Richard Henry Dana Jr. Biography

Richard Henry Dana Jr. was one of those gifted men who were just too ahead of their times. He was a successful lawyer and author. He gave us one of the most intriguing pieces of art that have made generations wonder at the magnificence of the sea. As a lawyer he fought for the poor, especially the seamen who could not wrap their head around the complications of the judicial system. He was a committed abolitionist and did everything in his capacity to help do away with the social evil of slavery. Though he was raised in a very high-class family, he was never blind to the suffering of the common people. A loyal friend and family man, he was basically a very good human being. Reflecting on his long voyage to California, he wrote that he had been very lucky while traveling although he failed at everything else he tried his hands at. He wanted to be remembered as the man behind the book ‘Two years before the Mast’. His real commitments were to law, where he finally prospered but failed miserably in politics. He did not have the crudeness and the charisma to organize powerful political campaigns. He was most popular for his crusades in support of the fugitive black people.