Shipping Commissioners Act of 1872 explained

The Shipping Commissioners Act of 1872 was a United States law dealing with American mariners serving in the United States Merchant Marine.

Among other things, the act:

• was passed to combat crimps.^[1]
• required that a sailor had to sign on to a ship in the presence of a federal shipping commissioner.^[1]
• required that a seaman be paid off in person.^[1]

The presence of a shipping commissioner was intended to ensure the sailor wasn't "forcibly or unknowingly signed on by a crimp."^[1]

The legislation was modeled on England’s Merchant Shipping Act of 1854.^[2]

See also

• Shanghaiing
• Maritime history of the United States
• Slave Trade Acts

References

• Book: Bauer, K. Jack . A Maritime History of the United States: The Role of America's Seas and Waterways . 1988 . University of South Carolina . Columbia, South Carolina . 0-87249-519-1 . registration .
• Web site: Andrew Furuseth Special Edition . West Coast Sailors, March 12, 2004 . March 21, 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070715220907/http://www.sailors.org/pdf/newsletter/andrewfurusethspecialedition.pdf . July 15, 2007.

Notes and References

1. Bauer, 1988:284.
2. Sullivan . Kathleen . 2022 . Sailors, Crimps, and Commerce: Laws Protecting Seamen, 1866–1884 . Journal of Policy History . en . 34 . 4 . 555–586 . 10.1017/S0898030622000203 . 251955898 . 0898-0306.