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Historical Materials

Historical Materials  »    »  Trade Routes and Statistics

Trade Routes and Statistics

In 1817, the United States Congress enacted legislation requiring that all goods transported between American seaports be carried in American owned vessels. The act proved a windfall for shipping concerns in New England, essentially barring foreign interests from participating in what came to be known as the coasting trade. On any given day, throughout Fitz Henry Lane’s lifetime, a myriad of vessels of all shapes and sizes and rigs could be found plying coastal waters carrying every conceivable sort of cargo. From manufactured goods including textiles and furniture, to fresh produce, fish, ice, granite and cotton, ships’ manifests of the antebellum period reveal an endless array of goods on the move.

publication
1831 Gloucester Telegraph 10.1.1831 Ship News
10.1.1831 (detail)
Newspaper
Gloucester Telegraph Ship News
American Antiquarian Society

List of ships arriving and departing the ports of Gloucester and Boston, with details of cargo.

publication
1861 Cape Ann Advertiser Shipping Journal 6.20.1861
6.20.1861
Newsprint
Cape Ann Advertiser
Cape Ann Museum Library & Archive

Notice in the Cape Ann Advertiser announcing arrival of ships into the port of Gloucester, with details of their cargo.

publication
Boston Directory
George Adams
1848
Published by James French, Boston
Volume 1848-49
Boston Public Library
Call number 39999059856813

See p. 30 of directory.

chart
Comparison of Arrivals From Certain Foreign Ports
1858
Fourth Annual Report
Boston Board of Trade

See p. 85 for comparison of arrivals from certain foreign ports at Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans, 1857.

chart
Secretary of the Treasury, 1857
Commerce and Navigation Reports
Foreign Places Whence Vessels Arrived in Principal Customs Districts of Massachusetts, Year Ending June 30, 1857

Vessels are entered only once for a voyage in this table, generally from the last port of call, or from the port where the principal cargo was taken.

Citation: "Historical Materials." Fitz Henry Lane Online. Cape Ann Museum. http://fitzhenrylaneonline.org/historical_material/index.php?type=§ion=Trade+Routes+and+Statistics (accessed November 4, 2024).
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