Once the colonies gained their independence, American ships began to search the oceansfor markets to replace the British colonial markets from which they were now excluded (theWest Indies) or in which they were subjected to heavy tax...

The following are excerpts from logs of the Empress of China, the first American ship to sail toChina after American independence. The ship left New York on February 22, 1784 and reached Canton on August 28. All excerpts are taken from...

The American ship Empress of China left New York on February 22, 1784 and arrived in Canton, China six months later on August 18. John White Swift, the ship's purser, wrote the following letter to his father in Philadelphia in July,...