Ships of the Trade Routes/ Early American Traders
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Posted On: 03/02/2019 8:27:48 AM
Ships of the Trade Routes/ Early American Traders
In the years following the American Revolution, speed was the most important consideration for ships. Sailing ships tended to be small and swift so that they could outrun and outmaneuver the British, French, and pirate vessels that tried to capture American ships. A ship like the Empress of China (the first American ship to trade in China), was only sixty-five feet long and twenty-five feet wide below the deck. Living quarters, the ship’s provisions, ballast, and cargo all shared this space. These small vessels made the trip around the globe with a cargo equivalent to that carried in two or three railroad boxcars. Larger sailing ship in the 1820’s and 1830’s could carry 400 to 500 tons of cargo, equivalent to about eight railroad boxcars, but still very little compared to today’s modern container ships that can carry 50,000 tons.
Sailing ships were built larger through the 1830s, 40s, and 50s, as longer trade routes became routine and the threat of pirates diminished. From 1841 through 1860, “extreme clippers” dominated the trade to Asia. These ships were large, carrying huge, lucrative cargoes of tea, spices, textiles, and chinaware to consumers in America and Europe. In the 1860s, while the United States was embroiled in a civil war, European-manufactured steam-powered ships came to dominate the ocean trade routes.
In the years following the American Revolution, speed was the most important consideration for ships. Sailing ships tended to be small and swift so that they could outrun and outmaneuver the British, French, and pirate vessels that tried to capture American ships. A ship like the Empress of China (the first American ship to trade in China), was only sixty-five feet long and twenty-five feet wide below the deck. Living quarters, the ship’s provisions, ballast, and cargo all shared this space. These small vessels made the trip around the globe with a cargo equivalent to that carried in two or three railroad boxcars. Larger sailing ship in the 1820’s and 1830’s could carry 400 to 500 tons of cargo, equivalent to about eight railroad boxcars, but still very little compared to today’s modern container ships that can carry 50,000 tons.
Sailing ships were built larger through the 1830s, 40s, and 50s, as longer trade routes became routine and the threat of pirates diminished. From 1841 through 1860, “extreme clippers” dominated the trade to Asia. These ships were large, carrying huge, lucrative cargoes of tea, spices, textiles, and chinaware to consumers in America and Europe. In the 1860s, while the United States was embroiled in a civil war, European-manufactured steam-powered ships came to dominate the ocean trade routes.
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