From Sugar Triangle to Cotton Triangle

574 Pages·2005·3.12 MB·English

J Y V Ä S K Y L Ä S T U D I E S I N H U M A N I T I E S
38
Kalevi Ahonen
From Sugar Triangle
to Cotton Triangle
Trade and Shipping between America
and Baltic Russia, 1783–1860
JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO
JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 38
Kalevi Ahonen
From Sugar Triangle to Cotton Triangle

Trade and Shipping between America
and Baltic Russia, 1783-1860
Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston humanistisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella
julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston vanhassa juhlasalissa (S212)
kesäkuun 11. päivänä 2005 kello 12.
Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of
the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Jyväskylä,
in Auditorium S212, on June 11, 2005 at 12 o’clock noon.
UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ
JYVÄSKYLÄ 2005
From Sugar Triangle to Cotton Triangle

Trade and Shipping between America
and Baltic Russia, 1783-1860
JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 38
Kalevi Ahonen
From Sugar Triangle to Cotton Triangle

Trade and Shipping between America
and Baltic Russia, 1783-1860
UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ
JYVÄSKYLÄ 2005
Editors
Toivo Nygård, Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä
Pekka Olsbo, Marja-Leena Tynkkynen
Publishing Unit, University Library of Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities
Editorial Board
Heikki Hanka, Department of Art and Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä
Toivo Nygård, Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä
Ahti Jäntti, Department of Languages, University of Jyväskylä
Matti Vainio, Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä
Minna-Riitta Luukka, Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Jyväskylä
Raimo Salokangas, Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä
Cover picture: Brig CZARINA of Boston Passing Elsinore Castle. Watercolor by
Jacob Peterson (1744-1854). Peabody Essex Musem, Salem, MA. (See p.130-131, 150,
200, 227)
URN:ISBN:9513921840
ISBN 951-39-2184-0 (PDF)
ISSN 1459-4331
ISBN 951-39-2142-5 (nid.)
ISSN 1459-4323
Copyright © 2005, by University of Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä University Printing House, Jyväskylä 2005
ABSTRACT

Ahonen, Kalevi
From Sugar Triangle to Cotton Triangle: Trade and Shipping between America and Baltic
Russia, 1783-1860
Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2005, 572 p.
(Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities
ISSN 1459-4331; 38)
ISBN 951-39-2184-0
Diss.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the development of trade and polito-commercial
relations between the U.S and Russia from the Treaty of Paris in 1783 to 1860. The problems
are approached on four levels: 1) commercial diplomacy between the countries, 2) the
entrepreneurs involved in commerce and their activities, 3) mercantile shipping, 4) the
volume of trade.
The neutrality of trade and the seas (free ships-free goods) was the cornerstone of
American commercial and foreign policy. Britain did not accept the principle in he forms
proposed by Washington and the Department of State sought support from Russia. The
results were poor. Articles of neutrality were even omitted from the commercial treaty
concluded between Russia and the U.S. in 1832. In the name of freedom of the seas the U.S.
took the initiative in the abolition of the old Danish Sound dues in 1857.
Most of the entrepreneurs in American trade with Baltic Russia were from New
England, as were the ships, brigs, barks and schooners that crossed the Atlantic. At first
insufficient information about the distant markets was the biggest obstacle to commercial
intercourse. The captains and supercargoes played a crucial role in getting the best cargoes
for the Russian markets and find the most reliable trading house in St Petersburg to deal
with.
In practice about 90-95 percent of the trade between Russia and the U.S was carried
through the Sound, 95 percent of it on American vessels. According to the Sound Toll
Accounts and Consular reports altogether 9500 American vessels sailed to the Baltic and
back in the period 1783-1860. Most of them visited St Petersburg. European wars created
new opportunities for the Americans to trade with Russia. During the Continental System
Americans sailing under the neutral flag ”found” excellent markets for their colonial
products in St Petersburg. The good days came to an end during the Anglo-American War
in 1812-14.
Initially the U.S. imports from Russia were bar iron, hemp and “manufactures” (i.e.
hemp and flax cloths). The main American exports and re-exports to St. Petersburg
consisted of a wide range of products (e.g. sugar, rice, tobacco, coffee, cotton, spices). From
the 1820s onwards American merchants created ”the sugar triangle”: the trade from New
England via Havana to St Petersburg and back to the ports of Massachusetts or New York.
The sugar carried by the Americans was worth over twice as much as direct exports from
the U.S. to Russia. At the beginning of the 1850s ”the cotton triangle” entered the scene.
Americans carried cotton wool from Southern ports to St Petersburg and sailed back to
western Europe, New York or Boston. The raw sugar and cotton the Americans carried
gave a major boost to the creation of modern industrial production in Russia. British
money played a central role in the shipments of sugar and cotton. Over 45 percent of the
American tonnage involved in commerce with Russia did not trade directly between the
two countries.
Keywords: Russian-American trade, Øresund, sugar trade, cotton trade, neutrality,
American shipping, trading houses.
Author’s address Kalevi Ahonen
Department of History and Ethnology
University of Jyväskylä
P.O. Box 35 (H)
FIN-40014 University of Jyväskylä
Finland
E-mail: [email protected]

