Sailors 18th century
Philip Morin Freneau was an American publicist, editor, and known as the "poet of the American Revolution".
After graduating from Princeton University, Freneau taught school and studied to become a minister. With the outbreak of the American Revolution, he began writing scathing satire on the British and the Tories. During a two-year voyage to the Caribbean islands, he created the poems "The Beauties of Santa Cruz" and "The House of Night," and in 1778 he became involved in the war. After his release from British captivity, Freneau wrote a book in verse, "The British Prison Ship" (1781).
After serving as a sea captain for several years, Freneau took up journalism. In his National Gazette newspaper in Philadelphia, he sharply criticized George Washington.
Freneau's poetry, which accompanied him throughout his life, covers a variety of subjects, including political situations, American Indians, nature, the sea, and naval battles. His political poems are often satirical, but his nature poems are very lyrical.
James Mario Matra, born James Magra, was an American of Corsican descent, diplomat and sailor.
Matra became famous for accompanying James Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific and for painting the voyage, although his participation in it was accompanied by scandal. In 1783 he proposed settlements in New South Wales, Australia, for American Loyalists and British convicts. But Matra's hopes for an official position in the proposed colony failed, and in 1786 he accepted the post of consul in Tangier, where he remained until his death.
