What do you think?
Rate this book
A Path in the Mighty Waters: Shipboard Life and Atlantic Crossings to the New World
A vivid and revealing portrait of shipboard life as experienced by eighteenth-century migrants from Europe to the New World
In October 1735, James Oglethorpe’s Georgia Expedition set sail from London, bound for Georgia. Two hundred and twenty-seven passengers boarded two merchant ships accompanied by a British naval vessel and began a transformative voyage across the Atlantic that would last nearly five months. Chronicling their passage in journals, letters, and other accounts, the migrants described the challenges of physical confinement, the experiences of living closely with people from different regions, religions, and classes, and the multi-faceted character of the ocean itself.
Using their specific journey as his narrative arc, Stephen Berry’s A Path in the Mighty Waters tells the broader and heretofore underexplored story of how people experienced their crossings to the New World in the eighteenth century. During this time, hundreds of thousands of Europeans—mainly Irish and German—crossed the Atlantic as part of their martial, mercantile, political, or religious calling. Histories of these migrations, however, have often erased the ocean itself, giving priority to activities performed on solid ground. Reframing these histories, Berry shows how the ocean was more than a backdrop for human events; it actively shaped historical experiences by furnishing a dissociative break from normal patterns of life and a formative stage in travelers’ processes of collective identification. Shipboard life, serving as a profound conversion experience for travelers both spiritually and culturally, resembled the conditions of a frontier or border zone where the chaos of pure possibility encountered an inner need for stability and continuity, producing permutations on existing beliefs.
Drawing on an impressive array of archival collections, Berry’s vivid and rich account reveals the crucial role the Atlantic played in history and how it has lingered in American memory as a defining experience.
In October 1735, James Oglethorpe’s Georgia Expedition set sail from London, bound for Georgia. Two hundred and twenty-seven passengers boarded two merchant ships accompanied by a British naval vessel and began a transformative voyage across the Atlantic that would last nearly five months. Chronicling their passage in journals, letters, and other accounts, the migrants described the challenges of physical confinement, the experiences of living closely with people from different regions, religions, and classes, and the multi-faceted character of the ocean itself.
Using their specific journey as his narrative arc, Stephen Berry’s A Path in the Mighty Waters tells the broader and heretofore underexplored story of how people experienced their crossings to the New World in the eighteenth century. During this time, hundreds of thousands of Europeans—mainly Irish and German—crossed the Atlantic as part of their martial, mercantile, political, or religious calling. Histories of these migrations, however, have often erased the ocean itself, giving priority to activities performed on solid ground. Reframing these histories, Berry shows how the ocean was more than a backdrop for human events; it actively shaped historical experiences by furnishing a dissociative break from normal patterns of life and a formative stage in travelers’ processes of collective identification. Shipboard life, serving as a profound conversion experience for travelers both spiritually and culturally, resembled the conditions of a frontier or border zone where the chaos of pure possibility encountered an inner need for stability and continuity, producing permutations on existing beliefs.
Drawing on an impressive array of archival collections, Berry’s vivid and rich account reveals the crucial role the Atlantic played in history and how it has lingered in American memory as a defining experience.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 13, 2015
3 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 5, 2015
My take away from all this is to suddenly appreciate that, no matter how bad air travel is today, 18th century trans-Atlantic travel was WORSE (and that is saying something)
June 20, 2015
If you believe that those who migrated to the United States in the 18th century did so under the guidance and hand of God then you will enjoy reading this excellent history of the Atlantic crossing to the New World. In their own words the gratitude and experience of these immigrants speaks to the trials of life and how their faith helped them push forward. The author has done an excellent job of sifting through journals, log books, and personal histories to pull out details of how the experience of crossing the ocean shaped the outlook and perspective of those colonists who left behind family and country to seek a new opportunity--many who were doing so for religious reasons. There are numerous references where the travelers acknowledge the blessings and mercies of a loving God that sustain them through sorrow, storm, and loss.
Rather than cataloging the many possible spiritual opportunities that might be available in the 18th century to passengers aboard British ships, the author has focused on two ships that sailed at approximately the same time, the Simmonds and London Merchant. The trials and wonders of the voyage are seen through the eyes of multiple people who came from a broad range of Protestant traditions: the Church of England, German Lutherans, Moravians, and Quakers. Each of these individuals experienced the voyage through the lens of their faith, and the author has pulled together an excellent collection of first hand accounts that help the reader in the 21st century appreciate their courage and determination.
