some research, especially with reference to the island of Nantucket, these
studies usually pay only lip service to theoretical discussions. It seems that
Weberian concepts have become a kind of gospel for some historians. Brief
tribute is paid by using the occasional quote, but without further inquiring
or caring much about the details and multifaceted aspects of the complex
relationship between peculiar Protestant habits and customs and the early
history of capitalism. On the other side, we find the classic theoretical texts
on the Protestant spirit and work ethic that appear to be much refined in
the way they discuss Protestant sects such as the Quakers, but that all too often
take flight into the more general conditions and notions of emerging capitalism
without ever getting down to the finer historical parts.1 I hypothesize that
in Nantucket we have potentially a historical case at hand that would allow us
to better understand the relationship between community customs, religious
adherence and social-economic development including, eventually, their
decline.2 This story of how Quakers, whaling and emergent capitalism were
connected, the story of their various trials and tribulations as a community,
has never been fully told nor has there been a comprehensive attempt to
understand the deeper connection and the occasionally tense relationship
between morals and markets in the case of Nantucket.
I additionally maintain that discussing the case of Nantucket and its
Quaker whaling empire makes sense only if we add to the Weberian discussion
the critical observation of Albert O. Hirschman, namely that a moral outlook
does not necessarily contradict the principles of emerging markets and
early capitalism (Hirschman, 1977, 1992). As Hirschman explains, to engage
in doux commerce could be regarded a moral conduct of life, in other words,
an expression of a cultural disposition. That, I will argue, was also the case
in Nantucket. However, the island’s case is a bit more complicated than
Hirschman’s argument suggests. First, while engaging in whaling and related
commerce the Quakers thought their way of conducting their way of life
was still a form of serving God; at a later stage, however, the Quaker
community logic defended a more conservative position and showed a certain
reluctance to change, which produced a form of culture clash. As it turned
out, in the long run doux commerce and its interests were detrimental to the
conduct of life and the values of Quakerism; they destroyed the very values
and culture that once gave rise to the pursuit of commerce in the first place.
The argument is presented in three steps. First, I will briefly introduce
Weber’s Protestant work ethic thesis. I will do this in a modified, toned-down
form by also referring to Hirschman’s argument about morals, markets and
doux commerce. This significantly modified Weberian thesis will, so I hope,
improve our understanding of the rise of commerce and early capitalist forms,
while also hinting at its inherent contradictions (though it might not help in
elucidating Weber’s more speculative thoughts on Occidental rationality and
the rise of the West.) Second, I use the Nantucket whaling empire to illustrate
my argument. My argument is developed in two sub-sections. I will first
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Economy and Society
describe how Nantucket provided a unique environment in which Quakerism
blossomed and helped to create a culture, which turned the island into the
whaling capital of the world. This first section leads us from the early
beginnings of the Quaker community to the re-launch of whaling after the
Peace of Ghent towards the middle of the second decade of the nineteenth
century. In the second sub-section I will then zoom in and try to deepen my
argument about a specific Protestant culture by taking a closer look at those
conditions which helped the Quaker elite to steer the Nantucket whaling
industry successfully through more than a century. Despite the obvious
success, or maybe because of it, the Quaker whaling empire got into crisis. The
third step consists mainly of concluding remarks. I will offer some arguments
as to the deeper relevance of the Nantucket case, particularly what it tells us
about the possible contradictions between morals and markets.
The Protestant work ethic and doux commerce
The German sociologist Max Weber was certainly aware of some of the
peculiarities of Quaker religion and Quakers served in at least one prominent
discussion that of disenchantment as his most radical example of
Protestantism (Weber, 2006, pp. 142 6). Looking deeper into the function of
Protestant sects, Weber maintained that what seemed at first like a contradiction in terms for example, otherworldliness, asceticism and pietism appears to have indeed been deeply related to mundane economic activities
such as running a business enterprise. Weber warned that it would not be
enough to look simply at outstanding individuals who had a middle-class
background and Protestant roots. He was much more interested in complex
historical constellations in which the behaviour and actions of entire groups
or strata, as was the case with Calvinism and those groups close to a ‘protoCalvinist’ spirit, such as sects which were explicitly oriented towards a frugal
lifestyle and in which other-worldliness figured prominently but unintentionally (2006, p. 30). For Weber, Mennonites and Quakers were the two sects that
would become classic examples of those collectivities that followed a very strict
moral conduct and life-style but that also had a distinguished record in terms
of being economically successful as a group.
Weber was convinced that it would be short-sighted to regard the new
Protestant ethos merely as an expression of a desire for profit in which using
other humans simply becomes a means to an end. For Weber, the new conduct
must rather be seen in conjunction with a changed attitude towards the idea
of vocation, i.e. the idea that work is more than just providing the means
for a materialistic life and well-being. Such a change in attitude emerged
because of formative educational and socialization processes. The very word
‘calling’ points to some of the sacred origins of the word, more specifically,
the psychological premium that one can gain if one’s work becomes part of
living a religiously committed, or ‘correct’, way of life (certitudo salutis)
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231
(2006, pp. 57, 61). Not that there was any automatic relationship between the
religious idea and capitalist enterprise; what we encounter instead is an elective
affinity (Wahlverwandschaft) between religious beliefs such as the salvation of
the soul and the echo they found in perfecting a secular economic activity.
A dilemma, however, occurred in relation to the idea of predestination,
which figured prominently in the rhetoric of these sects. How could one
determine whether one was destined or condemned, and how was one to
know with certainty? The answer that Calvin gave was that it was impossible
to know just by looking at superficial appearance; for him, ‘the predestined
remained part of the invisible Church’ (2006, p. 97). However, his followers
and inheritors believed that the proof emerged in objectified form such as
common labour. Instrumental for achieving such results were ascetic forms
of life as expressed in self-control and in the rejection of luxurious lifestyles
or abundance. Good works that were visible and verifiable were what mattered.
What happened in such reasoning was in effect that the believer himself
became the instance who could prove that he was on the right path. ‘He tried
his own pulse’, as Weber remarked poignantly. The net effect of all of this
was the total sacralization of life, ‘a Christianisation of the entire being’
and ‘a systematic and rational construction of one’s entire ethical life’ (2006,
pp. 114f.). Weber stressed more than once that such reasoning could be
encountered not only in Calvinist sects but also in Baptists, Mennonites and,
most prominently, Quakers (2006, pp.136ff.).
Despite Weber’s insights I maintain that discussing how radical Protestantism and the emergence of capitalism are linked makes sense only if we link
the Weberian discussion to another, equally important one: namely of how
commerce, markets and morals are related. Unlike the traditional Marxist
view, which sees morals as a camouflaging exercise to hide the nasty
disadvantages that capitalism holds once it is in full flow, Albert O.
Hirschman’s work has shown that such an instrumental notion of how markets
and morals are linked is highly problematic. Marxist notions seem to be based
on a re-projection: once capitalism is in full flow, morals are simply regarded as
expressing false consciousness, and hence so must all morality that gave birth
to the capitalist enterprise in the first place. Hirschman holds not only a much
more complex view on how morals and market were related
than the standard Marxian interpretation, he also suspects that the story
might not end in the way capitalism’s critics have thought it would.
Hirschman’s The Passions and the Interests carried the subtitle ‘Political
Arguments for Capitalism before its Triumph’ and it is this subtitle which
illuminates the true epistemological interest of Albert O. Hirschman (1977;
Hess, 1999). Hirschman is interested in what actually precipitated the
emergence of capitalism. He asks why, throughout a long period in European
history, making money and being involved with trade and commerce were
regarded as disreputable activities, and he points out that only with the rise
of modernity were these activities eventually regarded with some respect.3
A change was necessary as the European society that emerged from the
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Middle Ages was no longer able to function along the lines of inherited status.
The question arose of what was to replace the old morality and religion that
had held traditional society together. Furthermore, if status was no longer
inherited and the old hierarchy and order no longer had absolute command,
what would serve to regulate and balance the passions? These questions
necessarily raised another: what is it that binds a society together in the first
place? As Hirschman recounts, philosophers and intellectuals have given
different answers to these questions.
Hirschman’s most prominent example here is Adam Smith. The Scottish
philosopher and economist used a political-moral argument by pointing out
that trade and commerce would be the most effective means of constraining
the powers of absolute monarchs and feudal landlords, as the expansion of
trade was in the interest of the growing middle class. He went even further
in maintaining that it was mainly economic activity that could serve and
contribute to the progress of mankind. With Smith, a state had been reached
where all moral arguments became channelled into one political argument that of pursuing economic interest. To be sure, there was a strong moral
motivation behind such reasoning the impetus being the concern with what
prevents society from becoming fractionalized and drifting apart. However, as
Hirschman points out, once the theorizing of economic activity and the
practical pursuit of interests were on track, economists lost sight of their
original morally motivated epistemological interest. Hirschman maintains that
the early thinkers from the political economy tradition can still serve as a
reminder that political economy was first and foremost conceived of as a moral
activity and served such purposes.
