The stereotype Chinaman is mostly found on billhead and letterheads associated with tea. The first introduction of tea in Europe was in Portugal. But it wasn't until the formation of the East India Company in 1602 that the use of tea became known on the Continent. In 1669 the East India Company's first invoice of teas was received from China. In the space of 100 years from 1718 to 1818 the East India Company sold 750,219,016 lbs. of tea. The consumption of tea in the United States before the Revolution was considerable. It was Britain's taxation of tea that led to the rallying cry of No Taxation without Representation.
As soon as it could, the United States opened trade with China. Ships from Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Salem were the most active in the new China trade. By the 1830’s, trade routes were well established between the United States and China. Thus tea became the most important commodity Americans obtained from China through the end of the 19th century.
The tea trade was in the hands of very few men, T.H. Perkins, of Boston, Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia and John Jacob Astor, of New York, were three of America's first millionaires who made their fortunes in the China tea trade. The duties here on tea were two or three times as much as the first cost of the article at Canton, and a single ship often had to pay from $200,000 to $300,000 in duties alone. It follows, therefore, that only the largest merchants were engaged in this trade. It was nevertheless immensely profitable once the requisite credit was secured, as the government allowed duties to go over from a year to eighteen months without interest, merely upon the security of a bond deposited.
There is so much more I could write on the tea trade, so I will stop here. It is interesting to point out that billheads and letterheads don't have the same racist undertone like advertising trade cards of the Chinese do. Most depictions are of the Chinaman sorting tea, carrying tea or simply busts.
As soon as it could, the United States opened trade with China. Ships from Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Salem were the most active in the new China trade. By the 1830’s, trade routes were well established between the United States and China. Thus tea became the most important commodity Americans obtained from China through the end of the 19th century.
The tea trade was in the hands of very few men, T.H. Perkins, of Boston, Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia and John Jacob Astor, of New York, were three of America's first millionaires who made their fortunes in the China tea trade. The duties here on tea were two or three times as much as the first cost of the article at Canton, and a single ship often had to pay from $200,000 to $300,000 in duties alone. It follows, therefore, that only the largest merchants were engaged in this trade. It was nevertheless immensely profitable once the requisite credit was secured, as the government allowed duties to go over from a year to eighteen months without interest, merely upon the security of a bond deposited.
There is so much more I could write on the tea trade, so I will stop here. It is interesting to point out that billheads and letterheads don't have the same racist undertone like advertising trade cards of the Chinese do. Most depictions are of the Chinaman sorting tea, carrying tea or simply busts.
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