Supervisor Professor Seppo Zetterberg
Department of History and Ethnology
University of Jyväskylä,
Jyväskylä, Finland

Reviewers Professor Yrjö Kaukiainen
Department of History
University of Helsinki
Helsinki, Finland

Docent Jari Ojala
Department of History and Ethnology
University of Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä, Finland

Opponent Professor Auvo Kostiainen
General History, Department of History
University of Turku
Turku, Finland
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My interest in American history began rather by accident. In my first seminar,
supervised by Professor Jorma Ahvenainen, I had to write a paper about the
problems of neutral shipping on the Baltic Sea during the Continental System.
When reading the reports of American consuls and ministers in Denmark I
repeatedly came across the beautiful name: Elsinore. Elsinore was familiar to
me in totally different context, and at first I wanted to know more about the
famous castle. In fact the reports gave no answers. After that the American
captains caught my attention: they tried to sail with valuable cargoes under the
neutral flag through the Sound to St Petersburg. Some of them succeeded, some
did not. It was really exciting to follow their attempts. It was thus easy to
became a student and researcher in American history. Professor Aira
Kemiläinen encouraged me to pursue for further studies, and I am indebted to
her for her almost unlimited patience and support.
In my professional work I have concentrated as much as possible on the
history of United States. It has been the most important area in my teaching as a
lecturer in general history.
Because of the nature of my subject matter of my research there are a great
number of institutions and individuals who have assisted me in various stages
of the work. This study would not have been possible without them. There are
so many of them, that its impossible to enumerate them all here. However, I
want to mention a few of them. I would like to express my appreciation to a
small army of archivists, librarians and curators which have guided me through
their respective collections. Particularly helpful were the staff of Rigsarkivet, the
British Library, the Public Record Office, Peabody Museum, the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, and, of course, the Jyväskylä University Library.
Financial support for my work has been most welcome from many
institutions. Above all I wish to acknowledge with thanks a grant from the
American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). It made possible for me to
study for almost a year at Harvard University Business School and collect
material in its Baker Library, as well as in many other archives in Salem,
Providence, New York, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. From the point of
view collecting source materials, it was of the utmost importance that I was able
to go through the best archives in the eastern seaboard. This book took first
shape during this fellowship year. I want to express my gratitude for Dr Paula
Robbins, who extended the most valuable help and hospitality to me and my
family during our stay in Winchester, MA.
My several trips to Copenhagen were made possible by funding provided
by Kulturfonden for Finland og Danmark and the Faculty of Humanities of the
University of Jyväskylä. I am also grateful to the Finnish Culture Foundation
for a grant to study in London. The University of Jyväskylä provided four
months reduction in my teaching responsibilities for writing the book. My work
has also benefited from the financial support of the Emil Aaltonen Foundation.
My sincere thanks to the Foundation.
I owe substantial debts to Professor Ahvenainen and Professor Seppo
Zetterberg, who red my final draft. I also thank my reviewers Professor Yrjö
Kaukiainen and Dr Jari Ojala, for their comments, criticism and suggestions on
the manuscript. I hope that something of their guiding hand is apparent. Any
ignorance, errors and miscalculations which remain are, of course, entirely my
own responsibility.
I would like to express my special gratitude to Professor Hans Chr.
Johansen, who presented me a complete list of American vessels passing the
Sound at the end of 18th century. Especially I would like to thank Eleanor
Underwood and also Marjaana Männikkö for their invaluable help with my
manuscript. Publishing Secretary Marja-Leena Tynkkynen brought this study to
its present form; her excellent editing was a most positive contribution.
I have been fortunate in being able to work in a stimulating environment,
in the Department of History and Ethnology of the University of Jyväskylä. My
thesis could never have been completed without the quiet encouragement of
my colleagues in the hard years when I was on the point of giving up. Thank
you all.
It is common in the prefaces of thesis to save recognition of one’s greatest
debt untill last, and I have no reason to make an exception to this rule. Most of
all, I am grateful to my family for their unfailing support. My wife Sirkka and
our sons Timo, Mikko and Antti were tolerant of my odd working hours and
the piles of books and papers which tended to spread from my study to all over
our home. Sirkka ran a one-parent family more often than is reasonable. I also
wish to thank my wife’s parents, Hilkka and Matti Tantarimäki, for all kinds of
help during so many years.

