This page was created by Julie Yue. The last update was by Caroline Frank.
Risk and Reward
As simple as the instructions were from John Carter to his son—"Buy tea on credit!"—the realities of trade were more complicated. The seas were full of peril. Ocean storms and navigational hazards were real. The “Ann & Hope” herself was lost on the rocks off Block Island while returning from her sixth voyage, and the loss was total.[8] Enemies prowled the ocean. Navigation instructions cautioned captains to steer clear of known pirate zones. American trading vessels all carried arms and crews were drilled to repel the attacks of privateers and marauding warships.[9] The “Ann & Hope” was chased on its maiden voyage by a French privateer off Bermuda; the ship’s superior speed enabled an escape. In spite of warnings and precautions, trading ships were subject to capture. The John Jay was seized by the British sloop of war Driver in January 1806, with both ship and cargo detained in Bermuda.[10] Though ship and cargo were recovered, it took months of litigation in British courts. Bad timing could bring a ship to port when trade was slow, and cargoes impossible to sell. In an age when point to point voyages consumed months, scheduled rendezvous could be missed. Communications could be haphazard. A shipment of specie to Batavia was delayed, and the intended recipient had to improvise financing the journey’s next leg. And of course human judgement could be faulty, and trading partners treacherous. Shippers sometimes got stuck with shoddy goods and unpaid bills.
More than one Providence merchant suffered from bad luck or bad judgement. Samuel Snow, who traveled as supercargo aboard the “Ann & Hope” with Carter, and who would assume the post of US Consul in Canton upon arrival, went on to build the first American factory in Canton. But all the wealth it brought was quickly spent, Snow was bankrupt by 1807, and lived out his years in near destitution.[11] Snow’s son Peter Wanton Snow lived much of his life in China and associated with the China trade but never prospered, suffering bankruptcy in 1834.[12] William Fairchild Magee, like Snow, built a fortune only to lose it at the end.[13] Trade with China was a high-risk venture with commensurately rich rewards.
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[11] Jacques M. Downs, “A Study in Failure---Hon. Samuel Snow”, Rhode Island History, Vol. 25 (January 1966).
[12] Jacques M. Downs, “Bad Luck in the China Trade, Peter Wanton Snow”, Rhode Island History, Vol. 25 (July 1966).
[13] Jacques M. Downs, “The Merchant as Gambler, Major William Fairchild Magee”, Rhode Island History, Vol. 27 (November 1969).