In an essay written for the purpose of elaborating on an argument that
had remained somewhat unfinished in The Passions and the Interests, but also
in an attempt to link up with the discussion as it had evolved since then,
Hirschman conceded now that there were more historical variations in the
way the relationship between morals and markets evolved than he had
maintained earlier (Hirschman, 1992). More specifically he points out that
pre-capitalist conditions can indeed have a preventive and braking dimension
or be enabling; however, only concrete historical evidence will make the
weight and the moral dimension of each case clear. Elaborating further on his
earlier discussion, Hirschman still insists that the activity referred to as doux
commerce is called so because it highlights the invisible yet beneficial effects
that are created by the emerging markets, independent of whether the
participants are fully aware of moral dimensions or not. There is though, as
Hirschman stresses, also a negative side to the doux commerce thesis: once
markets are fully developed, self-destructive and detrimental consequences are
possible because of the willed or unconscious obliteration of anything that
resembles a moral stance. In the past, political economists have looked
exclusively at only one possible outcome of such a complex situation; they have
ignored the possibility of overlapping explanations. For Hirschman, there is
thus not necessarily a contradiction between various possible scenarios but
Andreas Hess: Radical Protestantism and doux commerce
233
rather a continuum. Again, how such a continuum manifests itself can only
be determined historically (1992, pp. 135ff.). I am convinced that the Quaker
whaling empire, its trials and tribulations, is the closest we have to such a
historical case. We can not only test Hirschman’s general thesis but also
go further and find out how the connection between Protestantism and
capitalism fits into his explanation. Thus, I aim here at an explanation that
does both, looking at morals and markets and how the Weber thesis can be
built in as a meaningful variable.
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The case of Nantucket
From humble beginnings to global stage: the emergence of the Quaker whaling
empire in Nantucket
Nantucket was discovered in 1602 by Bartholomew Gosnold, bought in
1641 from the Plymouth colony and then sold on to some twenty private
purchasers. The island came under colonial authority in 1664 and was officially
governed by New York. For a long time it remained in a state of ‘benign
neglect’ (Byers, 1987) even after it became incorporated into Massachusetts
in 1691. As we will see later on, political government in the strict sense of
the term never played a major role in Nantucket’s history until the War
of Independence and the American Revolution. This was mainly due to the
unique religious-civil arrangements on the island. There was, until the
nineteenth century, no public management to speak of; only a handful of civil
servants dealt with regulatory matters. Economic and educational matters
remained in the hands of the settlers until the 1820s (Byers, 1987, p. 126).4
By the end of the seventeenth century the island’s growing number of
inhabitants faced the major problem that natural resources from the commons
were limited and that sheep grazing only generated a small income. In order
to make a living, the inhabitants had to look beyond the island and turned
to the sea. Around the same time whales and whale-related products had
become an important aspect of early industrial production. Sperm oil
and particularly so-called head matter oil, which could be found in the
whale’s head or nose, served as a lubricant for machines, its advantage being
that it was non-corrosive and maintained its consistency even under extreme
temperature changes. Apart from manufacturing, sperm oil was also used as
a stable light-producing resource (most lighthouses functioned with sperm
whale oil), for leather tanning, soap and for producing paint.5 There was a
further advantage: while normal whale oil needed to be processed this was
not the case with head matter.
Ichabod Paddock, a Quaker and early pioneer, became the first entrepreneur
to devote his efforts exclusively to catching the ‘Royal Fish’.6 However,
there was still a large bridging period before inshore whaling became fully
replaced by industrial whaling. It took more than a century before small sailing
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vessels fully replaced traditional rowing boats. Only in the 1720s did the
systematic, industrial hunt for sperm whales begin. In 1723 Nantucket got
its first proper wharf built solely for the docking of whale ships. By the mideighteenth century there were already sixty ships of up to 75 tons each,
bringing in almost 12,000 barrels of whale oil annually (Philbrick, 1994, p. 73).
Still, whaling near the shore remained an important activity and lasted
roughly until 1760 when whales could no longer be found in Nantucket waters
(Leach & Gow, 1997, p. 66; Philbrick, 1994, p. 72) and when even following
the Gulf Stream would no longer guarantee a big catch. Nantucket whalers
soon made up for the loss by sailing further, first to the Azores, Cape Verde
and Brazil and then all the way to the Falkland Islands.
By changing from offshore boats to larger vessels built solely for whaling,
Nantucketers had already taken the first steps towards the rationalization and
improvement of their fleet. But perhaps the biggest invention was the
construction of vessels that contained their own tryworks, that is, proper
processing facilities, an innovation that was used from the 1750s onwards.
Vessels now turned into floating and self-contained factories (Philbrick, 1994,
p. 72). Around the same time other changes, linked to trade patterns, occurred:
increasingly, entrepreneurs and merchants tried to cut out the middlemen.
Instead of selling and shipping the oil out of Boston harbour, from the mid1730s onwards Nantucket whale men used either Newport or the island’s
harbour for direct sailings. This was an important new trend since England,
not having a significant whaling fleet of her own, had become the main
importer of sperm whale oil.7 But not all head matters went to England; some
sperm oil was also sold to American candle-makers, who were concentrated in
nearby New Bedford.
Increased demand led to a further enlargement of the Nantucket fleet. By
1748 Nantucket had sixty vessels, each ship having a capacity of 50 to75 tons
and an annual tonnage of 11,250. By 1756 this increased to eighty vessels, 75
tons and an annual catch of 12,000 tons. By 1769 Nantucket had 125 vessels
with up to 93 tons capacity for each ship and an annual catch of 14,331 tons.
Around 1775, just before the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and
America, Nantucket had 150 vessels with an annual 15,000-ton capacity,
forming the backbone of the American fleet, amounting to 360 vessels with a
33,000-ton capacity and roughly 4,700 sailors (Starbuck, 1989 [1878], pp.
168ff.). However, whaling expeditions and explorations needed more than just
good seafaring skills, improved shipbuilding and construction, and a favourable
geographical location. They needed real commitment and a form of cultural
organization and a community, something that could never come from simply
pursuing an individual economic dream. As we will see, it was Quakerism and
its particular way of doing business that was at the core of developing a culture
that was conducive to industrial whaling and the trade and commerce
associated with it.
The first settlers that came to Nantucket sought both an investment
opportunity and an escape from intolerant Puritanism in Massachusetts
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235
(Byers, 1987, pp. 5ff.; Leach & Gow, 1997, pp. 8ff.). The first recorded
official Quaker visitor to Nantucket had been Thomas Turner in 1698 (Leach
& Gow, 1997, pp. 21ff.). He was followed by other visitors, mainly from
Newport, Rhode Island, which at the time had become the centre of all
Quaker activities in the region (Mekeel, 1979, p. 217; Worrall, 1980, p. 63);
1709 saw the first proper establishment of a Quaker meeting on Nantucket
soil (Worrall, 1980, p. 72). Strong ties developed between the mainland base
and the island. The result was that the next large batch of settlers consisted
only of Quakers, mainly but not solely channelled through Newport. But,
still, no religious hegemony of any denomination seemed to have evolved for
several decades. By all accounts, the settlers, including the remaining Native
Americans, seem to have lived peacefully on the island. The Quaker
community grew quickly, from 75 adult members in 1708 (out of a total
population of 1,100), to 356 by 1728, 580 in 1738, 832 in 1748
and 1,173 in 1758 (out of approximately 3,300, the total population of the
island) (Byers 1987, pp. 104, 329).8
Perry Miller’s classic The New England Mind: From Colony to Province
allows us to contextualize the Quaker exit from Massachusetts to Nantucket.
First, Miller reminds us of the altered condition and the change of perspective
in the New World: ‘New England faced the problem of coming to terms with a
universe completely altered from that with which the founders had supposed
themselves in perfect accord’ (1953, p. 125). The new situation in colonial
America would not only shape the religious landscape but also its hierarchy
and order. Miller points out that a Presbyterian majority, who were extremely
suspicious and deeply intolerant of other forms of religious adherence, had
dominated colonial Massachusetts. Presbyterians were a Church; the others
were regarded as mere ‘independent Congregationalists’ and later denounced
as ‘sects’ (Miller, 1953, pp. 77ff.). Theoretically speaking, Massachusetts saw
itself as tolerant, but when it came to practising tolerance it was another story
altogether (1953, pp. 167ff.). At the same time, there were limits; changes in
the attitude of the British monarchy ensured that heresy could no longer be
persecuted, and the same naturally applied to the colonies. This gave the
Quakers room to breathe. It seemed that toleration had become less a matter of
religion and more a question of with whom one identified politically a
delicate balancing act for all religious groups involved. The idea of the
covenant, repeated time and time again, included all believers from New
England and served as a general umbrella or, in fact, as a kind of truce; yet
nobody really believed in such a final arrangement and every faith group
continued to pursue its own agenda (1953, p. 178).
