When was the word "steerage" first used?
First recorded in 1400–50, steerage is from the late Middle English word sterage. See steer 1, -age
What is the meaning of "steering"?
steerage. a part or division of a ship, formerly the part containing the steering apparatus. (in a passenger ship) the part or accommodations allotted to the passengers who travel at the cheapest rate.
How many immigrants arrived in the steerage at New York?
The airlines have indoctrinated us to accept a “ steerage complex.”. Two thousand and seventy-four immigrants arrived in the steerage at New York. There were other mournful cases indeed to be studied on the steerage deck, but none in which misfortune was so attractive.
Why did they consent to go steerage?
There were those who said that they consented to go steerage because they thought steerage was fixed up like first cabin. Ways of War and Peace | Delia Austrian. On sailed the boat, left to the steerage of Providence; on slept Newton, as if putting firm reliance on the same. Newton Forster | Captain Frederick Marryat.
What was the term for a meal of roasted meat?
In the 1700s, "barbecue" referred to an outdoor meal of roasted meat or fish as a social entertainment.
What is steerage in English?
Define steerage. steerage synonyms, steerage pronunciation, steerage translation, English dictionary definition of steerage. n. 1. The act or practice of steering. 2. Nautical a. The effect of the helm on a ship. b. The steering apparatus of a ship. c. The section of a passenger...
What does "steering" mean?
steer•age. (ˈstɪər ɪdʒ) n. 1. (in a passenger ship) the accommodations for travelers who pay the cheapest fare, usu. providing minimal comfort and convenience. 2. a. the act or action of steering. b. management; direction. [1400–50]
How many passengers were on the steeragen?
We carried in the steeragenearly a hundred passengers: a little world of poverty: and as we came to know individuals among them by sight, from looking down upon the deck where they took the air in the daytime, and cooked their food, and very often ate it too, we became curious to know their histories, and with what expectations they had gone out to America, and on what errands they were going home, and what their circumstances were.
Who was the tall chap in the steerage?
One of the hunters, a tall, loose-jointed chap named Henderson, was going aft at the time from the steerage (the name the hunters facetiously gave their midships sleeping quarters) to the cabin. I had been swept against the galley and around the steerage companion-way from the weather side into the lee scuppers.
What does "steering" mean?
the act or practice of steering, or directing; as, the steerage of a ship
What is the act of steering a ship?
Steerage is the act of steering a ship. "Steerage" also refers to the lowest decks of a ship.
What was the stench of steerage?
Another writer, taking the reverse journey from Liverpool to New York in 1888 described the food served in steerage as barely edible and only when respite from seasickness allowed one to eat.
What is the purpose of the Steerage Act?
The crux of the Steerage Act was a new requirement that all arriving ships provide U.S. customs agents with a written manifest of everyone on board, their age, sex and occupation, their country of origin and final destination. Captains also had to report the number and names of all people who died during the voyage.
What was the first immigration law?
One of the United States’ first immigration laws, the Steerage Act , passed on March 2, 1819, was a half-hearted attempt to improve such transatlantic travel conditions. But the regulations it introduced did little to address the horrors of 19th-century travel in steerage—a catch-all term for the lowest class of sea travel.
Where did the 19 century immigrants come from?
Record numbers of 19-century immigrants arrived in American port cities from the UK and Western Europe following the War of 1812 —but that’s only if they managed to survive the journey. Many of the new arrivals were desperately poor, paid very little for their passage and were treated as nothing more than cargo by shipping companies.
When did immigrants take a meal aboard a crowded ship bound for America?
Immigrants taking a meal aboard a crowded ship bound for America, circa 1870s.