231. Philadelphia in the China Trade

To study United State trade with China around the founding era of the country, Philadelphia is the place should be examined very carefully. It was one of the centers of the trade. Actually, the Empress of China, the first United States commercial ship that reached Chinese shore in August 1784 would start from Philadelphia if the Delaware River wasn’t frozen in the spring. Robert Morris (1734-1806), the main financial sponsor, was a Philadelphian.

It was Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), also a Philadelphian, who reported the availability of Ginseng, the main cargo on the Empress of China, in the North American colonies. There is a book by Jonathan Goldstein, called "Philadelphia and the China Trade 1682–1846: commercial, cultural, and attitudinal effects". Finally, you want to read this article, "With China We Trade" to get a whole picture of the trade.