The second point that Miller makes is perhaps even more important for
an understanding of the Quaker spirit: while Massachusetts’ Presbyterians
tried to close ranks with other Congregationalist communities and sought
ever more sophisticated theological argument to explain, and defend, their
hegemonic role and function in the Massachusetts colony usually using the
rhetoric of the Jeremiad to justify their peculiar American existence Quakers
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Economy and Society
tried to strengthen and rely on their own communal ties. Being dissenters from
dissenters explains why they perceived themselves as rather innocent, a belief
that would come to play a not unimportant role in the history of the Quaker
exodus from Massachusetts and the founding and further development of the
Quaker community of Nantucket.9
On Nantucket island two major faith groups were present: Quakers and the
Congregational Church; however, over time it was the former which became
the hegemonic force of Nantucket. Due to their isolated location the islanders
were mostly left in charge of their own affairs,10 interrupted only by internal
disputes about the island’s property arrangements, a criterion which was
crucial for the right to vote and becoming a selectman. These quarrels over
land and property subsided with the arrival of commercial success and some
outstanding individuals who took a lead in establishing commerce and trade. In
their majority these individuals were either of Quaker origin or at least close to
the Society of Friends. We have already mentioned the pioneering effort of
Ichabod Paddock, the Quaker from Yarmouth, Cape Cod, who had arrived on
Nantucket in 1690 and who had taught the islanders how whaling could be
turned into a lucrative business. Mary Starbuck left an equally distinguished
mark on the community. Mary Starbuck, born Mary Coffin, was married to
another descendant of the original settlers, Nathaniel Starbuck. She took on
the earlier lesson from Paddock by developing particularly good working
relations with the native community, thereby laying the foundation for her
mainly whaling-related enterprise. In fact, she practised what most Quakers
merely believed in, namely that there should be equality between men and
women; Mary Starbuck Coffin just took the rhetoric a step further by
becoming the head of the enterprise. Later she was supported in this role by
her son, Nathaniel Starbuck Jr, who would combine the role of clerk in the
town’s local government with providing the same service for the ever-growing
local Quaker community (by 1774 the latter had grown to a size of almost
2,000). That the combination of civic and religious influence served to great
effect is shown by the simple fact that Nathaniel Starbuck emerged as the
town’s first millionaire (Philbrick, 1994, pp. 84ff.).
The two charismatic Quaker personalities were representative of the kinand family-based Quaker elite. It had all started out in a humble way with
very few formal structures. Quaker representation reaches as far back as the
1670s when a few Quakers or Quaker sympathizers had become selectmen
(Byers, 1987, pp. 47ff.). Over the next few decades Quakers were clearly in the
ascendancy. Leading up to the 1740s, about 50 per cent of selectmen, who were
defined by property rather than religion, were of Quaker origin. After 1740
signs of change became even more visible: now 75 per cent of the Nantucket
elite stemmed from one of the five core Quaker families (Byers, 1987, p. 192)
including the majority of selectmen (ibid, pp. 135, 193).
It would be wrong to interpret the success of one person or one
particular Quaker family only in terms of individual luck, commitment or
energy, although individual charisma, as in the cases of Ichabod Paddock, Mary
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237
Coffin and Nathaniel Starbuck, certainly helped. What matters most was that
the Coffin and Starbuck families represented not just another family way of
doing business; rather their business successes were representations of what
Tocqueville has called ‘habits of the heart’, some form of conduct that was in
itself reflective of the larger Quaker culture. This included living a simple and
frugal life, caring about the family and community, and taking care of the young,
particularly where education was concerned. The character of the Quaker
meetings was usually one of benign control, and not based on anything like
public humiliation. Repentance was deemed the normal way of confessing to
sinful behaviour and correcting it. Expulsions from the community were rare
(Byers, 1987, p. 118). This soft touch also might explain the success, wider
acceptance and inclusiveness of the Quaker community. Women were seen as
spiritually equal and often played a major role in the household, particularly
when the father or male head of the family was absent for a long time. Had it
been different it would be unthinkable that the lessons and the practice of one
particular generation could have been passed on from one generation to the next
with such success. A similar argument could be made in relation to the whaling
business. On land as on sea it was mainly kinship, family ties and Quaker culture
which kept the business going. A generational pattern had been established and
belonging to an oligarchy had become part of it: the majority of captains,
officers, agents and shareholders involved in either catching, marketing or
trading whale products could be traced back to the handful of long-established
Quaker families, among them most prominently the Starbucks, Macys and
Coffins (Byers, 1987, p. 88).
Surely, those who worked the waves with Quaker pride, as most of the top
rank of the crew did, shared the belief that working hard also meant serving
God. Practising and pursuing values and virtues such as trust, honesty,
reciprocity and reliability reinforced the tightly knit community, which in turn
explains the pride Quakers took in their commercial activities or work. The
older Quakers made great efforts to pass on their values to the next generation.
Carefully monitored apprenticeships, reading and writing skills, the importance of following the ethical code which stressed trustworthiness, honesty and
avoiding indebtedness were of prime importance (Walvin, 1997, pp. 31ff.).
Even the lower ranks of seamen on Nantucket-based whaling vessels not all
of them of Quaker faith felt that there was something special about Quakerled and financed whaling expeditions. Of course, nothing succeeded more than
success, and, after many successful returns of its whaling vessels, the
Nantucketers had earned the respect of others from the larger whaling
community. Adding to such status was perhaps the notion that Nantucketers
had not only come to occupy the highest rank in the specialized pursuit of
hunting whales, but within that pursuit Nantucketers were known for their
specialism, i.e. hunting sperm whales whose oil was valued more highly than
any other.
Perhaps less popular with Americans on the mainland was Nantucket’s
political and neutralist stand, which often saw their leaders negotiating their
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independence between two strong opponents. Troeltsch (1960) made a similar
point by stressing that the radical stand of the Quakers (not paying taxes, not
submitting to worldly authorities) resulted in a somewhat tragic constellation:
the American Revolution and Independence resembled everything the Quakers
believed in, yet because of their pacifist beliefs they were reluctant to engage in
the conflict. What Troeltsch discovers here is a peculiar Quaker way, which
proved highly successful for a particular historical period (Troeltsch, 1960, p.
814). In contrast to fellow Protestants like the Lutherans, they did not
celebrate obedience and the state. In fact they were much closer to Calvinist
beliefs in embracing capitalism and the ‘spirit of calculation’. At the same time
Quakers were more tolerant when it came to relations with the mundane world.
Not that they embraced laicism per se; it was more the case that their own
religious belief led them to that everyday lay world because daily activities such
as labour and commerce were seen as proof of religious virtuous behaviour.
Both inclinations, that of a pacifist stand and that of commerce as virtuous
behaviour, played a role in the islanders’ activity first during the Seven Year
War, then in the War of Independence and later during the War of 1812.
Pacifism and the responsibility of running a successful business empire were
indeed the main motives behind the wish to remain independent and negotiate
special conditions for the Nantucket whaling fleet. The ‘Nantucket Nation’
(Byers, 1987) was loathed for mixing enlightened self-interest with an early
form of cosmopolitanism, particularly by their compatriots from the American
mainland. Most whaling merchants in Nantucket saw things differently. Both
conflicts were justly regarded as a direct threat not only to their Quaker beliefs
but also to their commercial activities. The Americans fighting for independence and the British Navy trying to hang on to their American colonies
viewed the continued existence and activity of the Nantucket whaling fleet
with suspicion, regarding the vessels as a set of floating observation points of
the enemy. They threatened and intervened against the Nantucket fleet on a
number of occasions. Nantucket had a whaling fleet consisting of almost 160
vessels when the War of Independence broke out. As the conflict came to a
close only about two dozen vessels remained (Dolin, 2007, p. 163; Leach &
Gow, 1997, p. 125). The Nantucket whaling fleet had been seriously degraded
and Nantucketers who depended to a large extent on their fleet argued time
and time again that the island should be exempt from military participation
and remain neutral; they even proposed to maintain a neutral position as late as
1785.11 As if the conflict did not constitute a sufficient challenge, the island’s
fleet took further serious hits first during the American-French crisis in 1798
and then during the American-British War, which began with an embargo and
eventually led to open conflict in 1812. Again, the Nantucket fleet suffered and
needed years to recover, even though the island was tempted to plead for
neutrality and evade as much as it could of the conflict. Only after 1815, with
the Peace of Ghent, did the fisheries take off again. As it turned out, the period
1815 to 1850 would become known as the Golden Age of whaling. Despite, or
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239
perhaps because of, such evident success it also led to the decline and fall of the
Quaker empire.
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The maintenance problem of the Nantucket whaling empire: the tension between
traditional Quaker values and conduct and doux commerce
In terms of theology Troeltsch has pointed out that Quakers relied in their
ethical worldview just on a few foundational texts (such as the Sermon on the
Mount). As an ‘inward religion’ and ‘invisible church’ they renounced all
worldly positions and work. While the aspirations and some of its practice
may sound radical, there is, as Troeltsch discovers, almost by definition
a conservative moment in the Quakers’ community rhetoric. The Quakers, he
argued, ‘found it impossible to continue to live in their original detachment
from the world.. . . Then God ‘‘blessed their business’’ with those economic
results which this ascetic Protestant idea of the ‘‘calling’’ usually brings with it’
(Troeltsch, 1960, p. 781). From there it was just a small step to defending
business interests. Troeltsch notes:
Thus a religious body which sprang into existence out of an entirely unworldly
spiritual movement, developed into a community with an entire different ideal;
in its ultimate form it exhibited the following characteristic traits: a high sense
of the duty of labour; the limitation of the kind of work which may be
undertaken to useful and practical undertakings in trade, industry, manual
labour, and agriculture; strict personal economy and a minimum amount of
luxury, with a maximum amount of effort for the welfare of the community;
supervision by the Society of the business honesty and solvency of its members,
of family life.
