A history of commerce

by Clive Day

631. Position and prospects of the merchant marine in 1860.—In 1855 the tonnage built in the United States was greater than ever before or since; the California gold discoveries had caused a great increase in the demand for transportation to the Pacific Coast, from which the government excluded foreign vessels, and the Crimean War forced European governments to charter many American vessels for transport service. At the close of the period (1861) the tonnage of the United States, including that engaged in domestic trade, was not far from one third of the total tonnage of the world; the British Empire had slightly over one third; and the tonnage of all other countries grouped together was but little more than our own. Our merchant fleet exceeded by half the amount necessary for the carriage of all our exports and imports, and earned a large revenue from the foreign countries which sought its service.

In one important point, however, the prospects of the American merchant marine were not bright. We were not keeping pace with the peoples of Europe in the construction of steamers for ocean service, and of iron vessels in general. American steamers were not able to win a place of any importance in the foreign carrying trade; and before 1860 a slackening of activity in the building of wooden sailing ships was noticeable.

632. Navigation policy: reforms and restrictions.—The period was marked by the removal of many of the restrictions on foreign shipping which had been a regular feature of government policy in previous centuries. Our ships were burdened at first by heavy dues or by prohibitions in foreign ports, and it was but natural that our government retaliated by taxing foreign ships entering our ports. The disadvantages of this system became apparent as commerce grew in the nineteenth century, and a series of reciprocity treaties removed the former discrimination, and put the ships of all nations on substantially the same footing. The United States held fast, however, to certain features of the old navigation policy. The coastwise trade, which was interpreted to include the trade to the Pacific coast by way of the Isthmus of Panama or around Cape Horn, was reserved absolutely to American vessels; and no vessel could secure American registry unless it had been built in this country. Ships built abroad could not sail under the American flag even though they had been purchased and were owned by citizens of the United States.

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

1. Prepare a chart, sect. 612. [Figures of commerce for the intervening years, showing fluctuations, will be found in the U. S. Statistical Abstract.]

2. Review, in previous chapters, the accounts of the commercial policy of European states during this period.

3. The westward movement of population. [Manuals of U. S. history; maps in Atlas of the Census.]

4. The population of the country was as follows, in round millions (counting half a million or over as one): 1790, 4; 1800, 5; 1810, 7; 1820, 10; 1830, 13; 1840, 17; 1850, 23; 1860, 31. Determine the average commerce per capita, and indicate it on the chart.

5. The commercial history of a western town. [Select a town in one of the States of the Mississippi Valley, admitted during this period, and determine, from local histories and biographies, the extent of its trade with other parts of the country and with foreign countries.]