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| 19th century | |
| economic history of the united states | |
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Packet trade generally refers to any regularly scheduled passenger and cargo trade conducted by ship. In the United States , the term is used most often to refer to the Atlantic (or ''Western'') Ocean packets which traded with Europe and Africa (most notably Cape Verde ). During the 18th Century ships carrying cargo, passengers and mail between Europe and America would sail only when they were full, but in the early 19th Century , as trade with America became more common, schedule regularity became a valuable service. THE BLACK BALL LINE Starting in 1818 , ships of the '' Black Ball '' line began regularly scheduled trips between Britain and America. These "packet ships" (named for their delivery of mail "packets") were infamous for keeping to their disciplined schedules. This often involved harsh treatment of seamen and earned the ships the nickname, "bloodboat". The original Black Ball Line was founded by a group of New York Quakers , but later an opposition service founded by James Baines of Liverpool also styled itself the Black Ball Line, despite the protests of the original company of that name. CAPE VERDE Because of the influence of Whaling and several local Drought s, there was substantial migration from Cape Verde to America, most notably to New Bedford, Massachusetts . This migration built strong ties between the two locations, and a strong packet trade between New England and Cape Verde developed during the early-to-mid 1800s . AUSTRALIA The first seagoing ship built in Van Diemens Land (in 1812) was named the ''Henrietta Packet'' by virtue of the fact that she offered a regular passenger service between Hobart, Tasmania and Sydney, New South Wales . From the 1830s the term "steam packet" was commonly applied to early steam ship services that, at least in theory, offered a regular and reliable service, and is perpetuated today by many waterfront establishments around Australia bearing such names as the "Steam Packet Inn" or "Steam Packet Hotel". Both fast sailing ships and early steam ships holding mail contracts between Great Britain and Australia were also often referred to as packets. These included several ships of James Baines' Black Ball Line and the Orient Line . SEE ALSO
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