(Troeltsch, 1960, p. 781)
Troeltsch here hints at the metamorphosis of the Quakers from radical sect
to more bourgeois attitudes. In America, the virgin conditions helped in that
development and Quakerism could be observed, as it were, almost in
‘laboratory conditions’. One might add here that the insular condition of
Nantucket allows the critical observer to do so in even purer form.12
The crucial institution, which held the Quaker Nantucket community
together, was the meeting. It was at these meetings that a strong communal
spirit emerged and it was the meetings that simultaneously exercised control
over individual members (Barbour & Frost, 1988, p. 68). While Quakers know
no priests, they have an equivalent to the clergy in their note-takers, overseers
and elders, who first formed an informal network but who would, over time,
develop into a completely recognizable network of spiritual advisers and local
leaders. Meetings took place on a monthly basis. These monthly meetings
usually fed into larger quarterly or annual meetings.
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Economy and Society
The Quaker meetings covered two main areas, business and worship. For a
deeper understanding of both aspects one has to remember, however, that the
Quaker tradition favoured consensus and deliberation. This was obviously less
problematic in the context of mere worshipping but turned out to be more
complicated in the business context. There was no ‘overt selectiveness’ (Byers,
1987, p. 110) just an implicit understanding, which might explain why no
detailed records of the deliberative process of business meetings have ever
come to light. Despite evidential problems of this kind, we can safely assume
that a powerful oligarchy of community leaders existed, not at least because the
role of clerk, even though theoretically merely that of taking note and minutes,
proved to be crucial. Since there was no vote taken and since no clear majority
ever emerged, it was up to the clerk to make sense of what was said and prepare
for the formulation of the consensus, or to take note of the differences until a
consensus emerged (Hamm, 2003, p. 11). Thus, note-taking became part of
preparing for the consensus, a seemingly ‘unofficial’ but nevertheless
important function in the deliberation process. As historical research shows,
the same names of clerks always appeared in different contexts, be it in the list
of Quaker leaders, town selectmen, successful merchants or their families, etc.
(Byers, 1987, pp. 315 321).
At the regular monthly meeting anything that was of moral importance
could become the subject of reflection, including how to conduct a business.
And, while it was the individual interpretation that counted for each believer, it
was the meetings from which the individual sought some feedback or
confirmation. The meeting thus functioned as both perfect catalyst and
recycling machine in which the individual’s conscience and the community
spirit constantly reaffirmed each other:
Through silence and word, the inward experience of the individual is amplified
and modulated into something greater and more powerful. Thus pioneer
communities, as Nantucket was to find, could draw a kind of communal strength
from Quakerism that was not necessarily available to less spiritually synchronized bodies of believers or to isolated individuals.
(Leach & Gow, 1997, p. 15)
But how do we have to imagine this practically? How did the rhetorical
figure of speech in short, the Quaker performance work? To answer this
question, we have to look back at what distinguished Quaker speech from
other religious performances, and the obvious first point is to look at the
relationship between silence and the economy of speech, one of the distinct
features of Quakerism. It is useful to recall that Quakers mistrusted all
‘carnal’ talk and any writing that was seen as careless and consisting of too
many words. Christ, they argued, cannot be found just in the scripture but
can be encountered in one’s direct experience, if one focuses only on the
inner light, a metaphor or image that stemmed from the New Testament, in
which Christ and the Word are described as providing the true light for every
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Christian (Bauman, 1983, p. 24). This insight was also used in arguing against
traditional ministry and Church-based speech, including the use of Latin,
which prevented the discovery or encounter of the inner light, i.e. the direct
and unmediated encounter with God or the Spirit. What applied to the
meeting place and the service, also applied outside it: for Quakers, carnal
language, false praise and politeness should be avoided at all costs. Instead, the
values of silence, natural expression, plain speech and speaking the truth in
direct and simple fashion are stressed (Bauman, 1983, pp. 2ff.). Since all
carnal speech resembled fleshly activity, silence was the most radical proposal
in the attempt to achieve or encounter spiritual revelation. It also gave those
few words that were eventually spoken a different, weightier meaning. As one
student of such Quaker ritual has observed (Bauman, 1983, pp. 22ff.), it
introduced self-discipline and self-control, and it expressed the willingness to
change and to encounter the spirit. ‘Let your words be few’ became a repeated,
almost Spartan mantra.
As to interaction with the outside world, rhetorical figures such as that
of ploughing and sowing were often used (Bauman, 1983, p. 63): ‘In terms
of the imagery employed...the ministers were to plow the spiritual ground,
sow the seed of Truth, weed the field, cultivate the tender plants, and bring
the new harvest of souls’ (ibid, p. 73). In order to reassure one’s own
community but also in order to convince the fellow human being, strong
language and open criticism were often favoured. There was rarely anything
pleasing or smooth in the Quakers’ language (ibid, p. 65). In the attempt to
excel in terms of performativity the Quakers often used a distinctive style,
which included repetition, rhythmic quality, breaking points and a recombination of key words (ibid, pp. 76ff.). This resulted in drawing in the listeners
or spectators as much as convincing fellow Quakers. It was a very powerful
means of persuasion.
Despite such rhetorical delivery signs of tension could clearly be detected.
In the past, the Quaker community of Nantucket had been known for its
leniency and tolerance, inside and outside the community.13 Wrongdoings and
misdemeanours had been dealt with through the usual repentance in which the
individual confessed his wrongdoing and promised to improve. Disowning or
expulsion was rarely seen. Only 17 wrongdoers were disciplined in the period
between 1707 and 1740, and there were only three expulsions (Byers, 1987, p.
118). This changed radically towards the mid-1770s, when the number of
disciplined Quaker members reached 200 (Byers, 1987, p. 118). Although the
higher number also reflected the increased size of the Quaker community, it
made clear that there were tensions among Quakers and that resorting to
dogma and discipline was seen as the solution. More punishment signified and
symbolized the end of a tolerant community whose decisions had always relied
on consensus. Some of this non-reflexive turn to punishment and perceived
true dogma might be explained on the basis that in the past Quakers had taken
their strength as a community from strong convictions and the self-perception
of belonging to a minority, come what may. We will come back to this later on.
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Crèvecæur was right: being from Nantucket was indeed ‘a state of mind’,
favoured and prolonged through tight family and community networks.
Quakerism in a tightly knit family environment was the cement that bound
the community together and for almost half a century it had become the main
driving force behind the entrepreneurial spirit of Nantucket’s power elite. We
have already heard about some remarkable examples of early entrepreneurship
such as the individual commitment of a Paddock, or the more collective family
effort of the Starbucks, the Coffins and the Rotches. While it is true that they
were all of Quaker background and that their success story reveals strong ties
with the Quaker community, it is also true that they were rather traditional in
their values, as in the case of favouring marrying ‘in’ instead of ‘out’.
Apart from patterns of marrying ‘in’ and high fecundity we also encounter low
death and high conversion rates which helped the Quaker community to
reproduce itself and grow (Byers, 1987, p. 336). Quakers were also quite
disciplined in applying their moral values; each marriage, for example, had to
be sanctioned by the local Quaker meeting. Marrying ‘in’ did not mean that
anything went: marriages between close family members such as uncles and
nieces, aunts and nephews, brothers and sisters, were prohibited (Crèvecæur,
1979 [1782], p. 41). Above all, the Quaker movement encouraged early
marriage and having children early, which helped not only to reproduce the
Quaker community but also to keep it young. Such factors, which first helped
the Nantucket Quakers to thrive, also had long-term adverse effects. While it is
true that Quakers stemmed from a dissenter background, in America some of
that dissenting background could, at least in the long run, easily turn into
internal communal conformism and a certain reluctance to give up acquired
communal privileges.
What was perhaps most remarkable was how long Nantucket society
managed to rule itself without major internal conflict. Governing by
consensus, corporate reliability and trust was the preferred option. There
was certainly a ‘moral disposition to social harmony’ (Byers, 1987, p. 42).
While the number of lawyers and solicitors increased in other parts of North
America, the law profession and other types of legal enforcement were
curiously absent in Nantucket. In short, any form of political establishment
that could be used in oppressive ways simply did not exist. Such absence
should not lead the critical observer to assume that everything was just fine.
Property remained largely in the hand of the Quaker merchant elite and few
rules were ever introduced that would challenge the island’s oligarchy. There
were, however, some signs of change and these were mostly related to the
establishment of new rules after American Independence, but it would take
another few years for the conflict to materialize.
One example of an early crisis which showed that the spiritual and
entrepreneurial ties that bound the island’s population together were perhaps
not meant to last for ever is related to William Coffin, a Federalist and one of
the few courageous non-Quakers to call into question the received wisdom of
the island’s powerful Quaker elite. Coffin challenged the majority Quaker
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community twice, and in both cases he did so by rethinking some taken-forgranted customs on the island. In the years following America’s independence,
some Nantucket Quakers began to show sympathies for Jefferson’s party, the
Democrats. They also showed some support for the motives that led to the
French Revolution (but not necessarily for the Jacobin terror). Coffin, a Mason
and sympathizer of the Federalist Party, took issue with some of the naive
views that the Quakers held. He was particularly upset about two aspects that
had become unquestioned wisdom among Quakers: the lack of a decent public
school system and the common ownership of land. On both accounts Coffin
challenged his Quaker cohabitants and won (Philbrick, 1994, pp. 153ff.).