The chapters are laid out in sequence to correspond with the stages of a voyage from England to the New World: 1) Embarkation; 2) Sea Legs; 3) Shipmates; 4) Unbroken Horizons; 5) Crossing Lines [entering the tropics]; 6) Tedium; 7) Tempests; 8) Land Ho!; 9) The Journey On. That last chapter recognizes that while the ocean voyage was over, their voyage through life, on their spiritual journey, was still continuing. The faith that had become stronger during the trials of the voyage would lead them on to greater heights.
The intimacy and struggles of ship board life are well presented. A ship to the New World was a melting pot of religions, cultures, and classes. Each chapter also includes the perspective of sailors and comparison with what slave ships experienced during similar legs of the journey. These add depth and color to the experience of journeying to the New World.
Ships in this time period were not designed for transporting people. They were first and foremost cargo ships. Immigrants were treated only slightly better than cargo. Accommodations and modifications to the ship would be made for immigrants--think makeshift bunks and cubicles for families mixed in among the living arrangements of the crew.
Diet and nutrition were not understood. Filth and pests were rampant. Halfway through the book I was grateful for clean drinking water. Near journey's end their supplies and food preservation techniques were ill-suited for the uncertainty and rigors of a dangerous journey. Would they reach land first or die of malnutrition? The professional sailor could recognize the symptoms of scurvy, but it would not be until the end of the 18th century that the importance of diet on an extended voyage would be adequately appreciated.
The text is well researched. This is a history of the British Atlantic. Even though many travelers are coming from Germany and other European countries, they are sailing to a British colony, on British ships, and are experiencing the ocean from what I would term a British perspective. I would enjoy reading about ships from the Iberian peninsula going to French, Spanish, and Portuguese colonies in the New World on the other side of the Atlantic. How would their experiences differ from that of the British Atlantic? I liked that religious faith was the unifying thread through the experiences of this book. Would Spanish colonies, established decades earlier, have seen the migration of religious immigrants? Certainly they didn't rely on corned beef as a main staple in their diet--bacalhau perhaps? It was interesting to note that the first leg of the British voyage to the colonies was to travel from Portsmouth down to the Bay of Biscay and then follow established routes across the Atlantic.
I can see this book being of interest to readers from a variety of backgrounds. Those who have ancestors that came across the ocean in the 18th century to settle in the United States will find this book a most fascinating look at what the experience might have been like. There is an extensive index and individual names are given credit and note as referenced. This book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of what early colonists experienced prior to reaching the colonies. The ocean voyage was a large part of the adventure of uprooting ones family and starting over in a pristine land. Readers with an interest in maritime history might find the experience of immigrants to be enlightening, as well as the experience of the sailors. There are some interesting details in the book about the conditions slaves experienced crossing the Atlantic. The threat of privateers to the immigrants is interesting and would form a piece of the history of piracy in the New World. The incredible magnitude of the accomplishment of crossing the ocean in the 18th century comes through clearly in this book. Is it any wonder that those who came through the experience felt they had been guided by the hand of God?
Rather than cataloging the many possible spiritual opportunities that might be available in the 18th century to passengers aboard British ships, the author has focused on two ships that sailed at approximately the same time, the Simmonds and London Merchant. The trials and wonders of the voyage are seen through the eyes of multiple people who came from a broad range of Protestant traditions: the Church of England, German Lutherans, Moravians, and Quakers. Each of these individuals experienced the voyage through the lens of their faith, and the author has pulled together an excellent collection of first hand accounts that help the reader in the 21st century appreciate their courage and determination.
The chapters are laid out in sequence to correspond with the stages of a voyage from England to the New World: 1) Embarkation; 2) Sea Legs; 3) Shipmates; 4) Unbroken Horizons; 5) Crossing Lines [entering the tropics]; 6) Tedium; 7) Tempests; 8) Land Ho!; 9) The Journey On. That last chapter recognizes that while the ocean voyage was over, their voyage through life, on their spiritual journey, was still continuing. The faith that had become stronger during the trials of the voyage would lead them on to greater heights.
