Immersed in Dependency: American Missionaries, Empires, and India in the 1830s

What is it about?

Christian missionaries have often been criticized as promoting cultural imperialism and forwarding the political goals of European empires. This paper argues that during the age of maritime empires in the early nineteenth century some American missionaries were critics of British imperialism in India. Drawing on the story of William and Mary Ramsey who sailed from Philadelphia to Bombay in 1830 to work as missionaries, the paper examines how they struggled to adapt to the culture, climate, economics, and politics of British India. From the start of their journey on the high seas, the missionaries found that they were outsiders who were dependent on others for their everyday needs. After the death of Mary and their young son, William reconsidered how Christianity functioned in the age of maritime empires.

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