Most land was used for sheep-grazing purposes and even that was not properly
taken care of. In 1810, Coffin filed a petition which suggested radical reform,
including the break-up of some common land for individual re-distribution.
This was radically opposed by the Quakers who argued that common land
made sense particularly since it did not have to be fenced and taken care of by
those whose main occupation was whaling and who were landowners only in
name and legal circumstance. In the end, to the dismay of the Quakers, the
Massachusetts court decided in favour of the petition.
Just a few years later the Quaker community suffered a similar defeat in the
context of public schooling. In 1816, it was again Coffin and some Federalist
sympathizers who argued that Quaker education was too ‘hands on’ and
practical and left children in an intellectual void when it came to more
comprehensive education. Again, Coffin won against the Quakers. It must have
been particularly painful for the Quakers who had been used to their own
justice system all disputes were to be settled by the Quaker meeting and
taking oaths was against their faith to be reprimanded by a Massachusetts
court. On both occasions the Quakers had turned out to be a rather antiliberal, even conservative force, despite their egalitarian rhetoric and, in some
cases, their political sympathies for the Jeffersonian party. In retrospect, the
Coffin-Quaker disputes (or, as it turned out, the Federalist-Quaker disputes)
were actually signs of things to come (Philbrick, 1994, p. 159). However, two
factors helped the Nantucket whaling empire to survive the challenges to its
hegemony and to maintain the Quaker economic leadership for another few
decades: first, whale oil literally provided the lubricant for the take-off of the
Industrial Revolution and, with Britain making further progress in this respect,
there was no shortage of demand; second, the Nantucket fleet was helped by
the discovery of sperm whales in the Pacific Ocean. This was a new resource,
which would keep the island’s economy and the Quakers’ business afloat.
Although situated in the American North-Eastern Atlantic seaboard the
island of Nantucket had become the gateway for exploiting the whale resources
of the Pacific. Nantucket’s second take-off was particularly impressive: by 1820
it had grown again to 72 ships with a catch of 20,449 tons annually (Starbuck,
1989 [1878], p. 95), employing more than 2,000 at sea and another few
thousand on the island itself (at the time Nantucket had a population of
roughly 7,000). But, despite such success, Nantucket was no longer alone. New
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competitors had arrived on the scene. There were now some sixteen American
ports, among them New London, Edgartown, Fairhaven and Provincetown,
which had all, with the exception of the latter, started whaling from the 1820s
onwards. Nantucket’s greatest competitor became New Bedford (Davis et al.,
1997, pp. 43f.).14
To understand the boom, one has to understand that whaling meant the
systematic pursuit of the production of wealth. It contained four dimensions:
productivity, the labour contract, the entrepreneurs and the markets (Davis et
al., 1997, p. 9ff., p. 197). In terms of productivity the best whaling years were
1816 46 and, even though the overall Quaker community in Nantucket shrank
and made room for a larger and, religiously speaking, more heterogeneous
population, the leading ranks in the whaling business continued to be occupied
by Quakers and their relations. Even when much of the whaling activity moved
from Nantucket to New Bedford in the late 1840s, Quakers like the Roche
family remained involved in every part of the business. Increased productivity
occurred particularly after the war of 1812. This was mainly due to much
improved ships, the lower average age of the fleet, better hunting equipment
and better geographical positioning systems. In terms of average tonnage per
vessel, the capacity of the whaling fleet went up by the late 1870s to 350 tons.
The average age of a ship was now between 20 and 25 years (Davis et al., 1997,
pp. 13, 225, 231, 258) and the harpooning facilities much more sophisticated. It
had also become easier to navigate and to make much more profitable use of
time spent at sea due to improved cartography and navigation.
In terms of labour contracts the Quaker business and seafaring elite made
use of the centuries-old lay system whereby each individual was promised a
share of the catch (shares were determined by net value but there were
charges for costs incurred in the voyage) and was thereby encouraged to work
to the maximum in order to gain the greatest possible profit. Fraternity on
board was partly fostered through the lay system. It was as if the crew
consisted more of associates and business partners than of dependent
labourers. While they were better paid than those crews that worked for
the merchant marine, this does not imply that there were no differences on
the contrary: there was a strict separation in terms of both contract and
command structure. Whaling captains and officers, most of them from
Quaker families and often associated with the company (captains often were
shareholders themselves) received much higher shares than ordinary seamen.15 In terms of overall distribution all seamen, skilled and unskilled,
together with the boatsteerers usually made up half of the typical whaling
crew, while the rest consisted of artisans such as coopers, carpenters or
blacksmiths (Davis et al., 1997, p. 156). As to the question from where most
sailors came, it is obvious that Nantucket attracted non-islanders. The
Nantucket statistics clearly show the increase of newcomers to the island,
particularly during the fat years (Byers, 1987, p. 329).
Whaling was an industry that was plagued with issues of control but since
most whaling expeditions sailing out of Nantucket were floating Quaker-led
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microcosms, known to have the best captains and the best officers (and to show
some of the best results and profits), they usually also attracted the best crews
and mariners.16 In contrast to the merchant marine, the sailors engaged in
whaling were not a salaried class, and the lay system would create quite a
distinct working class with different attitudes and values. The conditions under
which Jack Tar worked in the merchant marine were very different from those
of the whaling Ishmael.17 While benign paternalist attitudes certainly prevailed
on most Quaker-controlled ships, whale men rarely shifted allegiance once they
found out that they could trust and have confidence in one particular
expedition. Since Quakers were known to stick to their word and were highly
reliable, it might explain why many crews wanted to work for Quaker-led
enterprises and expeditions, independent of whether they believed in God or
whether they considered their work as serving God, as the Quakers did. What
also helped was the social visibility on deck and the social relations aboard:
everybody could see and experience each other’s performance. Strikes certainly
happened in the merchant marine but were unheard of in the whaling fleet.18
Desertion rates on Quaker-run ships are hard to determine but overall
mutinies or revolts have rarely been reported in logbooks or other sources. Of
course, desertion also happened on Quaker ships, usually more while going out
than when coming back, but there is no reason to suspect the rate of this to
have been higher than on other ships on the contrary. Entrepreneurs and
agents (again, in Nantucket most of them of Quaker origin) made a huge profit,
between 6.5 and 14 per cent (Davis et al., 1997, p. 411), and under the lay
system that also meant that the entire crew profited (although to a lesser degree
than their patrons). The successful whaling entrepreneurs were among the
richest people in the United States. As to the markets and their development, it
is very clear that the operations in the Pacific provided the Nantucket whaling
community with a second lifeline.
As already pointed out, Quaker businesses were mainly family run. This
meant that most trade, commerce and activities remained within the family or
at least within the tight net of the faith-based community. There was no need
to farm out work to a middleman. The gendered division of labour was
functional to the overall purpose. Crèvecæur described the attitude of Quakers
in the following way:
While the males went to sea, the women ran not only the business enterprise
but also took care of the education of the next generation . . . as the seaexcursions are often very long, their wives, in their absence are necessarily
obliged to transact business, to settle account, and, in short, to rule and provide
for their families. These circumstances being often repeated give women the
abilities as well as the taste for that kind of superintendency, to which, by their
prudence and good management, they seem to be, in general, very equal. This
employment ripens their judgement, and justly entitles them to rank superior to
that of other wives.
(Crèvecæur, 1979 [1782], p. 141)
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Once the principal gender and generational patterns had been established they
created a certain ‘elevator effect’ whereby everybody taking part in the
enterprise gained. There was opportunity in abundance, including for Quaker
wives to become entrepreneurs and businesswomen, and for the young it was
not unheard of to move up rapidly from officer or experienced sailor to small
entrepreneur. If one worked hard enough and accumulated some money and
benefited from a good family network, it was possible to become part shareholder or even shipowner and/or manufacturer. Even for people of other
colour and ethnic background it was possible to move up in terms of
occupational mobility.19
Another aspect that helped the Quaker empire to remain stable was the
limited opportunities to become involved in conspicuous consumption.
Traditional Quaker values and morals did not allow people to show off in
terms of acquired wealth even if the family flourished. Sobriety, a natural
life, basic comfort, simple dress, avoidance of entertainment and fun or a lavish
lifestyle meant being respectful to God and serving the community.
Furthermore, while men were out whaling there were very few opportunities
for any luxurious life-style. Especially for younger sailors the years on board
meant that one got used to a harsh discipline and a controlled life.20 At the end
of a successful whaling trip a sailor would return with a considerable amount of
money in his pocket. In some cases the share earned could serve as the humble
beginnings for a later fortune, particularly since there was usually little time
between trips to spend all the money. Spending like crazy while on land for
only a short time would not be totally unheard of, but, generally speaking,
Quaker values and customs would discourage such behaviour.21
It becomes clear now that the most important contribution to the Nantucket
whaling empire’s development of wealth was a radicalized application or
version of what Weber has called the Protestant work ethic. It was mainly
passed on through education. Quakers trained their young from early on not to
be idle. Later, once the sons went out to sea, the virtuous cycle was maintained:
that which they had learned on land was reinforced and maintained through
the disciplined life on board a vessel and vice versa, the orderly and disciplined
life aboard the vessel impacted on and structured the time on land. On both sea
and land it seemed that nobody ever stood still. On the contrary, purposeful
occupation or action seems to have been insisted on all the time. Crèvecæur
comments on the successful outcome of such a structured and disciplined life:
This fruitful hive constantly sends out swarms as industrious as themselves, yet
it always remains full without having any useless drones: on the contrary, it
exhibits constant scenes of business and new schemes; the richer an individual
grows, the more extensive his field of action becomes; he that is near ending his
career, drudges on as well as he who has just begun it; nobody stands still.
