Shipping Commissioners Act of 1872

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

Notes

1. Bauer, 1988:284.
2. Sullivan, Kathleen (2022). "Sailors, Crimps, and Commerce: Laws Protecting Seamen, 1866–1884". Journal of Policy History. 34 (4): 555–586. doi:10.1017/S0898030622000203. ISSN 0898-0306. S2CID 251955898.

References

• Bauer, K. Jack (1988). A Maritime History of the United States: The Role of America's Seas and Waterways. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina. ISBN 0-87249-519-1.
• "Andrew Furuseth Special Edition" (PDF). West Coast Sailors, March 12, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2007. Retrieved March 21, 2007.