Page 114 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

100.

Given the nature of the China trade, this is hardly surprising.

Since the earliest residents were former supercargoes or ship­

masters, they naturally came from the port from which their

vessel sailed. At that point merchants in the United States

who adventured in the Canton trade owned their own vessels.

They consequently had few vessels involved in that quarter of

international commerce. These merchants chose the master or

supercargo, very often a member of their own family, most

adept at the East India commerce to reside at Canton to oversee

their business. The earliest residents therefore came from

the American port cities involved in the China trade. Although

Boston, New York and Philadelphia had representatives, before

1826 the majority of Americans at Canton were from Salem and

Providence.

After 1826 the majority of Americans came from Boston,

New York, and Philadelphia. By that year these cities dominated

American trade at Canton. In 1825 three major commercial

houses, Perkins & Co. of Boston, Thomas H. Smith of New York,

and Archer, Jones, Oakford & Co. of Philadelphia, controlled
4
seven-eights of the American ventures to Canton. By 1826,

however, the overexpansi9n of the China trade which fol�owed
the War of 1812 caused a depression in that branch of commerce.

As a result, many merchants completely failed or left the

China trade. T.H. Smith was the largest house that suffered

bankruptcy, although the other major houses suffered setbacks.

4
Letter from C.H. Hall, Jan. 16, 1826, in U.S., Congress,
House, Committee on Foreign Affairs, China Trade, H. Doc. 248,
26th Cong., 1st sess., 1839-40.