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

Abstract

In March of 1831, three American missionary families commenced service with the American Marathi Mission in Bombay. In just over three years, half of the party had died, and the survivors set sail for America. Their story is like what happened to many American missionaries at the end of the long eighteenth century who sought to expand the empire of Christ. From their voyage on the high seas to their everyday life in Bombay, they were confronted by their various states of dependence. Forced to reckon with unfamiliar social, cultural, economic, and political realities, they struggled on the margins of Anglo-Indian society. This article explores the uneasy relationship between American missionaries, who were acutely aware of their dependency on others as colonial interlopers, and the maritime empires they encountered.