object record
Identity paper · Maritime labor
Seaman’s Protection Certificate
Document carried to assert American citizenship
Protection certificates recorded personal characteristics intended to help American sailors resist impressment claims.
Why this record matters
Their physical descriptions and frequent rejection expose how national identity at sea was documented, contested, and embodied.
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Evidence behind this record
- Records About Impressed Seamen, 1793–1814National Archives · archival collection
Protection certificates and records of maritime identity.