Did you know that Americans undertook their first trade mission to China in February 1784?

In fact, a mercantile partnership led by Robert Morris sent the Empress of China, a 360 ton ship to Canton, China one month and eight days after the Congress of the United States ratified the Treaty of Paris, 1783.

Why did these merchants look so far east to secure a profitable trade? And why did they attempt such a venture not long after the United States secured its independence from Great Britain?

Dane Morrison, Professor of History at Salem State University and author of True Yankees: The South Seas and the Discovery of American Identity helps us discover the answers to these questions and more as he leads us on an exploration of the early American trade with China.

Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/012

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012 True Yankees: The South Seas and the Discovery of American Identity