Status
Collection
Publication
Description
"The remarkable story of the mission that inspired a nation to donate massive relief to Ireland during the potato famine and began America's tradition of providing humanitarian aid around the world More than 5,000 ships left Ireland during the great potato famine in the late 1840s, transporting the starving and the destitute away from their stricken homeland. The first vessel to sail in the other direction, to help the millions unable to escape, was the USS Jamestown, a converted warship, which left Boston in March 1847 loaded with precious food for Ireland. In an unprecedented move by Congress, the warship had been placed in civilian hands, stripped of its guns, and committed to the peaceful delivery of food, clothing, and supplies in a mission that would launch America's first full-blown humanitarian relief effort. Captain Robert Bennet Forbes and the crew of the USS Jamestown embarked on a voyage that began a massive eighteen-month demonstration of soaring goodwill against the backdrop of unfathomable despair-one nation's struggle to survive, and another's effort to provide a lifeline. The Jamestown mission captured hearts and minds on both sides of the Atlantic, of the wealthy and the hardscrabble poor, of poets and politicians. Forbes' undertaking inspired a nationwide outpouring of relief that was unprecedented in size and scope, the first instance of an entire nation extending a hand to a foreign neighbor for purely humanitarian reasons. It showed the world that national generosity and brotherhood were not signs of weakness, but displays of quiet strength and moral certitude. In Voyage of Mercy, Stephen Puleo tells the incredible story of the famine, the Jamestown voyage, and the commitment of thousands of ordinary Americans to offer relief to Ireland, a groundswell that provided the collaborative blueprint for future relief efforts, and established the United States as the leader in international aid. The USS Jamestown's heroic voyage showed how the ramifications of a single decision can be measured not in days, but in decades."--… (more)
User reviews
"Perhaps the most disgraceful aspect of the Famine was that in each of its six years there was probably enough food EXPORTED out of Ireland to sustain the nation, certainly enough to have saved the
With meticulous research, documentation, and presentation the author presents the conditions of that harsh winter of 1847-48 with no food, no heat, no roof, scant clothing or shoes, and precious little hope. In England, the politicians favored the merchants over humanity and conscience, and the papers did not see fit to inform the populace. In the US, first immigrant families and Irish Catholic congregations sent what they could followed by indignation and fundraising by the noted personalities of the day (such as Daniel Webster, President Polk, Herman Melville) who were instrumental in tackling this humanitarian crisis. Money was raised from New Orleans to Boston and from Chicago to Charleston. But least remembered was the personal donations of foodstuffs from farmers from the Mississippi to New England and the ship's Captain Forbes who sailed the Jamestown across the Atlantic in hazardous seas as quickly as he could.
There is incredible detailing of the life histories of the major players and a whole lot more, but the undercurrent is the need by individuals in the US to do whatever they can whenever they feel that they can make a difference, regardless of nationality.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St Martin's Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
According to Puleo, the Jamestown mission was the first example of foreign aid and serves as a model of international disaster relief efforts. The book focuses on two key characters. Robert Bennet Forbes, an experienced merchant ship captain from the Boston area (born in Jamaica Plain and buried in Forest Hills cemetery, and I coincidentally passed his former home-become-museum in Milton on the day I finished this book), captained the Jamestown and was recognized for his good character and generosity. Father Theobald Matthew of County Cork, a noted temperance leader, organized the relief operations on the Irish side.
The book is good but if it has flaws it is Puleo's tendency to be about the goodness of the people behind the relief effort. Nevertheless, despite the success of the mission it did face challenges that later international relief efforts also suffered from. Distribution of the food stuffs was controversial as to whether it should be retained in County Cork or throughout Ireland. There was also the issue of the limits of charitable contributions to address deep, structural problems, in this case the colonial exploitation of Ireland by the United Kingdom. I couldn't help seeing parallels in the indifference and cruelty of the British government's response to the potato famine to the current day response of the Republican Party to the Covid Pandemic in the United States.
This is a good and well-researched history, although I feel that Puleo stretched it out where a shorter book may have been sufficient. Also, while I don't know where my Sullivan family ancestors originated, it is a common name in County Cork, so I could very well owe my existence to mission of the U.S.S. Jamestown.