The American ship Empress of China left New York on February 22, 1784 and arrived in Canton, China six months later on August 18. John White Swift, the ship's purser, wrote the following letter to his father in Philadelphia in July, shortly after the ship had sailed into the Sunda Strait.

Additional Tags

early american trade with china: john swift's letter home, empress of china, john white swift, economy of china

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Classroom Considerations

• Knovation Readability Score: 4 (1 low difficulty, 5 high difficulty)

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