{"product_id":"2940152933062","title":"Uriah Levy: From Cabin Boy to Commodore","description":"\u003cp\u003eUriah Phillips Levy had no intention of becoming a shopkeeper like his father. That’s why the ten-year-old secretly signed up as a cabin boy and ran away to sea. During his apprenticeship he faced French pirates, was shipwrecked, and taken aboard a British man-of-war. The captain was so impressed with him that he offered Uriah a British commission. Levy politely refused explaining that his loyalty was to his country. (Later when Emperor Dom Pedro asked Levy to captain a new sixty-gun frigate in the Imperial Brazilian Navy, he replied, “I would rather serve as a cabin boy in the United States Navy than hold the rank of Admiral in any other service in the world.”)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile serving on the Argus during the War of 1812, Levy was captured and spent sixteen months as a prisoner of war. When he returned home, Uriah continued his service in the navy. His fiery temper against anti-Semitic bias resulted in a duel, six courts-martial, and three dismissals from the service. His patriotism led him to defend President Andrew Jackson and to become the only American to donate a full-size statue (President Thomas Jefferson) to the United States government. Uriah purchased Jefferson’s run-down estate to preserve it. This would remain in the Levy family far longer than the Jefferson family. (His mother, Rachel Phillips Levy, is buried at Monticello.)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter witnessing flogging, Levy fought to oppose the corporal punishment. When the Commission of Fifteen determined him unfit for active duty, he fought back. His trial and his fifty-three Christian and Jewish witnesses put anti-Semitism in the forefront. Once returned to active duty, Uriah Levy became the first Jewish flag officer in U.S. Navy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Phyllis Appel","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47076178297072,"sku":"2940152933062","price":4.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940152933062_p0.jpg?v=1764026533","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940152933062","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}