For my grandchildren Susanna and Matias

Laukaa
May Day, 2005
TABLES AND FIGURES

TABLE 1 The f.o.b. –prices of main commodities purchased by
Americans from St Petersburg in 1806 and 1810 after
Miers Fisher .......................................................................................80
TABLE 2 American vessels handled by some St Petersburg firms,
1808-1819 ..........................................................................................124
TABLE 3 American business transacted in St Petersburg, 1820-21
(1000 roubles) ..................................................................................125
TABLE 4 Imports and exports of some leading St Petersburg firms
in 1809 and 1815 (1000 roubles) ....................................................138
TABLE 5 Imports and exports of Stieglitz & Co., John D. Lewis,
and William Ropes & Co,. 1824-60 (million roubles) ................141
TABLE 6 Owners of American vessels sailing through the Sound,
1792-1807 ..........................................................................................144
TABLE 7 Owners of American vessels sailing through the Sound,
1829-32 ..............................................................................................146
TABLE 8 Description of American vessels passing through
the Sound in 1792-1860 ..................................................................176
TABLE 9 Description of American vessels carrying sugar from Cuba
to St Petersburg , 1830-1853 ...........................................................179
TABLE 10 The men-ton ratios of American vessels in the Russian
trade, 1802-53 ...................................................................................187
TABLE 11 Description of American vessels, their tonnage and men-ton
ratios in Russian trade, 1802-53 ....................................................187
TABLE 12 American vessels sailing from Cuba to St Petersburg and
their men-ton ratios, 1836-53 .........................................................188
TABLE 13 The time American vessels spent on the Baltic Sea,
1791-1850 ..........................................................................................193
TABLE 14 Changes of American vessels’ home ports visiting
St Petersburg in 1806 according to Sound Toll Accounts .........204
TABLE 15 American vessels sailing from Russia according to
different sources, 1834-50 ..............................................................224
TABLE 16 Destination of American vessels passing through
the Sound westward in 1803 .........................................................242
TABLE 17 Russian vessels and their tonnage entering
the United States, 1821-60 ..............................................................252
TABLE 18 Export / import of raw sugar (1000 lbs) to Russia according
to different sources, 1831-60 ..........................................................289
TABLE 19 Ports of departure of raw sugar carried through the
Sound, 1803-25 ................................................................................290
TABLE 20 Ports of destination of raw sugar carried through
the Sound, 1784-1825 ......................................................................290