The intimacy and struggles of ship board life are well presented. A ship to the New World was a melting pot of religions, cultures, and classes. Each chapter also includes the perspective of sailors and comparison with what slave ships experienced during similar legs of the journey. These add depth and color to the experience of journeying to the New World.
Ships in this time period were not designed for transporting people. They were first and foremost cargo ships. Immigrants were treated only slightly better than cargo. Accommodations and modifications to the ship would be made for immigrants--think makeshift bunks and cubicles for families mixed in among the living arrangements of the crew.
Diet and nutrition were not understood. Filth and pests were rampant. Halfway through the book I was grateful for clean drinking water. Near journey's end their supplies and food preservation techniques were ill-suited for the uncertainty and rigors of a dangerous journey. Would they reach land first or die of malnutrition? The professional sailor could recognize the symptoms of scurvy, but it would not be until the end of the 18th century that the importance of diet on an extended voyage would be adequately appreciated.
The text is well researched. This is a history of the British Atlantic. Even though many travelers are coming from Germany and other European countries, they are sailing to a British colony, on British ships, and are experiencing the ocean from what I would term a British perspective. I would enjoy reading about ships from the Iberian peninsula going to French, Spanish, and Portuguese colonies in the New World on the other side of the Atlantic. How would their experiences differ from that of the British Atlantic? I liked that religious faith was the unifying thread through the experiences of this book. Would Spanish colonies, established decades earlier, have seen the migration of religious immigrants? Certainly they didn't rely on corned beef as a main staple in their diet--bacalhau perhaps? It was interesting to note that the first leg of the British voyage to the colonies was to travel from Portsmouth down to the Bay of Biscay and then follow established routes across the Atlantic.
I can see this book being of interest to readers from a variety of backgrounds. Those who have ancestors that came across the ocean in the 18th century to settle in the United States will find this book a most fascinating look at what the experience might have been like. There is an extensive index and individual names are given credit and note as referenced. This book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of what early colonists experienced prior to reaching the colonies. The ocean voyage was a large part of the adventure of uprooting ones family and starting over in a pristine land. Readers with an interest in maritime history might find the experience of immigrants to be enlightening, as well as the experience of the sailors. There are some interesting details in the book about the conditions slaves experienced crossing the Atlantic. The threat of privateers to the immigrants is interesting and would form a piece of the history of piracy in the New World. The incredible magnitude of the accomplishment of crossing the ocean in the 18th century comes through clearly in this book. Is it any wonder that those who came through the experience felt they had been guided by the hand of God?
May 8, 2019
This book is largely about the crossings of the Simmonds and the London Merchant led by James Oglethorpe from England to Georgia in 1735. Several passengers kept journals of the experience giving a fuller account of this crossing than is available about other crossings during the eighteenth century. This book is not limited, however, to these two ships alone. The author’s study of the personal experiences of passengers, the shipboard customs of the times, major religions of the day, and the nature of the Atlantic Ocean come together to reveal both startling and reassuring facts about this historical period of maritime history.
This book is not for the faint of heart. Berry holds nothing back concerning incidences of violence aboard ship, be they acts against men or women, free or slave. Likewise, he tells the gritty details of illnesses and deaths.
Berry’s frequent focus, however, is how members of four Protestant sects—German Lutheran, Church of England, Pietist (ie. Moravian), and Quaker—differed from one another on their crossing. He reveals how close confinement for several weeks through calms and storms modified outlooks or hardened them. He describes passengers’ faith in action during dangerous storms, or the lack thereof. Often, he draws upon John Wesley’s account, including his self-assessment that he found his own faith lacking.
As for the readability of this book, I found my vocabulary often lacking and wished that I were reading the Kindle version where a touch of a finger would reveal the definition of a word. I had bought the hardcover book from a remainder house for a few dollars, and couldn’t bring myself to fork a significant amount of money for the Kindle version which would have made the reading experience much easier on my eyes and satisfied my desire for instant access to definitions.
As I made my way across the ocean with the passengers quoted in this volume, I discovered that Berry often repeated himself, copying verbatim brief excerpts from one chapter into a later chapter that dealt with a related aspect of the story. This may be fine for a history textbook or a doctoral dissertation, but for a title being released to the general public, it’s a bit disappointing. Having said that, I must bow to the obviously superior knowledge and expertise of the author’s editor and his esteemed publisher, Yale University Press.
