Maritime Trade and the Growth of the City NMHS Essay Contest Gets Young People Exploring How Seaborne Trade Generated the Capital to Build Seaport Cities around the World by Shelley Reid ne ofthe most overlookedfeatures of [New York] is the great harbor, the body ofwater that caused the city to be founded in the first place. Many people fail to recognize the importance and vitality ofthe harbor. Whether you are on the observation deck of the World Trade Center or flying above in an aircraft, the port's physical size is astounding. ... The indented shoreline and islands affowed extensive wharfage. At the height of the port's commercial shipping activity, there were no fewer than 578 miles of functioning waterfront. It is no wonder that New York City was the center of trade and commerce. BENJAMIN YI G First -Prize winner
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The welcoming arm ofSandy Hook in the distance ushers an unending stream ofpassenger, cargo, fishing and recreational vessels into New York's Lower and Upper Bays. Innumerable ships came ftom aLL corners of the globe, finding safe harbor and unparaffeled commercial opportunity. Currier & Ives give the Castle Garden Emigrants Depot center stage, as the harbor and Battery Park bustle with activity and excitement in 1878. vast array of goods into the local economy. Second-Prize winne r Jaime Garrido's subject, Mexico City, while not a seaport, benefited from the Aourishing seaborne commerce in the Caribbean and Pacific. Mexico City merchants could trade the abundant native silver for items imported via the Mexican ports of Veracruz and Acapulco, where" ... nearly one hundred ships would ... bring such items as wine, olive oil, fine garments, cutlery, glassware, ceramics, weapons, furniture and paper" into these harbors to trade. Tracing the development of maritime commerce also led to lessons in civic growth and change, particularly in the case of the American ports. Where Boston's harbor was once crowded with traditional sailing merchant ships, Third-Prize winner Jami Michelle Young's chosen city has adapted
It was to insp ire just such a perspective, the way of looki ng at seaports as an economic force, that NMHS sponsored a national essay contest fo r high school students across th e country. With the generous support of the Mobil Corporation and the David M. Milton Trust, NMHS asked students to explore the topic: "How seaborne trade ge nerated capital to build the city of ____ ."The blank invited entrants to be creative: to learn more about the rich history of the ciry they call home, or investigate the seaports with exotic names they may have seen in the news, in literature, or in film. New York C ity, of course, was a popular choice. Not all of the essayists chose cities local to them. One teacher in particular, Dr. Mary Alice Carrajat of th e Aviation High School in Long Island City, New Essay contest winners Benjamin York, encouraged her students to apply an Ying, First Place, andjamiMicheffe international perspective to their entries, Young, Third Place, will be recogand the chosen cities spanned the globe: nized, along with Jaime Garrido, Seoul, Hong Kong, Venice, Bogota, and Second Place, at an NMHS recepLondon, to name a few. The essayists ex- tion this faLL at India House in New plored the ways in which their citi es were York, honoring Wafter Cronkite, fertile ground for the seeds of commerce, chairman of the NMHS Maritime where seafaring merchants introduced a Education Initiative.
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to meet the needs of a new economy: "The Massachusens Port Authority . . . pioneered rhe use of 'co ntainers' in TransAtlantic trade. Since 1980, container traffic has tripled and Boston has become one of the most modern and efficient co ntainer porrs in the United States." NMHS wo uld like to thank all the teachers who encouraged their students to participate, and to co ngratulate all th e entrants for their fine effo rts. Benjamin Ying of Little Neck, New York, Jaime Garrido of Long Island C ity, New York and Jami Michelle Young of Hagerstown, Maryland will be recognized at a reception this fall, when they wi ll be presented with theirawardsof$ l,500, $750 and $500 respectively. The three yo ung scho lars will also be invited to sail aboard a tall sh ip in Operatio n Sail 2000. .t
SEA HISTORY 86, AUTUMN 1998