(Crèvecæur, 1979 [1782], p.131)
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The Quaker education involved keeping young adults busy and equipping
them with the tools that prepared them for life; story-telling, honest
conversation and exchange, avoiding light entertainment, yet without appearing to be too prudish or controlling were some of its main features. From
childhood onwards the young were socialized into making good use of the time,
even if it was just leisure time.22
Yet, despite the obvious success, cracks began to appear in the system.
Despite the existence of strong Quaker forms of habitus such as the ones
described above, there had always been different opinions within the Quaker
community. In the past these had been meditated in the community meeting
and dealt with by reaching a consensus. Yet, with economic success, the list of
offences had grown considerably, starting from failings that do not seem to the
modern observer as being very serious such as ‘gambling, dancing, oath-taking,
insincere apologizing’, to apparently more serious misbehaviours such as, for
example, being drunk in public or ‘bearing and fathering illegitimate children’
(Leach & Gow, 1997, p. 116).23
Religious challenges from outside contributed to undermining the already
tense relationships within the Nantucket Quaker community. By the end of the
War of Independence rival views, uncomfortably close to the Quaker faith, had
made their appearance, such as the Shaking Quakers. If the Quakers were
radical, the Shakers took the Quaker view to its logical extreme with their
renunciation of worldly life, rejecting sex and marriage and devoting one’s
entire life to hard work and more ecstatic religious service. However, no serious
conversion followed and the Shakers soon disappeared without challenging the
Quaker hegemony. Yet, their sudden appearance (and disappearance) was soon
followed by another problem for the Quaker community that of size.
Although overall numbers had fallen from 2,200 in the 1770s to 1,300 in the
1790s, gathering all members had remained a problem, which the Quakers
tried to provide for by establishing separate meetings for the northern and a
southern district and quarterly and yearly meetings for the joint community on
the island (Leach & Gow, 1997, p. 141).
Both the Shaker appearance and the reorganization into two meetings and
communities demonstrated that the Quaker community foundations were
perhaps less solid than thought and that not only the general population had
changed but the Quaker community as well despite its continued religious
self-assurances. While the origins had been humble and almost utopian in
effort and aspirations, 150 years later that momentum had been replaced by a
businesslike atmosphere. While the very conditions provided the base for the
unique development of a cultural Quaker hegemony, when it came to size,
growth and first real signs of cultural pluralism the social, real political and
spiritual options appear to have been limited. Nantucket could neither become
as pluralistic as Newport nor as commerce-driven as Philadelphia. Instead,
Quakerism became increasingly dogmatic and evangelical (Leach & Gow, 1997,
p. 148), a strange fate for a Protestant sect that is generally known for its
tolerance. Something was perhaps missing in the service and meetings
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themselves; after all, being silent and reaching a conclusion and a consensus
through long services is not to every man’s and woman’s taste, particularly not
if other services promise more action and excitement (as, for example, the
earlier threat posed by the Shakers did).
To make things worse, internal schisms that developed on the American
mainland also began to reach the Nantucket Quaker community. Elias Hicks,
after whom the Hicksite Quaker movement was named, became one of the
leaders who argued that it was not just faith but also good works that counted.
Eventually, by the late 1820s, Nantucket’s northern meeting became Hicksite
in tendency, even though the tendency seems to have been brought and kept
‘under control’ by the island’s general meeting. Externally speaking, other
Protestant denominations were on the rise and began to challenge the island’s
dominant Quaker faith. As Leach and Gow observed (1997, p. 171), ‘The
1830s saw considerable growth . . . with Universalists, Congregationalists,
Unitarians, Methodists, Baptists and Episcopalians active’, with ‘Baptists and
Methodist [being] especially welcoming to people of colour’, although the
Hicksite tendency seemed to have been equally welcoming to people of colour.
The most important schism developed between the Wilbur supporters,
named after John Wilbur, a liberal orthodox Quaker who suggested that
following the ‘inner light’ was still more important than bible recommendations and textual precision and interpretation, and the followers of John
Gurney, an English Quaker who had become famous in America and who
insisted that Quakers had neglected the scriptures for far too long. Eventually
the former Hicksites joined forces with the Gurneyites, which just proved that
evangelism was still on the rise while traditional Quaker values were waning.
None of the three tendencies would lead to the recovery or renewal of
Nantucket’s Quakerism.
Religiously on the wane, Quakerism and the Quaker whaling empire no
longer constituted a hegemonic moral force or at least a moral avant-garde.
Despite the Quakers’ self-portrayal as a moral community and despite all the
efforts to reproduce itself, Nantucket had turned into the ‘unknown city in the
ocean’. Its appearance no longer resembled the Quaker version of the city upon
the hill. One historical source reported that the town and harbour
possessed a shipyard on Brant Point, five boat shops, seventeen oil factories,
nineteen candle factories, ten ropewalks, twenty-two cooperages . . . one brass
foundry, three tanneries, ten blacksmith shops, four spar shops, two bakeries,
two block factories, four sail lofts, three rigging lofts, two candle-box factories,
clothing stores, food provisioners, ship chandleries, brickyards, a rum distillery,
four banks, and several insurance companies. Besides whaling-associated
enterprises, there were bookstores, clock and jewellery shops, and ice-cream
stores.
(quoted in Philbrick, 1994, p. 9)
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The harbour had a penetrating smell, not just due to the whaling industry,
but due to the fact that the sewer system could simply not cope with so
many inhabitants. While businesses thrived the boom was accompanied by
unpleasant by-products such as bars, booze and other vices related to such
establishments and their clientele. Between 1839 and 1840 no less than sixty
grog shops existed just in the area close to the harbour front (Philbrick, 1994,
p. 10). Almost needless to say, the customers of these establishments were not
like the business-oriented, soberly God-fearing elite that ran Nantucket. The
Quakers now looked increasingly like cultural dinosaurs. Growing labour
demand and, as a result, a rapidly growing population by 1830 the island’s
population had risen to 7,200 souls created a number of problems, not
just drinking or challenges to public order, but also an increased demand for
public schooling, which in turn raised critical issues like that of democratic
representation and how to deal with the new, much more heterogeneous
population both in terms of religious adherence and in cultural outlook.24
The fall of Quakerism and the Quaker-led whaling empire was soon followed
by other signs of decline. In 1848 a fire destroyed half the town of Nantucket and
also damaged the harbour facilities. Around the same time it also became
apparent that a sandbar made entry into Nantucket harbour increasingly difficult
if not impossible, particularly for the ever-larger vessels of the whaling fleet. The
American fleet found other ports more suitable, first nearby New Bedford and,
towards the end of the century with the increased importance of the Pacific, San
Francisco. By 1870 Nantucket had been totally abandoned by the American
whaling fleet and almost turned into a ghost town. The Civil War and the new
transcontinental rail network had given Nantucket whaling the coup de grace.
Some remaining whaling ships with their hulks full of water were rotting away in
the port. Only 3,000 residents, down from a peak of 10,000 remained on the
island (Philbrick, 1994, p. 204). It became increasingly clear that the capital and
labour of the whaling fleet, which had flourished so long under Quaker tutelage,
had freed itself of the cultural, economic and geographic shackles and limitations
of Nantucket and moved on to try their luck somewhere else.
Doux commerce and the Nantucket state of mind
The first question that one might want to ask is of course: ‘when exactly had
the point been reached at which not only a few individuals strayed but the
entire moral edifice of the Quaker community was in doubt, eventually became
threatened and finally collapsed?’ It is, in other words, not only the old
Marxian question of the speed of the development of the forces of production,
‘the base’, against the much more sluggish ‘superstructure’ (Quaker beliefs and
customs), but for Nantucket the fall seemed to have been accelerated by the
very fact that the cultural habits and norms were so entwined with economic
performance and success. Culture came not on top as a separate entity but was
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itself a crucial production factor in the entire whaling industry and related
trade and commerce.
The answer to our question is perhaps to be found in the specific cultural
ecology of the island that had allowed it to develop from a small community
into a whaling empire, even to such an extent that it was possible to regard
whaling vessels as floating representations of Quakerism. Yet, however
successful Nantucket’s main activity had become, it remained limited by its
very self-contained nature. It could generate money and capital for its base but
it could not spread beyond the self-contained form. Something that in the past
had looked utopian but worth a try, looked later, under rapidly changing
capitalist conditions, backward looking and conservative. The whaling empire,
with an ever-growing market and expanding commerce, had no way of
surviving if it limited itself to a self-contained island, dominated by traditional
Quaker values. The Quaker elite’s conduct of life either had to open up to the
increasingly profane aspects of the modern world or disappear. This entailed
also a clear separation between religious and civil authority.