Interesting Excerpts and Passages from the Text
Rough water on the Atlantic caused concern by passengers that was downplayed by the captain who described a more violent storm on an earlier crossing. In response to his reassurances, one woman wrote in her journal: “How happy are we, who are only in danger of losing teeth and breaking limbs.”
When a ferocious storm smashed the deckside “private chambers” for passengers, they had to use the sailors’ toilets. “Each one, when one wished to relieve oneself, must hold to the ship’s rope with one hand, while with the other, hold one’s clothes over one’s head and let oneself be splashed by the brine whenever the waves ran high enough.”
The rolling and pitching of the ship led to this quote from one passenger: “When the most skillful thinks he is standing on one side of the ship, lo and behold, he finds himself on his behind on the other side of the ship.”
On page 98 of the hardcover edition, assaults against a woman passenger are described in graphic detail revealing the utter brutality of the ship’s captain and crew against a female who had complained about the captain’s unwanted advances. Exact quotes are too disturbing to include here.
On page 163, an incident is mentioned of a captain assaulting an eight- or nine-year-old female slave. The details were too violent to be described, “though the act is too atrocious and bloody to be passed over in silence.”
Sharks and sailors often battled for the same dinner. One incident recounts that a shark “took from the cooks net about 16 beef” before the ship’s crew could harpoon him. “After we got him on bord, opened him, took the beef and cooked it for dinner.”
Sharks quickly consumed bodies of dead passengers thrown overboard and for this reason people feared the cannibalistic taint of consuming shark meat. However, sharks were served to enslaved Africans who “fed heartily upon them.”
The captain of a slave ship learned that the words of the female slaves’ songs were laments of separation from family, friends, and country. “These songs were very disagreeable to the captain, who has taken them up, and flogged them in so terrible a manner for no other reason than this.”
The captain of one slave ship, upon reaching his destination and preparing slaves for sale, had a strategy for dealing with dysentery. “…he directed the surgeon to stop the anus of each of them with oakum.”
This book is not for the faint of heart. Berry holds nothing back concerning incidences of violence aboard ship, be they acts against men or women, free or slave. Likewise, he tells the gritty details of illnesses and deaths.
Berry’s frequent focus, however, is how members of four Protestant sects—German Lutheran, Church of England, Pietist (ie. Moravian), and Quaker—differed from one another on their crossing. He reveals how close confinement for several weeks through calms and storms modified outlooks or hardened them. He describes passengers’ faith in action during dangerous storms, or the lack thereof. Often, he draws upon John Wesley’s account, including his self-assessment that he found his own faith lacking.
As for the readability of this book, I found my vocabulary often lacking and wished that I were reading the Kindle version where a touch of a finger would reveal the definition of a word. I had bought the hardcover book from a remainder house for a few dollars, and couldn’t bring myself to fork a significant amount of money for the Kindle version which would have made the reading experience much easier on my eyes and satisfied my desire for instant access to definitions.
As I made my way across the ocean with the passengers quoted in this volume, I discovered that Berry often repeated himself, copying verbatim brief excerpts from one chapter into a later chapter that dealt with a related aspect of the story. This may be fine for a history textbook or a doctoral dissertation, but for a title being released to the general public, it’s a bit disappointing. Having said that, I must bow to the obviously superior knowledge and expertise of the author’s editor and his esteemed publisher, Yale University Press.
Interesting Excerpts and Passages from the Text
Rough water on the Atlantic caused concern by passengers that was downplayed by the captain who described a more violent storm on an earlier crossing. In response to his reassurances, one woman wrote in her journal: “How happy are we, who are only in danger of losing teeth and breaking limbs.”
When a ferocious storm smashed the deckside “private chambers” for passengers, they had to use the sailors’ toilets. “Each one, when one wished to relieve oneself, must hold to the ship’s rope with one hand, while with the other, hold one’s clothes over one’s head and let oneself be splashed by the brine whenever the waves ran high enough.”
The rolling and pitching of the ship led to this quote from one passenger: “When the most skillful thinks he is standing on one side of the ship, lo and behold, he finds himself on his behind on the other side of the ship.”
