China, as a construct of the Western imagination, has always been colored by the historical situation of its observers.”
David Porter, (Ideographia, 2014)

China was a vivid presence in the material life of eighteenth-century America. Chinese porcelain, silks, and nankeens were symbols of the good life and “china,” of course, commonly sat on the table of eighteenth-century North America in the form of tea and dishes.[1] Yet, book learning about China was not widespread, concentrated in a shrinking elite group and private holdings. Library records from the early republic show that the citizens of Rhode Island had access to five titles about China at the Redwood Library in Newport, whereas Providence’s Rhode Island College library in 1793 had none in its collection of more than 2000 titles. Experience, however, could augment learning, and among the worldly merchant class of Rhode Island, anecdotes about the alluring Pacific world circulated in Atlantic ports of call from Surinam to Kingston to the Gold Coast and Guinea.

With victory in the American War of Independence, the rules changed for American traders. No longer subjects of the British Empire, American traders now set their eyes on Pacific markets, long dreamt of and now finally open to their ships. Moreover, as wars began to absorb energy and attention of the European powers in the 1790’s, opportunities expanded for the new nation’s fleet around the world. The ship, Empress of China inaugurated American trade with China in 1784, and created a sensation on its homecoming to New York 15 months later. The profitability of the voyage was a signal; it laid to rest any doubt that a ship flying what the Chinese called the “flowery flag” could venture far successfully.  The Empress’s return was reported in Providence just days after her return to New York and Rhode Islanders seized the new opportunities.  Two years later in 1787, the firm Brown and Francis of Providence commissioned the ship General Washington for a venture to East Indies markets with stops in Madeira, Pondicherry, Madras, and Canton. It gained a modest return for a journey that occupied over 24 months, but the experience led to a second Rhode Island voyage in 1794. This time the ship was named John Jay and the owners were Brown, Benson and Ives. The ship left Rhode Island laden with a cargo of $34,550 value. When the  John Jay again hit American shores, she had cargo worth more than $250,000. 

John Carter, publisher of the Providence Gazette, took note of the opening of the China trade, and was in the fortunate position to have a son, Benjamin Bowen Carter, who in 1798 was about to sail as ship’s surgeon on the inaugural voyage of the ship Ann and Hope bound for Canton. In a letter dated July 10, 1798, he commissions his son to "endeavor to purchase for me in Canton one hundred chests of GOOD [emphasis in the original] Bohea Tea on credit, the Hong merchant to risk its arrival in America, which is frequently done.” This letter highlights the senior Carter’s informed knowledge of China trade practices, likely culled from conversations in the elite networks of society that formed his regular associations.[2] The letter also reveals his intention to capitalize personally on the opportunities presented by China trade.[3]

Rhode Island’s merchant class had stimulated the growth of an economy that could supply the hardware needed to build, outfit, and operate seagoing fleets. It also long nurtured the development of a knowledge structure that served to support trade, mitigate the risk, and maximize return. The institutions associated with this growth—insurance companies. banks, customs agencies—were headed by members of this same merchant class. In addition participation in world trade created worldwide networks of trust and social capital every bit as valuable as a fast sailing ship. Notably these foundations led to the creation of substantial reserves of personal wealth. In the trading environment that defined RI, the elite were ever alert to a trading opportunity. In the case of the China market, the willingness of Chinese counterparts to offer sales on credit surely enticed John Carter, who benefited from a rich cargo of “GOOD Bohea tea” delivered for nothing down.[4]