Early American Consumers

One of the first great challenges facing the new United States was establishing trade with foreign countries. These relationships were necessary to keep the country’s economy afloat and fuel the nation’s growth. The United States was particularly eager to establish a trade relationship with China because it was considered the world’s richest market.

In 1785, the first American trade ship returned from China filled with tea, silks, and porcelain objects. The arrival of the ship sparked a new craze for buying and using Chinese goods in American homes. This provided a much-needed boost to the American economy. Women were the primary purchasers of home goods and were the main drivers of this early economic success story.

This porcelain teapot was imported from China around the year 1800. It is an example of the kind of goods American women could purchase to support the U.S. economy in its early years. By having such an item in her home, a woman signaled that she was both up on the latest fashions and supported American trade efforts abroad.

• porcelain: A white, delicate type of ceramic.

• APUSH Connection: 4.4 America on the World Stage
• Include this object in any lesson about the development of the U.S. economy.
• Pair this object together with Fashion and Politics for a larger lesson about the role women played in promoting international trade.
• Teach this object together with the Edenton Tea Party to demonstrate how women used their power as consumers to make political statements.
• To learn more about life in an early American home, see American Cookery.

AMERICAN CULTURE; WORK, LABOR, AND ECONOMY

• To learn more about the history of the Chinese in America, see Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion.