Ginseng: the Herb that helped U.S. commerce

Ginseng[1]: the Herb that Helped the United States to Enter International Commerce [2]

Back in 1784, when the first American trading ship, the Empress of China, entered your waters, my country was unknown to you. We were a new republic, eager to win a place in international commerce.[3]

Dave Wang

One day in the mid-seventeenth century some Chinese soldiers of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) started to build a Willow Palisade along the entire south boundary of Northeast China. The Willow Palisade was built under the order of Emperor Shunzhi (1644-1661) to discourage Ginseng diggers from other parts of China to search for Ginseng in the region. Emperor Shunzhi and his soldiers never thought that their action had an impact on the effort of the United States to win a place in international trade.

After seven years of severe fighting against the British Empire, the colonists in the North America won their formal independence. In 1783 the British signed the Paris Treaty with the colonial representatives. The colonists celebrated and enjoyed their hard won victory. However, the hilarious feeling of victory was quickly shadowed by economic difficulties. The economy did not go along with the political victory, but marched towards the opposite direction. Depression and inflation seemed to grab the happy feeling away from the founding fathers and the fighters of the Revolutionary War. Britain, which had just lost the war, was trying hard to win the colonists over through economic coercion. All old trade routes were forced to close to the Americans. Britain adopted the strategy of seeking to put enough economic pressure on individual states to force them, one by one, to “return to Mother England.” [4]

In the early period, it seemed that the British policy was really working. The Americans were feeling bitter over the victory. They hardly had time to enjoy their freedom from Britain when the national fiscal system was on the brink of collapse. Inflation was unbearable. For example, a pound of tea cost $100. By comparison, an army private’s salary was $4 per month. People were using the paper money as wallpaper. In the streets of Philadelphia men were seen in a procession wearing the bills as cockades in their hats accompanied by a dog covered with a coat of tar in which the paper money was thickly set. When Congress demanded people pay tax, it was paid in its own money, a worthless paper from its own printing machine.[5]

There was no encouraging news from continental Europe. American representative Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) wasn’t able to secure any more loans from the French government. There was no good news from John Jay (1745-1829), the American representative in Madrid, and John Adams (1797-1801), the American representative in the Netherlands.[6]

Trade! Trade! Americans desperately need to trade. Political independence without economic independence might well prove an unfruitful victory. As the first Minister of Finance of the United States, Robert Morris (1734-1806) worked hard to find a new trade partner, which was beyond Britain’s control. China became his first choice. However, what could Americans trade with China? As an agricultural society, the United States lacked the capability to provide anything that would sell in China. Ginseng became the main commercial good that the Americans could trade with the Chinese. It would be unthinkable for the journey of the Empress of China to get to Guangzhou without Ginseng.

Since the Chinese imperial government closed Northeast China, the main source for Ginseng. The Chinese merchants had to look for Ginseng from other sources. This created an opportunity for North America. In 1709, French Jesuit priest, Father Petrus Jartoux (1668-1720) was hired by Emperor Kangxi (1661-1722) to survey the Changbai Mountain in Northeast China. During that time he learned about the value of Ginseng and wrote a letter, in which he predicted that Ginseng could be found in Canada due to the similar environment of French Canada to Northeast China.[7] In 1714 Father Lafitau received the letter and started to look for Ginseng in French Canada. He discovered Ginseng growing near Montreal area. Realizing the potential profit with the trade with China from Ginseng, Jesuits sent missionaries to Canada to collect Ginseng. For many years the Jesuits shipped tons of Canada Ginseng to China.[8] Ginseng had become profitable a commercial good for French Canada. The Ginseng was available at 25 cents a pound in Canada and sold at 5 dollars a pound in China.[9]

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) reported the availability of Ginseng in the British colony for the first time. On July 22, 1738, Franklin told his fellow Americans “We have the pleasure of acquainting the World, that the famous Chinese or Tartarian Plant, called Ginseng, is now discovered in this Province.”[10] Dr. Robert Johnston, the surgeon of the Empress of China, assumed the tedious task of gathering Ginseng. He walked through numerous mountains in Pennsylvania and Virginia to gather 30 tons of Ginseng. [11]

Ginseng helped promote the formation of the notion of international trade in the US. The entire country was connected to trade with China. Not only merchants in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, but isolated farmers in deep mountains had learned that they could be paid by something grown in the northern slope of the mountains. About the same time when the Empress of China unloaded the Ginseng at China, George Washington (1732-1799) met some people who were doing Ginseng business in Virginia. He recorded it in his diary, “I met numbers of Persons & Pack horses going in with Ginseng: & for salt & other articles at the Market Below.”[12]

The Empress of China left New York on February 22, 1784 and returned triumphantly to New York on May 11, 1785. Her successful voyage brought a measure of prosperity and was seen as an American economic salvation. The voyage had been a remarkable financial success. It was a win-win two-way trade. The ship profited on her investment about 30%.[13] The success of the ship stimulated American merchants. Other merchants were quick to see the value of the trade. Her great success aroused so much attention that the report about her sail was read in Congress. Since then the US government encouraged China trade by maintaining favorable tariff policies.[14] Under the support of the political leaders of the nation, American trade with China grew rapidly. By the first half of the 19^th century the Chinese port saw about 40 American ships a year loading and unloading. The America’s purpose to win a place in international commerce was realized successfully.[15] Naturally, the sail of the Empress of China has been claimed as “the brightest chapter in the maritime history of the United States.” [16]

Editor’s Note: Dr. Dave Wang is the Manager of Hollis Library, in Queens, New York City and Adjunct Professor of St. Johns University, U.S.A. He has agreed to write a series of articles on The role of Chinese civilisation and its influence in the West and in China's future.

Dr Wang has carried out research in the new field of The Founding Fathers of the United States and China. He has delivered speeches in the U. S. and abroad about the founding fathers' open attitudes towards Chinese civilization and their efforts to draw positive elements from it. It is believed that the knowledge of founding fathers' way to deal with Chinese civilization will enlighten us in the era of hybridization, brought up by the globalization. His blog on the founding fathers of U. S. and China, which could be viewed at

http://foundingfathersandchina.blogspot.com/index.html
http://foundingfathersandchina.blogspot.com/index.html