gmertca, , ?|emp, an& JUapoleon - Vote Hemp

The Danish Problembring such prices for a year and more. 4 As late as July, 1810,even the despised Kentucky dew-retted hem p brought $330.00a ton in Philadelphia. 5Americans wh o did reach Russia in 1809 and return mad efantastically high profits. The "North America/' of Portland,sailed for Russia with the usual cargo of mahogany, logwood,coffee, pepper, indigo, and rum , and returned with the usualcargo of iron, hemp , sheeting, ravensduck, sailcloth, andbristles. An d yet hers was one of the most profitable voyages inthe history of Portland. 6 Similarly lucrative was the voyage ofBoston's "Catherine" to Russia in 1809. She cleared $115,000on that single voyage. 7Yet, in 1809, onlyfifty-five American vessels found theirway to Kronstadt. Probably something like two thirds as manyentered at the other Russian Baltic ports and at Archangel,making a total of, let us say, eighty to ninety American vesselsin Russian ports that year. 8 Thatfigureisn't really impressive ifyou consider the forces driving and attracting Americans toRussia in 1809. Th e numbe r of American vessels that arrivedin Russia in 1809 was probably not much, if at all, in excess ofthe number that arrived in 1807.Th e mystery of wh y so few arrived in 1809 is, unfortunatelyfor American merchants of the day, very easy to explain. In1809, the accelerating economic warfare between France andEngland mad e the life of the neutral trader very miserableindeed. In the fall of that year, Stephen Girard, the greatPhiladelphia merchant, wrote plaintively to Baring Brothersand Company , his chief agent and broker in Europe, "It isremarkable that out of six ships which I have dispatched forEurope since the Embargo has been taken off, that three of127