Before our last episode on the Industrial Revolution, we were talking about the end the colonial period and looking at the lives of several of the founding fathers, including Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Ben Franklin. I feel like there were several other notable people that I left off that list, most especially Alexander Hamilton, but since he has his own musical, you can just listen to that instead.
So by the beginnings of the 1800’s, the United States was starting to solidify itself as an actual nation, and beginning to spread westward. But it was also beginning to spread eastward, in a way, because as an independent nation, it was developing a healthy trans-Atlantic trade network with the countries of western Europe and in the Mediterranean as well.
This meant of course, ships sailing across the Atlantic ocean, carrying American cargo and American sailors. Our first problem with all this international commerce was the Barbary Pirates that I mentioned in episode 69, talking about Thomas Jefferson’s first term as president. But scaring off the pirates wasn’t the only problem for our shipping industry.