Estimating levels of numeracy and literacy in the maritime sector of the North Atlantic in the late eighteenth century

Lottum, Jelle van; Poulsen, Bo

doi:10.1080/03585522.2011.541124

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The wage dispersion and changes in skill premia have recently been analyzed in the context of the change from sail to steam and the rise of Atlantic trade in the nineteenth century. (van Lottum and Poulsen, 2011;van Lottum and van Zanden, 2014) Thompson (2003), Chin et al (2006), and Hynninen et al (2013) argue that technological change increased wage dispersion among sailors. Chin et al posit that the change created demand for new skilled occupations and had a deskilling effect overall.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deskilling and decline in skill premium during the age of sail: Swedish and Finnish seamen, 1751–1913

Ojala

Pehkonen

Eloranta

2016

Explorations in Economic History

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The study examines the evolution of skill premium and share at industry level in shipping during the age of sail. We argue that the period from the 1750s to the 1910s represented deskilling for the seamen working n sailing ships. The growth of international trade and shipping during the first era of globalization increased the overall demand for sailors but decreased the relative demand for skilled labor in favor of less skilled ones. This deskilling was associated with a decline in wage inequality, as the premium for high skilled seamen fell relative to mean wages in the shipping industry. The decline in skill premium may have facilitated the growth of trade and shipping, as the relative costs of transport declined. This in turn might have hastened the first era of globalization.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deskilling and decline in skill premium during the age of sail: Swedish and Finnish seamen, 1751–1913

Ojala

Pehkonen

Eloranta

2016

Explorations in Economic History

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“…Studies of eighteenth-century European sailors have also revealed a markedly raised level of numeracy amongst the lower deck compared to the general rural population. 41 Despite the lack of universal education in England at the time, the leadsman's practical experience in counting knots, coupled with tuition from the ship's chaplain, ensured an adequate level of numeracy.…”

Section: Sounding In Silencementioning

confidence: 99%

Sounding in silence: men, machines and the changing environment of naval discipline, 1796–1815

Poskett

2014

Br J Hist Sci

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Logbooks and sea charts may appear rather straightforward evidence to present at a naval court martial. However, their introduction into proceedings in the early nineteenth century reveals an important shift. Measuring the depth of water soon became a problem both of navigation and of discipline. Indeed, Captain Newcomb's knowledge of the soundings taken at the Battle of the Basque Roads proved crucial at Lord Gambier's court martial in June 1809. Through a case study of Edward Massey's sounding machine, this paper reveals the close connection between disciplinary practices on land and at sea. The Board of Longitude acted as a key intermediary in this respect. By studying land and sea together, this paper better explains the changing make-up of the British scientific instrument trade in this period. Massey is just one example of a range of new entrants, many of whom had little previous experience of the maritime world. More broadly, this paper emphasizes the role of both environmental history and material culture in the study of scientific instruments.

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“…On literacy, see Patarino, ‘Religious shipboard culture’, pp. 178–81; for a study of literacy and numeracy in the later eighteenth century, see van Lottum and Poulsen, ‘Estimating levels’.…”

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confidence: 99%

Pieces of eight, pieces of eight: seamen's earnings and the venture economy of early modern seafaring†

Blakemore

2017

The Economic History Review

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Historians have generally argued that between the medieval period and the eighteenth century seafarers transformed from collaborative adventurers with a share in their vessel to the first international wage‐earning proletariat. This interpretation has drawn upon relatively limited statistical analysis of mariners’ wages, and underestimates the variety of seafarers’ remuneration and economic activities besides wages themselves. This article undertakes a more sustained analysis of seventeenth‐century wage data drawn from the papers of the English High Court of Admiralty, and uses the same evidence to examine other forms of income, both customary payments as part of shipping, and small‐scale trade. Seafarers of all ranks carried their own commodities on all shipping routes, offering an opportunity to increase their income considerably. This evidence confirms that the maritime labour market was hierarchical, and that very often seafarers were poor labourers facing economic insecurity of many kinds. However, it refines the previous interpretation by emphasizing the presence of skilled workers even among the lower levels of this labour market, and by introducing a new dimension to mariners’ economic agency: they were not simply wage‐workers, but also independent participants in a venture economy.

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Estimating levels of numeracy and literacy in the maritime sector of the North Atlantic in the late eighteenth century

Cited by 9 publications

References 13 publications

Deskilling and decline in skill premium during the age of sail: Swedish and Finnish seamen, 1751–1913

Deskilling and decline in skill premium during the age of sail: Swedish and Finnish seamen, 1751–1913

Sounding in silence: men, machines and the changing environment of naval discipline, 1796–1815

Pieces of eight, pieces of eight: seamen's earnings and the venture economy of early modern seafaring†

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