Freight

Abstract The 1860s were a period of dramatic change both for the Edwin Fox and for the world. Steam-powered shipping was coming into its own as a truly globalizing force just in time to take full advantage of physical improvements to the world’s transportation infrastructure, chief among them the Suez Canal. At the same time, vital political agreements such as the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty deepened and solidified relations between Britain and its most important political and economic allies, setting the stage for the next forty years of increasing interconnectivity. This chapter explores this emerging world of steam-power of free trade by investigating the various commodities the ship carried including cotton, coffee, tea, and many others. It discusses how traditional wind-powered vessels such as the Edwin Fox had to adapt to this changing economic reality by changing their customary practices, their routes, and usual ports of call, and even their rigging.