The case of the Quaker whaling empire demonstrates that everything that
contributed to its success could also, under radically altered conditions,
function as a cultural trap, deepening a latent crisis and leading eventually to
final decline and/or disintegration. Not only were the Quakers unable to open
up and give way to the new cultural and political pluralism, they were also at
odds with the new values of the nineteenth-century frontier experiences on
both land and water. The naturally expansive commercial and capitalist
revolution could never exist for a sustained period of time on one small little
island alone. It looked like the world had changed but not the belief system and
the cultural habits of the Quaker elite. In this regard the Nantucket experience
could perhaps even be seen both as one of the first examples of successful
globalization and as one of its first victims in the sense that Nantucket was an
example of the limits and the contradictions of that early attempt.
It is sometimes difficult to understand those who act under circumstances
that they do not completely understand or control. Nantucket’s Quakers
continued the way they had always acted because success and local historical
experience had told them so. Furthermore, their moral outlook, confirmed in
their conservatism and values, had guaranteed a steady flow of income and
wealth, even during crisis times. The rhetoric of the Nantucket Jeremiad had
worked, time and time again. Yet at some point the same culture and rhetoric
that had guided the islanders to wealth became dysfunctional and contributed
to the decline. The Quakers had some warnings that could have prepared them
for example, the internal schism and struggles over legal and education
matters yet their own religion did not allow them to perceive the new world
in colour. To paraphrase an idea of Bourdieu, it was not so much that the
Quakers had run out of cultural capital as that they did not realize that another
cultural currency was on offer. In the meantime they adjusted to the conditions
of the real world and became a somewhat conservative force yet, without
adjusting their principal Weltanschauung and Lebensführung. The Quakers
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lived, as it were, between two realities or two revolutions, an existence that the
theologian Reinhold Niebuhr has described poignantly. The Quaker, he notes,
lived in a kind of muted millenarianism:
[he] discovered in practice that the kingdom of Christ was by no means the
coming kingdom. In fact, if not in theory, he lived in an interim in which he
needed to make constant adjustments to the unredeeming world and to abandon
his perfection.. . . In fact, he lived between two realities, and the effort to
identify the second with the first ended with the actual recognition that though
God ruled and though his rule was partly realised in the kingdom of Christ, yet
his kingdom had not yet come in power and glory to deliver men from their
rebellion, fear and violence.
(Niebuhr, 1937, pp. 134 f.)
But even more important than the fate of unfulfilled utopias is the crucial
question of what the Quaker whaling empire and its rise and decline can tell us
about markets and morals and how they are linked. It is for this reason that I
tried to combine the Hirschman thesis about doux commerce with the WeberTroeltsch discussion about the Protestant work ethic and the spirit of
capitalism. As our historical example shows, the radical Protestant variant
that was Quakerism created a culture that was conducive to the birth of
commerce. However, the very moral universe, the values and conduct of life
that gave rise to commerce also contributed to the whaling empire’s crisis and
collapse. Thus, in the first instance, the Nantucket case is a well-suited
illustration of Hirschman’s doux commerce thesis, i.e. that morals and values in other words, a cultural disposition helped to give birth to capitalist
structures. Yet, and this is the second finding, the concrete way in which this
happened also complicates the very thesis that Hirschman proposed. The
Quakers, were, as Weber and Troeltsch have argued, the last religious stop on
the road to a disenchanted world. They tried to get rid of the last religious
rituals while at the same time promoting the sacralization of ordinary life
through an ascetic life style. Quakerism promoted carefulness, conscientious
behaviour and following ascetic virtues. As Weber points out, ‘not work in
itself but rational professional work was God’s demand’ (Weber, 2006, p. 156).
Even more important perhaps is that it was the social aspects that mattered,
not individual gain. Overt and conspicuous consumption were to be rejected
because it was bad for the community, which, in turn was regarded by the
Quakers as the formative experience for the individual believer. Against vanity,
luxury and conspicuous consumption Quakerism promoted the ‘clean and
solid comfort of the bürgerlich home’ (Weber, 2006, p. 170). All that was not
practical and seemed unnecessary was dismissed; instead, professionalism,
usefulness and pragmatism prevailed, particularly when it came to business
and commerce. Weber’s observation that ‘the Quaker was the living incarnation
of the Grenznutzgesetz’ is indeed instructive. Once labour and commerce
became ways of serving God, daily life and activities turned into a sacred
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sphere. In other words, the Quakers attempted nothing other than to sacralize
mundane life. This way extra energy was generated for commercial activities,
giving it the extra push for the capitalist take-off.
Once capitalism was in full flow, Nantucket’s Quaker culture turned into
shackles. This did not happen immediately and in a short period of time but
rather over a few decades. As Troeltsch has pointed out, to turn a radical
dissenter sect into defenders of ‘bourgeois’ values the community needed to be
transplanted to another environment, which in our case happened to be a small
island off the East Coast of America. There, things turned out to be even more
complicated: unlike in Pennsylvania, in Nantucket the Quakers had to
overcome very different adverse conditions in order to become a hegemonic
force. Scarce resources on the island and a turn to whaling as the only viable
alternative provided that opportunity. While it lasted the well-lubricated
Quaker social machine functioned surprisingly well. This was mainly due to
the fact that the Quakers were a self-regulating community with little need for
a state or a government. Certainly, there were crisis points such as American
independence and the demand for a new politics, but only much later, when
the demand of the market for more labour led to a situation where the
population tripled and the Quakers could no longer reproduce themselves at
the same speed, did Quaker culture and the attempt at self-regulation get into
real trouble.
Some external pressures from other religious denominations and groups and
internal schisms contributed to questioning the Quaker elite hegemony. Once
the radical Protestant sect that put so much cultural energy into sacralizing the
mundane world turned into another evangelizing sect to combat the evils of the
new mundane world the cracks became more and more visible. Obviously, the
rhetoric of the Jeremiad that worked for the Puritans of Massachusetts did not
work for the Quakers in the same way; there was simply no way of turning back
once they put all their energies into sacralizing the mundane. It is indeed
ironic: the Quakers were neither aware of the fact that they had set capitalist
commerce in motion nor able to realize how their own sluggish culture
contributed to obscuring the radical changes that occurred in the very profane
world they had tried to heal.
Notes
1 The ritualistic approach to the Protestant work ethic has been heavily criticized by
the Austrian sociologist Heinz Steinert (2010). This is not the place to discuss Steinert’s
analysis in greater detail; suffice it to say that the title of his book is programmatic (Max
Weber’s Non-verifiable Misconstruction: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism).
This paper, although limited in geographical scope and detail, is an attempt to take
some of Steinert’s analysis and criticism seriously. As I will try to argue, A. O.
Hirschman’s argument has the capacity to point a more critical Weber/Protestant work
ethic discussion in the right direction. Having said that, I cannot discount the
possibility that Nantucket is just a very suitable outlier. However, as I will try to show, it
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is a most interesting empirical case, which reaffirms the role of radical Protestantism. I
am less sure, though, whether the case can serve for more, for example, as an argument
in support of Weber’s secularization thesis or as a case that illustrates the rise of
Western forms of rationality.
2 A similar argument can be found in Acemoglu et al. (2001) in which the authors
argue that it is survival rates and the role of institutions which explain why some
attempts to establish a ‘New Europe’ were historically more successful than others (in
the sense that they provided a better starting point for a later development). Acemoglu
et al.’s argument focuses on property rights and checks against the abuses of power. In
many ways this argument can be applied to Nantucket as well but with the important
distinction that stability, institutions and property rights were anchored in the faithbased community that were the Nantucket Quakers and not in secular and somewhat
more ‘enlightened’ colonial government. To prove whether lower mortality rates were
the crucial factor is beyond the scope of the present paper, although I quote some
evidence that the Quaker community had high fertility rates. Despite such evidence I
suspect that whaling in high seas is by its very nature a very risky, sometimes even fatal
business (Melville’s novels and many other non-fiction-based accounts are proof of
that). I further suspect that, despite lower mortality rates that came with the
improvements in sailing, navigation and fishing/whaling technology, the mortality
argument does not explain why the economically successful Quaker community of
Nantucket finally declined, despite its success and despite the good institutionalization
record on the island. I maintain that the Hirschman/Weber argument, which is the
argument on which this paper is mainly based, is somewhat stronger in its explanatory
value, at least when applied to the case of Nantucket.
3 Here I summarize an argument made in Hess (1999).
4 There was, for example, no conscription, either while Nantucket was part of
Massachusetts Colony or after American Independence.
5 The most valuable natural ingredient of the whale was ambergris, the rare but
highly valuable ingredient of the whales’ stomachs which was used for perfume and
scents. In contrast, whalebone was more a by-product of industrial whaling. It had its
function as the ‘plastic of its day’ but, unlike modern plastic, it was never used
industrially as whale oil has been (Davis et al., 1997, p. 30).
6 Paddock could not have become a pioneer without a change in terms of jurisdiction
and taxation. Once Nantucket had become part of Massachusetts whale oil was no
longer taxed.
7 In 1763 the English whaling fleet had only forty ships (Dolin, 2007, p. 125).
8 It was not only in the meeting that Quakers shared their faith; wherever they went
they took their beliefs and customs with them. The relationship between the various
communities on the Eastern seaboard, which was at first faith-based, soon came to cover
economic aspects as well. This made perfect sense since most communities that faced
the Atlantic seaboard shared the same preoccupation about making a living and how to
get into commerce and trade. In Quaker communities worship and workmanship
converged and the quality of this experience was usually acknowledged everywhere.
