Blogcritics Author: Matt Mitchell

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Book Review: Blackbeard - America's Most Notorious Pirate by Angus Konstam

Matt Mitchell — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 03:19:00 EST

Angus Konstam has a long history of studying pirates and other seafarers in his prolific collection of books he has written over the course of his career. His latest study, Blackbeard, is not only a tale of the “notorious” pirate, but also of the struggling colonial states and other pirates who haunted the Atlantic waters of early America. Pirates have been recently popularized in the current trends of pop-culture and clearly Konstam wants to cash in on their hype.Poorly written, erratic, and sometimes repetitive, Blackbeard is the biography of pirate Edward Teach (or Thatch or Drummond, Konstam is not sure). He attempts to trace the humble British beginnings of Blackbeard’s life, which are so obscure that no definitive proof of his upbringing can be uncovered. He outlines the career of Blackbeard through his first apprenticeship under Captain Benjamin Hornigold to his demise off Ocracoke Island and his legacy thereafter. Konstam’s approach is partially chronological, but often deviates from his point to such an extent that the reader becomes lost somewhere deep in an impertinent anecdote. There is nothing deceptive about Konstam’s writing: He frequently tells the reader what he intends to do, using such phrases as “but more of that to come in the next chapter” and “but from what followed,” or “for what happened next” (73-75). Most annoyingly, he uses many first-hand accounts in the form of paragraphs but does not explain their significance. Oftentimes, these accounts had terms and spoke in a language which the layperson who knew little of seamanship would not understand.Yet, Blackbeard may be a study that could be considered a good beginner's book for someone who wishes to learn more about pirates. Aside from the long first-hand accounts, it is an easy, uncomplicated read. Konstam loads his study with good information and has a very simple writing style that a wide audience could understand. The reader can tell that Konstam has an immense knowledge of pirates and piracy, but unfortunately he doesn't put it forth in an effective, concise study.Konstam may have tried to ride the tide of the recent successes of pirate-related movies by producing a book upon the world’s most famous pirate. While he is certainly erudite upon the subject, his study was not well written, not adequately researched and is not honest. Much akin to Blackbeard stealing booty from a mercantile ship, Konstam steals the reader’s time by producing a study that could be far more insightful and thought-provoking.

Matt Mitchell is a graduate student at Tulane University focusing on slavery in the Antebellum South.

Book Review: The Pirates Laffite - The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf by William C. Davis

Matt Mitchell — Sun, 4 Feb 2007 08:09:14 EST

There are few accurate accounts of pirates in the realm of historical writing that are comparable to the William C. Davis biography of Jean and Pierre Laffite in The Pirates Laffite:The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf. The unparalleled level of research Davis completed for his study is evident in its attention to detail and scrupulous description of their lives and legacies. It is an outstanding account of the lives of two brothers who had been clouded in the fog of obscurity.When the United States gained possession of the Louisiana territory from the French in 1803, the country also inherited a wealth of smugglers, privateers, and pirates. The most renowned and industrious of these Gulf brigands were the brothers Laffite, who established various “kingdoms” at Barataria and later Galveston to conduct complex smuggling and filibustering operations. Pardoned by President Monroe for heroics in the Battle of 1812, the Laffite brothers became spies for the Spanish and later returned to their lives as corsairs upon the waters of the Caribbean until their subsequent demise, apart from one another.For any reader unfamiliar with the covert operations of the pirates of the early 19th century, The Pirates Laffite will be enlightening. Most fascinating are the passages about the Laffite’s corsair headquarters on Grande Terre Island, and the intricate system of bayou waterways through which contraband items were smuggled, under the noses of authority and into the markets of New Orleans. While pirates have been popularly romanticized in the present day, Davis delivers an even-handed account of the Laffite brothers. The reader can tell that he doesn’t trust them (“Laffite entertained his guests with often amusing stories from his past, many of them no doubt invented for their benefit”), but also recognizes their fundamental influence as prominent members of early Louisiana society. (409) They were charismatic and persuading, deceiving anyone and holding no loyalties except to each other. Unlike many other contemporary biographies, Davis’ extremely well-researched account of their lives paints the reader a vivid picture of the place of Jean and Pierre Laffite in their timeframe in history.Yet because Davis spends so much time on the details of their lives, he incorporates some material that stretches far outside the bounds of the Laffites'. In other words, because there is so much detail involved in the story, the reader may find it arduous to remember all of the different names of individuals who weave their way into the lives of the brothers. Occasionally, it is difficult for the reader to stay on-track with the historical tangent Davis is riding. The Pirates Laffite is a biography of such depth, it has very few peers. For years, historians who have studied the Laffite brothers have speculated upon the validity of their legends. Davis offers concrete answers to many questions historians have asked about the Laffites in the past. His biography is a concise account of two brothers, whose lives were often overshadowed by their legend.

Matt Mitchell is a graduate student at Tulane University focusing on slavery in the Antebellum South.

