How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
English Nantucketers had instituted a system of debt servitude that provided them with a steady supply of Wampanoag labor, (1.16)
From the start, the Nantucket whale industry depends on the undervalued labor of Native Americans. Doesn't that contradict the Quaker Nantucketers' much-avowed opposition against slavery? Absolutely. Is that going to stop them? No way. Not when money is involved.
Quote #2
But for the men who were typically rounded up by shipping agents in cities such as Boston, it was a different story. Instead of the beginning of something, shipping out on a whaling voyage was often a last and desperate resort. (1.87)
For a Nantucketer, the whaling industry offers a lucrative and respectable career path. It's a completely different story for the working-class men hired as low-ranking ship hands—it's not like those dudes are going to be made captains anytime soon.
Quote #3
It wasn't lofty social ideals that brought black sailors to this Quaker island, but rather the whale fishery's insatiable and often exploitative hunger for labor. (1.92)
Once again, we see this squeaky clean Quaker town seem awfully sleazy. Basically, these money-hungry men have replaced their Wampanoag oarsmen with African Americans, paying them chump change simply because they can. Instead of using their wealth to inspire social change, these Nantucketers exploit racism for their own financial gain.