On page 98 of the hardcover edition, assaults against a woman passenger are described in graphic detail revealing the utter brutality of the ship’s captain and crew against a female who had complained about the captain’s unwanted advances. Exact quotes are too disturbing to include here.
On page 163, an incident is mentioned of a captain assaulting an eight- or nine-year-old female slave. The details were too violent to be described, “though the act is too atrocious and bloody to be passed over in silence.”
Sharks and sailors often battled for the same dinner. One incident recounts that a shark “took from the cooks net about 16 beef” before the ship’s crew could harpoon him. “After we got him on bord, opened him, took the beef and cooked it for dinner.”
Sharks quickly consumed bodies of dead passengers thrown overboard and for this reason people feared the cannibalistic taint of consuming shark meat. However, sharks were served to enslaved Africans who “fed heartily upon them.”
The captain of a slave ship learned that the words of the female slaves’ songs were laments of separation from family, friends, and country. “These songs were very disagreeable to the captain, who has taken them up, and flogged them in so terrible a manner for no other reason than this.”
The captain of one slave ship, upon reaching his destination and preparing slaves for sale, had a strategy for dealing with dysentery. “…he directed the surgeon to stop the anus of each of them with oakum.”
May 31, 2019
This is an in-depth analysis of the experiences of a small sampling of people who made transatlantic journeys to the colonies of North America in the 18th century. It will probably be useful and even interesting to those studying immigration and/or maritime history, but I can't say everyone will find it an enjoyable read. I gave it a third star because it was pretty informative, but I also found it painfully dry.
Berry has taken a small number of sources and mined them extensively. He presents his information by making a statement or observation, supporting it with excerpts from his sources, then concluding with a repetition of the original statement in slightly different language. He often presents these excerpts one or two at a time, each time followed up with another variation on his initial statement. In this way, he'll end up saying the same thing, slightly rephrased, multiple times.
Each point he makes over the course of a chapter is closely related to, but a little different from, the points before and after it. But because he states each point repeatedly, a little differently each time, the effect is a series of tight, heavily overlapping circles, like a slow and maddening spirograph. It's exhaustive, but also exhausting.
I don't at all regret reading this book. It has a lot to offer. A fun reading experience is just not one of them.
Berry has taken a small number of sources and mined them extensively. He presents his information by making a statement or observation, supporting it with excerpts from his sources, then concluding with a repetition of the original statement in slightly different language. He often presents these excerpts one or two at a time, each time followed up with another variation on his initial statement. In this way, he'll end up saying the same thing, slightly rephrased, multiple times.
Each point he makes over the course of a chapter is closely related to, but a little different from, the points before and after it. But because he states each point repeatedly, a little differently each time, the effect is a series of tight, heavily overlapping circles, like a slow and maddening spirograph. It's exhaustive, but also exhausting.
I don't at all regret reading this book. It has a lot to offer. A fun reading experience is just not one of them.
January 27, 2018
Solid research and a readable style, but the structure was a little off-putting. The narrative weaves together the vastly different experiences of the enslaved, the indentured, the free passengers in steerage, and the wealthy in private cabins. While this might help show contrasts, I found it to mostly be disorienting.
July 26, 2015
A little disappointing. Relied on only a handful of sources and quoted them extensively. Also could have made more generalizations about conditions. The chapter on arriving, however, was excellent and so is the notes section for those seeking additional genealogy leads and perspectives on immigrants.
14 Only 10% of German emigrants chose America.
20 Demographics.
35 Description of ship provisions.
40 Description of ship mortality.
102 Description of interaction between Germans and Brits.
225 Good description of final days of the voyage and excitement of arrival.
231 Disease onboard.
233 More on disease.
237 Mortality rates among Germans.
253 Summary of arrival excitement.
257 The crossing heightened religious fervor.
14 Only 10% of German emigrants chose America.
20 Demographics.
35 Description of ship provisions.
40 Description of ship mortality.
102 Description of interaction between Germans and Brits.
225 Good description of final days of the voyage and excitement of arrival.
231 Disease onboard.
233 More on disease.
237 Mortality rates among Germans.
253 Summary of arrival excitement.
257 The crossing heightened religious fervor.
Read
April 11, 2019For a book about water this book is really, really dry. DNF.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews