70 Kenneth S. Latourette, 



Stacker,*^ Archer, Jones, Oakford and Company,**- and John 

 McCrea, who was even more of a speculator than Thomas H. 

 Smith, "-^ and Stephen Girard who in 1791 built several shijis for 

 the China trade.** The China trade of the city successfully 

 survived the depression of 1826. 



Baltimore was never as actively engaged in the trade as were 

 the more northern ports, and although she began early, the first 

 ship from Canton arriving August 9, 1785, her commerce with 

 China did not flourish as did that of her more advantageously 

 situated rivals. *° No other southern port seems to have entered 

 the trade with any earnestness.'*'' 



From this brief and necessarily incomplete review of the 

 participation of each of these ports in the commerce with China, 

 the general tendency to centralization is apparent and a more 

 minute study would show it more clearly. The crisis of 1826 

 only hastened a process which had begun several years before 

 and which continued until about 1840. 



The years between 181 5 and 1839 saw a development in the 

 art of ship-building. The famous "clippers" were born in the 

 trade with China. The "Ann McKinn" of Baltimore was built 

 in 1832 for the China trade. The "Akbar" was built in 1839 

 for John M. Forbes and made the trip from New York to Canton 

 in the record time of one hundred and nine days. . After 1839, 



Fifty to Seventy Years Ago. Philadelphia, i860, p. 60. This statement is 

 made on the authority of Charles Massey of that firm. 



••■'Ibid., p. 181. 



'"Ibid., p. 195. 



*' Ibid., p. 199. 



*' Sen. Doc. 31, i Sess.. 19 Cong. 



*^ Barrett. Old Mercs, of N. Y. City, pp. 45 and 97. Unfortunately 

 there is not enough information to give a more connected sketch of 

 Philadelphia's trade with China. 



*^ Paullin, Diplom. Neg. of Am. Nav. Officers, p. 165. 



**■' B. Mayer, Histl. Sketch of Baltimore in F. A. Richardson and 

 W. A. Bennett, Baltimore Past and Present, with Biographical Sketches 

 of its Representative Men. Baltimore, 1871, pp. 53, 63. 



*" One ship seems to have been sent from Charleston to the East Indies, 

 but it is not certain that it touched at Canton. David Ramsay. The 

 history of South Carolina from its first settlement in 1670 to the year 

 1808. 2 V. Charleston, 1809, 2:239. One ship went from Norfolk, Va., 

 in 1786. Paullin, Diplom. Neg. of Am. Nav. Officers, p. 162. 



