The article Shipping (Vol. 24, p. 983) is devoted to the history and practice of maritime transportation. It outlines the early period of trade, and the contest for trade among Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and England, especially in the period after the discovery of America, when the prizes of commerce became suddenly so much richer. The Navigation Act of 1651, confining the trade between England and her colonies and the British coasting trade to English ships, was followed by a rapid growth of English shipping. The tonnage doubled between 1666 and 1688. In the 18th century and into the 19th, the history of shipping was primarily a contest for trade between France and England, finally won by the latter. The 19th century, as has already been seen in the article Ship, was marked by the adoption of steam as a motive power. The struggle for supremacy in the Atlantic trade and in commerce with China and the Far East between the United States and Great Britain was won by the latter largely for this reason—the American ship-builders clung to the sailing clipper too long—and they were too slow in adopting iron instead of wooden hulls. The American Civil War was an additional set-back to American commerce. Other great factors during the last 50 years in the development of shipping, treated in the article, may be catalogued here:
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
Improved apparatus for fire prevention.
Refrigerating machinery, making possible the shipment of meats and other foods.
Germany’s merchant marine.
Japanese merchant vessels.
French efforts to get trade.
The shipping combine of 1902.
“Liners” and “Tramps.”
The freight rate question and increased tonnage.