Chesapeake is a novel by James A. Michener

James A. Michener

James Albert Michener was an American author of more than 40 titles, the majority of which were sweeping sagas, covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and incorporating historical facts into the stories...

, published by Random House

Random House

Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

 in 1978

1978 in literature

The year 1978 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, a humorous award given annually to books with unusual titles is created. The first winner was Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude...

. The story deals with several families living in the Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 area, from 1583 to 1978.

Plot summary

The storyline, like much of Michener's work, depicts a number of characters over a long time period. Each chapter

Chapter (books)

A chapter is one of the main divisions of a piece of writing of relative length, such as a book. Chapters can be numbered in the case of such writings as law code or they can be titled. For example, the first chapters of some well-known novels are titled:*"The Boy Who Lived" – Harry Potter...

 begins with a voyage

Voyage

- In music: :* Voyage * Voyage * Voyage , by In Fear and Faith* Voyage , by Ayumi Hamasaki* Voyage , a disco music group** Voyage, an album by the eponymous band...

 which provides the foundation for the chapter plot. It starts in 1583 with American Indian

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 tribes warring, moves through English settlers throughout the 17th century, slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

 and tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 growing, pirate attacks, the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 and the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, Emancipation

Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution officially abolished and continues to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, passed by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted on December 6, 1865. On...

 and attempted assimilation

Cultural assimilation

Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...

, to the final major event being the Watergate scandal

Watergate scandal

The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...

. The last voyage, a funeral, is in 1978.

• Voyage One: 1583
• The River
• Voyage Two: 1608
• The Island
• Voyage Three: 1636
• The Marsh
• Voyage Four: 1661
• The Cliff
• Voyage Five: 1701
• Rosalind's Revenge
• Voyage Six: 1773
• Three Patriots
• Voyage Seven: 1811
• The Duel
• Voyage Eight: 1822
• Widow's Walk
• Voyage Nine: 1832
• The Slave-Breaker
• Voyage Ten: 1837
• The Railroad
• Voyage Eleven: 1886
• The Watermen
• Voyage Twelve: 1938
• Ordeal by Fire
• Voyage Thirteen: 1976
• Refuge
• Voyage Fourteen: 1978

Themes and Motifs

The novel has a number of central themes, such as religion, slavery, poverty, and industry, each personified by a particular family that settles on the bay, and in some cases, by several families.

The religious element of the novel applies to the Steeds, who are Roman Catholic and the Paxmores who are Quakers

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

. At one point there is a religious debate

Debate

Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...

 between Ralph Steed, a priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

, and Ruth Brinton, a matriarch of the Paxmore family. Their disagreement is mainly about slavery.

Slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

 is an overriding theme of the entire book. The Steeds are great landowners and one of the greatest holders of slaves in the colonies, whereas the Paxmores, through Ruth Brinton, are the first proponents of emancipation. It is said that the Choptank Quaker's Association is the first religious organisation to ban slavery. Later in the book, Cudjo Cater is captured in Africa and put to work on the Steed plantation, where he buys his freedom and settles in the nearby township with a wife. The Cater family is forever affected by slavery, even after emancipation, as evidenced when Jeb Cater tries to get his son treated for an ear infection. Prior to the Civil War, the Paxmores form the Maryland link of the Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...

 to Pennsylvania, which Cudjo contemplates using before he buys his freedom.

Poverty

Poverty

Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...

 is best shown in the living standards of the Turlocks, who live in a marsh

Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

 on the riverside. While they are one of the closest families to nature throughout the whole novel, akin to most of the Indians, they live in the same one bedroom shack built in the 17th century, and the children often watch the adult's sexual activity. However, by the end of the book, at least some of the Turlocks have risen out of poverty. The head of the Turlock family in 1978 is a wealthy real estate broker, selling waterside properties to a well-heeled clientele; one of his customers is a returning member of the Steed family. The other side of poverty is the place in the township dubbed 'The Neck' in the 20th century, where all the Negro

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 housing is, including a separate school and baseball diamond. Living standards are greatly reduced in 'The Neck', with the school teacher managing multiple years, and children counting themselves privileged to have either a book or a desk. 'The Neck' is eventually burned down by black activists, one of them Jeb Cater's son.

Industry

Industry

Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

 is seen in how each family builds their life up around them due to need, and eventually flourishes. It starts with Pentaquod, the Indian, who settles on a clifftop which is paradise

Paradise

Paradise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...

 to him. Edmund Steed settles on Devon Island and builds his home, complete with chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

, and founds his great plantation from the ground up with land bought from the Indians. The Steeds eventually own thousands of acres and are extremely wealthy. The Paxmores start with Edward Paxmore, a Quaker carpenter

Carpenter

A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....

, being banished from Massachusetts and building his house on a cliff overlooking the Choptank. He learns how to build a boat because of necessity and with only help from Indians, and eventually learns how to build an ocean going ship

Ship

Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...

. His boat building business becomes highly successful and thrives in the township. The Caters struggle for a long time, until 'Big Jimbo' Cater becomes a cook for an oyster skipjack. He eventually earns enough money to buy his own skipjack, which he staffs with his family, and becomes a successful captain. The Caveneys, who emigrated from Ireland due to the Potato Famine, are easily assimilated into the town, and become central characters in the oyster and duck subplots. As can be seen from each family's success through determination, the message is that they worked hard and attained great things.

Allusions/references to actual history and geography

Most of the events of the novel take place on the Eastern Shore of Maryland

Eastern Shore of Maryland

The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a territorial part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies predominately on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay and consists of nine counties. The origin of term Eastern Shore was derived to distinguish a territorial part of the State of Maryland from the Western...

, and, more specifically, on and around the Choptank River

Choptank River

The Choptank River is a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. Running for , it rises in Kent County, Delaware, runs through Caroline County, Maryland and forms much of the border between Talbot County, Maryland on the north, and Caroline County and Dorchester County on...

. Devon Island is fictional; its location would be approximately where the southern tip of Tilghman Island

Tilghman Island, Maryland

Tilghman Island is a census-designated place in Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 854 at the 2000 census.- History :...

 extends halfway across the mouth of the Choptank. Michner lived near there, in St. Michaels, while he worked on the book.

The Quaker Meeting House that Michener places in Patamoke in the novel, is actually Third Haven Meeting House

Third Haven Meeting House

The Third Haven Meeting House is generally considered the oldest surviving Friends meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends, and a cornerstone of Quaker history in Talbot County, Maryland.-History:...

, built in Easton in the 1680s; it is the oldest Quaker meeting house in the United States (see List of the oldest churches in the United States).