Page 169 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

155.

dutifully reported to the Secretary of State. Of the other

Americans at Canton in 1821, there were three groups, namely

shipmasters, supercargoes and resident merchants. The m2sters,

led by Capt. William S. Cowpland of the ship "Emily, 11 believed

stoutly that the Americans should protect Terranovia in any

way necessary. On the other hand, the supercargoes and resi-

dent merchants, all of whom had a greater stake in maintaining

good relations with the Chinese, were less opposed to acquiescence

to Chinese demands.

To cope with the incident and maintain a united stand,

the Americans formed a committee of fifteen members, of five

masters, five supercargoes and five merchants. The merchants

on the committee included the most influential Americans at

Canton in 1821: John Perkins Cushing, Samuel Russell, James
11
Perkins Sturgis, Nicholas S. Ogden and David W.C. Olyphant.

These men in fact determined American policy throughout the

whole affair. Consul Wilcocks was not a committee member nor

did he attend any of its meetings. He was merely the means of

communication between the committee and the Chinese authorities.

No official American representative, therefore, was involved in

this affair which would determine an American's life and future

American trade with China.

11 .
h.
Me mb ers ip o f 1 1 ong wit t e genera 1
-
. h h
t:1e committee, a
feelings of the various groups, are in Consular Despatches: Can­
ton, B.C. Wilcocks, Nov. 1, 1821. The most influential American
at Canton was Cushing, who had resided there since 1804. The
other four were agents for the most successful American merchants
in the China trade: Russell for E. Carrington & Co. of Providence,
Sturgis for Bryant & Sturgis of Boston, Ogden for John Jacob Astor
of New York, and Olyphant for Thomas H. Smith of New York.