Date Awarded
2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
History
Advisor
Simon Middleton
Abstract
“Fighting Without Firing”: Massacre, Tactical Development, and Propaganda at Paoli and Tappan This essay examines the effects and tools of the American Revolutionary massacres at Paoli in 1777, and Tappan in 1778. These massacres were ordered by the same officer, Major General Charles Grey, and committed by the same soldiers. The essay argues that committing massacres and defining battles as “massacres” served British and American patriot causes during the American Revolution. Committing massacres provided models for tactical innovation and defining battles as massacre was a powerful propaganda tool for American revolutionaries. The essay secondarily argues that bayonets, night attacks, and close combat were essential to the creation of these massacres, and that Charles Grey played a significant role in the proliferation of this tactic in the American Revolution and subsequent British conflicts. “My Fellow Slaves”: Identity, Faith, and Space in the Construction of American Slave Communities in Algiers, 1785 to 1796This essay explores the creation of communities among American and European slaves in Algiers from 1785 to 1796. Examination of the narratives of John Foss and James Cathcart, the only two authentic slave memoirs from Algiers, reveals that American Protestants forged bonds with European Catholics due to the influences of identity, faith, and space. The essay argues that American perceptions of identity, the charity and support of Catholic religious orders, and the sharing of communal space was essential to the creation of inter-Christian communities among Algerian slaves.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21220/s1dd-8580
Rights
© The Author
Recommended Citation
Fowler, Kevin Michael, "“Fighting Without Firing”/ “My Fellow Slaves”" (2021). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. William & Mary. Paper 1638386881.
https://doi.org/10.21220/s1dd-8580