The same applied to good education, including literacy and numeracy, and closely
monitored apprenticeships. The overlap of ethical and business code had been crucial to
the Quaker network. Quaker-run businesses and financial institutions were known for
their prudence (Walvin, 1997, pp. 32ff.). Networking through travel, which was first
used to establish links between various Quaker communities, was equally important and
could easily be also used for establishing business contacts. The local community took
pride in its links and whenever a Quaker from Nantucket was bound for some distant
spot he carried with him a ‘travelling minute’, i.e. some letter of introduction that
he could produce on arrival in another Quaker community (Leach & Gow, 1997, p. 37).
Such introduction and contact were crucial in a growing commercial world. Originally
Rhode Island, and in particular Newport, served as the centre for all Quakers who
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belonged to the maritime communities in the north east. However, the Quaker-based
community on Nantucket, which had become a centre in its own right, began to develop
its own network and establish its own settlements, as was the case, for example, in
Nova Scotia (Barrington, Cape Sable) and, further to the south east, Gildford in
North Carolina. North Carolina was later abandoned again. Quakers were driven
away by slavery, which they abhorred, and began to settle further inland, in Ohio and
Indiana (Philbrick, 1994, pp. 138f.). Significantly (in the latter’s case), they helped to
establish a town called Economy, formerly known by the name of Nantucket.
9 Despite these differences, what the Massachusetts Presbyterians and the Nantucket
Quakers shared was what Reinhold Niebuhr has called the experience of the kingdom
of God in America. It was this experience that set the American Quakers apart from
their English fellow believers: ‘The kingdom of God in America...is the American
Kingdom of God; it is not the individualization of a universal idea, but the
universalization of the particular. It represents not so much the impact of the gospel
upon the New World as the use and adaptation of the gospel by the new society for its
own purposes’ (Niebuhr, 1937, p. 9).
10 In Massachusetts no church taxes applied to those who lived within a five-mile
radius of the meeting house (Worrall, 1980, pp. 73, 122).
11 Three stories are particularly worth mentioning in this context (for more details,
see Byers, 1987, pp. 212ff.; Dolin, 2007, pp. 171ff.; Philbrick, 1994, pp. 140ff.). The first
is the 1785 attempt by two Nantucket whaling merchants to establish a fishing outpost
in Dartmouth, close to Halifax, Nova Scotia. However, this attempt was looked upon
with suspicion by the British authorities, who did not see the need for another North
Atlantic competitor for its home fleet. The second attempt was that of William Rotch,
well-established whaling entrepreneur, who actively sought help to relocate to Britain in
1786 to rebuild Nantucket as a new model town in Milford Haven in Wales. But again
this attempt encountered resistance from the British-based whaling fleet. The third
attempt was also made by Rotch when his and some other Nantucket families moved to
Dunkirk, France, in the early 1790s. However, soon it turned out that this move was
motivated by an attempt less to export the ‘true Nantucket model’ than to gain access to
the European market. Whatever the true intentions were, the Rotch family returned
after having witnessed some of the excesses of the French Revolution. (They finally
settled in New Bedford, where they became highly successful, becoming co-founders of
the thriving Bedford whaling fleet that would soon replace Nantucket.) All three
examples show the attempt to manoeuvre among the British, French and American
sides and to establish a whaling triangle that would be run by Nantucketers although it
might formally side with England, France or America. It should be added here that
such opportunism was looked upon with some suspicion by local Nantucketers, which
might partly explain the move of the Rotch family to New Bedford.
12 The greatest experiment took place under the guidance of William Penn in
the state that would later bear his name. But if we want to know how Quakerism gains
the hegemony when operating in the context of geographical isolation and limited
resources Nantucket might be the more interesting model.
13 In contrast to Baptism, entry into the Quaker community is by conversion, usually
signalled to the overseers. As a sign of his or her conversion there is conduct or
‘outward behaviour’. In practice, however, membership is commonly handed down
from one generation to the next. Troeltsch even speaks of ‘birthright’ membership
(1960, p. 781), a feature which puts the Quakers in a distinct category from other
voluntary sects.
14 Davis et al. have compiled the data for sailings from both Nantucket and
New Bedford. They clearly show that New Bedford overtook Nantucket, but they
also show, first, the diminishing returns of struggling Nantucket and, second, its
absolute decline starting in the 1839s: 1800s: Nantucket (N) 182/New Bedford (NB)
104; 1810s: N 269/NB 92; 1820s: N 280/NB 354; 1830s: N 251/NB 672; 1840s:
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N 190/NB 760; 1850s: N 114/NB 915; 1860s: N 26/NB 529; 1870s: N 0/NB 368.
The later decline of New Bedford is due (1) to the discovery of oil and the decline of
the use of spermaceti oil after 1844, and (2) to the rise of whaling in the Pacific
and Arctic and the shift to San Francisco, including the use of the steam-engine by
San Franciscan whalers.
15 To use an example from the study that Davis et al. have conducted, in 1843 the
lays allocation aboard a New Bedford whaling ship, the Abigail, was as follows: captain:
16, first mate: 29, second mate: 50, boatsteerer: 95, seaman: 140, ordinary seaman: 170,
cooper: 55, cook 140 and greenhand 190 (Davis et al., 1997, p. 91).
16 Hard evidence is hard to come by but perhaps Herman Melville’s own whaling
history provides us with some (limited) evidence. Melville was not happy with his first
two trips on whalers (he deserted on his first trip). Only on his third whaling vessel did
he encounter a well-functioning enterprise. It turned out to be a Quaker whaling vessel
from Nantucket. For a detailed account, see Heflin’s (2004) magnificent study of
Melville’s whaling years.
17 For a detailed account of the conditions under which ‘Jack Tar’ lived, see Rediker
(1987).
18 This distinguished the labour relations in whaling considerably from those of the
merchant marine. While Rediker (1987) may be right in pointing out that the sailors of
the merchant marine formed a working class and labour power had become a
commodity, a more differentiated picture emerges when we look at whaling expeditions.
Here some form of egalitarianism, as expressed in the lay systems, still existed among
the plebeian culture that the seamen were part of. For a more elaborated version of how
plebeian culture and whaling are related see Hess (2009, 2010).
19 Nantucket was the first community to argue against the immorality of slavery and
to ban it from the island. While this in itself does not mean that there were friendly and
equality-based black-white relations, it was at least a relationship that was free of the
caste-like slavery and slaveholder system that prevailed further south. In Nantucket
itself the black community was, in the course of the late eighteenth century and then
increasingly in the course of the first half of the nineteenth century, supplemented by
other non-white immigrants who had come to the island to encounter work, mostly in
whaling. Immigrants from other whaling communities, such as the Azores or Cape
Verde, helped to build the part of the Nantucket community that became known as New
Guinea, including its own African church. Philbrick (1994, pp. 161 86) mentions
particularly one impressive case of upward mobility, that of Absalom Boston, a captain
of African American descent.
20 There were of course exceptions and the stories are many of those who could not
stand the limited space, the discipline, the abuse of authority and the monotony of life
aboard a whaling ship. However even in terms of mutiny and individual exit, the
Quaker-dominated whaling fleet seems to have a better record than the rest of the
American whaling fleet. To get an idea of the subjective notion of escape, see, for
example, the many discussions that appear in various novels of Melville. (Melville
himself had once sought refuge from a whaling ship.)
21 As Crèvecœur has observed, ‘They [the men] abhor the very idea of expending, in
useless waste and vain luxuries, the fruits of prosperous labour; they are employed in
establishing their sons, and in many other useful purposes: strangers to the honours of
monarchy, they do not aspire to the possession of affluent fortunes, with which to
purchase founding titles, and frivolous names!’ [1979 (1782), p. 132].
22 One might easily miss out what seems a minor observation of Crèvecæur, but, seen
in the context of a structured life, the following observation of what seems to have been
a widespread habit among men on the island is revealing: ‘I must confess I have never
seen more ingenuity in the use of the knife: thus the most idle moments of their lives
become usefully employed. In the many hours of leisure, which their long cruises afford
them, they cut and carve a variety of boxes and pretty toys, in wood, adapted to
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different uses; which they bring home, as testimonies of remembrance, to their wives
and sweethearts. . . . Almost every man in this island has always two knives in his
pocket, one much larger than the other; and, through they hold everything that is
called fashion in the utmost contempt, yet they are as difficult to please, and as
extravagant in the choice and price of their knives....As soon as a knife is injured,
or superseded by a more convenient one, it is carefully laid up in some corner of their
desk’ [1979 (1782), p. 141].
23 Serious business matters, such as those of commerce and trade, had long before
been farmed out to the general legal system.
24 From 1794 onwards there was a fall in Quaker membership and the Nantucket
Quaker community shrank consistently. Parallel to that decline a new religious
pluralism emerged: there were now eight churches and five denominations (Byers,
1987, p. 298).
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Andreas Hess: Radical Protestantism and doux commerce
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and the Anglo-American maritime world
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Andreas Hess teaches sociology at University College Dublin. His interests
are mainly in historical and cultural sociology. Most recent publications (as
co-editor with C. Fleck and E. S. Lyon): Intellectuals and Their Publics:
Perspectives from the Social Sciences (2009) and (as sole author) Reluctant
Modernization: Plebeian Culture and Moral Economy in the Basque Country
(2009).