Presentation Type
Research Study
Release Option
Event
Description
The city of Savannah, Georgia, was founded in 1733 near the mouth of the Savannah River and has since grown into one of the United States’ most active container ports. Savannah’s many maritime monuments display the city’s great pride in its maritime history. This presentation investigates shipbuilding in Colonial Georgia between the colony’s founding and the War of Independence when the city relied on small craft for transportation and defense. Research in colonial newspapers, records, and journals, as well as scholarly works and archaeological reports, suggest that, despite Savannah’s rich maritime heritage, records and scholarly research of boat construction and use in the colonial period are surprisingly sparse. Archaeological studies on colonial Savannah typically examine narrow examples or provide a give a broad context of maritime culture. Nevertheless, although it often went unrecorded, the construction and use of small craft was a crucial aspect of colonial Georgia and demonstrates how Georgia was shaped by cultural and economic patterns from across the Atlantic world. This presentation analyzes how boatbuilding was connected to British foreign relations, diplomacy between English colonists and Native Americans, cross-Atlantic cultural exchange, and the development of slavery in southern society. Researching the development of boat construction is significant not just as a matter of maritime history, but also as a source of insight into the complex mix of cultural influences at work in colonial America. archaeological reports suggest that, despite Savannah’s rich maritime heritage, records and scholarly research of boat construction and use in the colonial period are surprisingly sparse. Archaeological studies on colonial Savannah typically examine narrow examples or provide a give a broad context of maritime culture. Nevertheless, although it often went unrecorded, the construction and use of small craft was a crucial aspect of colonial Georgia and demonstrates how Georgia was shaped by cultural and economic patterns from across the Atlantic world. This presentation analyzes how boatbuilding was connected to British foreign relations, diplomacy between English colonists and Native Americans, cross-Atlantic cultural exchange, and the development of slavery in southern society. Researching the development of boat construction is significant not just as a matter of maritime history, but also as a source of insight into the complex mix of cultural influences at work in colonial America.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Faculty Mentor
Dr Kurt Knoerl
Department of Primary Presenter's Major
Department of History
Primary Presenter's Major(s)
History
Location
Virtual Symposium
Symposium Year
2021
Cypress Canoes and Periaguas: Shipbuilding and Maritime Culture in Colonial Savannah, Georgia
Virtual Symposium
