South Street Sea Port in 1855
The name clipper ship had become synonymous with fast sailing vessels by the 1830�s. After about 1845, the names started to be used with specific locations or cargo to specify what type of a clipper ship it was. For example, there were the California clipper, China clipper, coffee clipper, opium clipper, and tea clipper. The clippers were first designed to make a speedy voyage from the East Coast to Great Britain and also China, after they reopened their ports with the end of the Opium Wars. Later on with the discovery of gold in California, the ships mostly sailed around the horn of South America from the East Coast and to the West Coast of California. These clippers finished this voyage usually in under 100 days, which was unheard of at the time.
Now that the speed of the clippers had been established, the addition of larger amounts of cargo had to be dealt with. Therefore, there had to be a compromise between speed and cargo. The largest Baltimore Clipper, Ann McKim, was built in 1843. It successfully shipped large amounts of tea from New York to China and back in only 92 days, even though it was a larger model of earlier Baltimore Clippers. The new designs were big and beautiful. They were said to be a symbol of the American dream, which is why so many paintings and photos of clipper ships are still available today. Then something extraordinary happened in 1848 that created an enormous boom in the clipper ship industry. Gold was found in California.
Immediately San Francisco had become the �Golden Gate� to the West, as it is so fittingly named today. It was a profitable port before gold was found in 1848, but the surge West by way of ship increased exponentially in this year. A new booming economy directed shipping to northern California. Six years earlier the Opium War in China ended and they opened their ports to the Americans and British once again creating an influx of clippers back and forth between San Francisco and China. There was a huge market for Chinese tea and now gold. Shipping rates rose from $10 to $60 a ton. It became more and more profitable to build, own, and operate ships so competition between vessels became increasingly intense. These expensive ships started to pay for themselves on a single voyage with the new demand for fast clipper ships. Shipbuilding and operating clipper ships had become a booming economy, most notably in just a few years time.
Boston Harbor
However, the clipper era ended just as quickly as it had started. The steamship was introduced toward the end of the 1850�s and in 1869, the Suez Canal was finished. The effect of these two was just as drastic on clippers as the effect of the Gold Rush and the reopening of China's ports were. The effect of this new steam powered vessel ultimately killed the use of clipper ships. Freight rates for importing and exporting good internationally reduced enormously due to the steamboat. Only sailing vessels carrying very large cargoes could operate and continue to operate successfully. The Suez Canal was finished in 1869 as it opened up a waterway from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The British took full advantage of this as they were part owners of the trade route with Egypt. America lost out on this opportunity and their ships were soon forgotten by other nations. Unfortunately the clipper ships could not handle large cargoes like the steamboats and other cargo ships, and eventually they died out altogether in America at the beginning of the 1870�s.