The Fur Trade
As Ledyard had noticed that sea otter furs from the American northwest commanded extremely high prices in Macau, he lobbied during the early 1780s for the formation of fur-trading companies. Ledyard suggested trading furs for Chinese silk and porcelain, which could then be sold in the United States. Although his abortive partnership with Philadelphia financier Robert Morris was not successful, it did lay the pattern of the subsequent China trade.
Ledyard left the United States in June 1784 to find financial backers in Europe. In Paris he partnered with Captain John Paul Jones; however this venture, too, failed to reach fruition.
Read more about this topic: John Ledyard
Famous quotes containing the words fur and/or trade:
“Your coat in my closet,
your bright stones on my hand,
the gaudy fur animals
I do not know how to use,
settle on me like a debt.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Literature flourishes best when it is half a trade and half an art.”
—W.R. (William Ralph)