Why is the name "Tecumseh" used for US Navy ships?
Upvote:20
While Tecumseh was an enemy of the US while alive, his name was well known. The first ship named after him was a Canonicus-class monitor during the Civil War, some 50 years after Tecumseh's death. The other Canonicus monitors were named after other Native Americans or places with names derived from Native American words (generally - the first was renamed Ajax from Manayunk after the war). So, 50 years after his death the name was still known.
Further, the story of the statue named "Tecumseh" at the US Naval Academy, installed in 1866 at the Academy, is instructive. The statue was actually of another Native American, Tamanend, and served as the bowsprit of the Delaware, sunk in the Civil War. It ended up being named Tecumseh instead, which indicates with some clarity that (a) the name was well known, and (b) the name was respected by the midshipmen of the time. Respecting the qualities of one's enemies is not an unusual occurrence, particularly after several generations have passed.
Now, why was Tecumseh still known some 50 years after his death? An article in the Indiana Magazine of History from 1989 sheds some background. It would appear that his life was written about quite often.
The first body of literature, coming from a predominantly antebellum romantic school, portrayed Tecumseh as the noble savage. This forceful interpretation persists in popular and academic writings to the present day even though it faded after the Civil War.
Further, the article has evidence that he was written about with much praise shortly after his death. It quotes an 1820 letter to the Indiana Centinal [sic]:
Every schoolboy in the Union now knows that Tecumseh was a great man. He was truly great - and his greatness was his own, unassisted by science or the aid of education. As a statesman, a warrior and a patriot, take him all in all, we shall not look upon his like again.
Combined with multiple pre Civil War biographies of Tecumseh, it is clear that the story of Tecumseh was broadly known and often romanticized. It would seem quite likely that, when the US Navy went in search of names for a class of ships named after Native Americans, Tecumseh's name would be high on the list.
As for the names in the Canonicus (and other monitors) class, the Monitor Center notes:
A note on the names of these vessels seems in order. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles directed that new vessels being built should illustrate the pride of the American nation by having distinctly American names. As a result, many of the monitors received names of American rivers, lakes, mountains, cities or Indian tribes. This practice created a list of names that in some cases proved nearly unpronounceable. The practice nevertheless remained in place until 1869, when the new Secretary of the Navy, Adolph A. Borie, ordered the wholesale renaming of ships, often adopting new names based on classical Greek figures or gods. This practice has somewhat complicated for many the tracing of these Civil War era ships.
More post
- 📝 When were the different stories of Hindu gods written?
- 📝 From what part(s) of Germany were the majority of Texas immigrants in the mid-19th century?
- 📝 Real-life examples of finding long-lost treasure?
- 📝 What was the relation of Barons to Counts/Dukes/Earls in England during the medieval ages?
- 📝 How did a criminal trial in the Soviet Union work after World War 2?
- 📝 Why did almost every ancient civilization have a found religion?
- 📝 Submarine record from WW2
- 📝 What was the population of the main area of settlement in New York City in 1890?
- 📝 What is known about how many Ulfberht swords exist?
- 📝 Has any foreign embassy ever been entered without permission?
- 📝 What ship is this and which military campaign?
- 📝 Did Japan ever retaliate for the Russian attacks of 1806?
- 📝 Does anyone have a concrete example of the British Empire using revolution to gain control over foreign resources, governments?
- 📝 How did nobles upon the Grand Tour evade or mitigate the danger of banditry?
- 📝 Examples of Romans repeating early stages of the cursus honorum
- 📝 How many troops died on D-day?
- 📝 How did it happen that countries and cities got different names in different languages?
- 📝 Is the depiction of the Stirling Castle Knight historically accurate?
- 📝 Were there any well known royal dynasties that did not in some way cite religious mandate for their rule?
- 📝 Rationale for mounted infantry?
- 📝 What did it mean that Italy was an Empire?
- 📝 Were the Nazis the first to use phenol as a means of execution?
- 📝 What is the oldest known work of fiction?
- 📝 Identification of Seaplane Type
- 📝 Hitler's Dental Records
- 📝 Is "Lenin’s Testament" authentic?
- 📝 Do any churches continue to display length measures?
- 📝 Why did Sir William Stanley support Perkin Warbeck?
- 📝 How can I find the most complete list of the names of Kaytn Massacre victims?
- 📝 Have there been any notable battles fought with steel vs. bronze weapons?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why is the name "Tecumseh" used for US Navy ships?
- 📝 Why were Royal Navy ships forbidden to attack the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo in Argentinian waters?
- 📝 What were the typical types of ships used in the Persian Navy in the 1730's and 1740's?
- 📝 Why was the German system of interlocking plates not used after WWII for armored vehicle construction?
- 📝 Protected Merchant Ships in WWII used for the relocation of Prisoners of War
- 📝 Why is the name of King Lucifer used by Christians as that of Devil?
- 📝 Why do navies like the US Navy name its ranks uniquely?
- 📝 Why did the Soviet Union name their strongest bomb Tsar Bomba?
- 📝 Why is it that the maiden name is traditionally dropped when a woman is getting married?
- 📝 Why were British ships not of the same quality as French and Spanish ships until the latter part of the 18th century?
- 📝 If the Ch’in dynasty was so short-lived, why was China named for it?
- 📝 Given their reputation for fighting to the last man in the Pacific, why did 700,000 Japanese troops surrender in Manchuria?
- 📝 Are there any documented examples of wooden ships which were in active service for 100 years or more? If not, what is the longest?
- 📝 Why did the Japanese expect the United States navy would attack the Home Islands?
- 📝 Why weren't army snipers used at the Munich massacre?
- 📝 Why didn't the British Grand Fleet force an engagement with the German Imperial Navy in WW1?
- 📝 Historically, why did the US station their nuclear weapons in Germany for delivery through German pilots?
- 📝 Why did Peter the Great name Saint Petersburg, Russia with a foreign styled name?
- 📝 Why did it take so long for Europeans to adopt the moldboard plow?
- 📝 Why does the US use the opposite convention to the rest of the world for colour-coding harbour buoys?
- 📝 Why didn't the Black Death result in favorable results for surviving peasants in China?
- 📝 What was the 1970s name for skinny jeans?
- 📝 Why did US Navy WW2 torpedoes detonate at the end of their run?
- 📝 Why was the area now known as Liberia chosen as the location for repatriation of African slaves in the US?
- 📝 Why did Stalin push for the Great Purge against the Red Army in 1936?
- 📝 Is there a historical source that might explain why so many countries use 35 as a minimum age for the president / the highest office person?
- 📝 Why did it take so long for the Germans to develop the first tank model in World War I?
- 📝 Why did JFK give approval for the CIA to encourage Diem's deposal?
- 📝 Why were balls used on the Medici coat of arms?
- 📝 Why did Kabila discard the name and flag of Zaire?