Saturday Speaker Series — Navy Deserters & Manifest Destiny in the Pacific West

About this event

In the 1840s and 1850s, the west coast of North, Central and South America exploded with opportunity as Indigenous populations were displaced by eager newcomers. There was gold, silver and precious gems; coal, copper and timber; mercenary quests; and land, land, land. Adventurers traveled by land and by sea, leaving behind their old lives for new dreams. “Go west, young man, and grow up with the country” was the call of Manifest Destiny in the United States, and journalists around the world promoted immigration to the Pacific West.

Join Seattle-based historian Lorraine McConaghy as she presents her research into widespread desertion on the coast by young men from warships in the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy in the decades before the Civil War.

Speaker Bio:

Lorraine McConaghy is a historian working at Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, Washington, USA. McConaghy completed her Ph.D. in United States urban history at the University of Washington in 1993. She was the recipient of the Washington State Historical Society's Robert Gray Medal in 2010. The medal is the society's highest prize, awarded for distinguished contributions to Pacific Northwest history.