Book Review: Dark Bargain - Slavery, Profits, and the Struggle for the Constitution by Lawrence Goldstone

Matt Mitchell — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 04:05:55 EST

The philosophical and pragmatic minds of the delegates who crafted the United States Constitution are explored in the latest Goldstone study, Dark Bargain. The thesis for his study, the underlying influence of slavery upon the writing of the American Constitution, becomes readily apparent in the first chapter and then is bolstered by in-depth facts regarding the mindset of the statesmen. That “to a significant and disquieting degree, America’s most sacred document was shaped by the most notorious institution in history.” (13)To support his thesis, Goldstone details the Constitutional framework viewed through the undercurrent of influences that were prevalent in colonial America. The foremost, slavery, drove a wedge into the writing of the Constitution, pitting the sophist Yankee contingent against the pragmatist Southern states. Dark Bargain describes several select members of the constitutional delegation, two Southerners and two Northerners, whose sway over the other delegates dictated how the document was to be written. Goldstone selects George Mason (probably the most powerful of the Virginia planter class) and John Rutledge (presented as the “father” of the Constitution") to characterize the mentality of the genteel Southern pragmatist. He chooses lawyers Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth to represent the North. While detailing the lives of these the delegates, Goldstone describes the forces that were shaping the country, such as the drive for more lands in the west, the struggle between states’ rights and federalism, and taxes on foreign imports. While these themes were important to constructing the reader’s perspective on colonial America, they do not contain a strong argument on how slavery effected the writing of the constitution and support his thesis in minor ways.It is not until the 10th chapter, when Goldstone’s main theories on the influence of slavery in the writing of the Constitution are discussed, beginning with the issue of congressional representation. He argues persuasively that the 3/5th rule was important in keeping the Southern states a part of the nation and that the many delegates considered “blacks not equal to whites, but equally as valuable.” (119) Interestingly, while considered a “unique species of property,” slaves could be considered human enough to enjoy representation in the South.Although a fastidious study, the reader may question his reliance on white fears of a major slave insurrection as being a reason for a strong, centralized federal military. At the time of the Constitution’s signing, America was threatened by many more internal factors, like a citizens’ revolt similar to the Shay rebellion, rather than by a slave insurrection. As well, foreign invasion was a constant fear of the delegates, who aimed to turn their fragile states into an unbreakable union, complete with a centralized military.While at times Goldstone stretches his theories to prove his points, Dark Bargain is a refreshing look at the Constitution as a sensible document, written to organize the United States into an efficient, sovereign federal system. Throughout the narrative, he successfully uses direct quotes from the primary source materials and evenly depicts the June arguments that led to the creation of the Constitution. At the end of the study, the reader questions how the delegates wrestled with the issue of moral restraint versus the economic necessity of slavery, which was an institution the fledgling United States could not survive without.

Matt Mitchell is a graduate student at Tulane University focusing on slavery in the Antebellum South.

Review: The Lost German Slave Girl by John Bailey

Matt Mitchell — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 20:19:03 EST

The Lost German Slave Girl is a remarkable account of a German immigrant (Sally Miller) and her legal battle for freedom in antebellum New Orleans. Her story is widely acclaimed in early Louisiana legal history, in part because it featured a suspenseful courtroom battle between the astute legal minds of John Randolph Grymes and Wheelock Upton. The fate of Miller, whether she be proclaimed a free white woman or thrown back into the depravity of slavery, twists and transforms throughout the 1840s in the controversy over whose life into which she was born. John Bailey unravels the complex story of Miller, a fair-skinned slave woman in New Orleans. While sitting on the doorstep of a tenement building, Miller was approached by a member of the New Orleans German immigrant community, who thought her to be their long-lost relation. Miller wholeheartedly accepted her invitation into the German community, which embraced her as one of its own after 25 years of absence, even though she was still legally a black slave.The better part of the study revolves around a dramatic legal battle about identity. Miller, who cannot remember anything from her childhood and refuses to speak openly about her past (supposedly, she was stricken with yellow fever at an early age, thus erasing her memory), plays only a minor character to the legal wrangling between Upton and Grymes. While the two barristers dog it out in the courtroom about the childhood of Miller, she sits mute. It is discouraging to the reader that the fundamental theme of identity in The Lost German Slave Girl is not disclosed by the central character in the study, nor does she, herself, reveal a single piece of her past. Otherwise, the Bailey study is clear and concise. While the case was long and treacherous, Bailey elucidates the murky legalese and refines the sequences of events to flow in an easy non-fiction format. He describes, in great detail, the harrowing journey of several Germanic families from their native country and across the Atlantic Ocean to the unknown land of America. Further, he paints a lucid picture of the early 18th-century Southern judicial dynamic and its wavering stance on the true identity of a supposed slave.Bailey’s study reads like a legal suspense novel. Throughout the narrative you cannot tell if Miller is black or white, German or American, free or slave. Essentially, The Lost German Slave Girl raises the conflict between two white societies fighting over a woman who has been subdued by slavery her entire life. It begets the question of how much white society depended on slaves and further, how the institution of slavery was a typical facet of Southern gentry.

Matt Mitchell is a graduate student at Tulane University focusing on slavery in the Antebellum South.