Trading the Contract: The Roles of Entrepreneurs,Government,and Labor in the Formation of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.

详细信息   

• 作者：Jenks ; Karen Elizabeth.
• 学历：Doctor
• 年：2012
• 导师：Igler, David,eadvisorTopik, Steven C.ecommittee memberChen, Yongecommittee member
• 毕业院校：University of California
• Department：History
• ISBN：9781267821027
• CBH：3547433
• Country：USA
• 语种：English
• FileSize：4546303
• Pages：237

文摘

During its heyday in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company connected Panama with San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest, followed by transpacific voyages to Asia and the South Pacific. The time span of this dissertation, from the 1830s to the 1850s, connects older relationships with the Pacific Mail, illustrating continuity and change from within and outside the company. It also explores the company&rsquo；s influence on the movement of people, goods, and mail to and around the Pacific. Documents associated with shipping provide insights into maritime trade routes, mixes of trade goods, and entrepreneurial incentives in the 1830s and 1840s influencing the formation of the Pacific Mail. Founded in 1848, the Pacific Mail formed the western edge of the Panama Route, the path between New York and the Columbia River across the Isthmus of Panama. Correspondence shows how the Pacific Mail managed opportunities and constraints during the California Gold Rush by &ldquo；trading the contract&rdquo； or using commerce and the federal postal contract to reinforce each other. Attention to routine and ordinary tasks&mdash；such as buying and selling goods, preparing ships for sea, and developing commercial opportunities&mdash；reveal ongoing entrepreneurship. Account books from the Pacific Mail&rsquo；s San Francisco agency help trace the movements and provisioning of a steamer in April and May of 1856. Looking at the behind-the-scenes elements involved in running the Pacific Mail&rsquo；s San Francisco operations is a way to illustrate the resources and challenges surrounding Pacific expansion in the 1850s beyond the visible signs of steamers and people coming and going. The expansion of the Pacific Mail came from, in part, the solid routines, resources, and connections the company developed during the 1850s. The Pacific Mail contributed to the expansion of global migration, trade, and communication. Transportation provided by the Pacific Mail facilitated the movement of people, goods, and information within the framework of larger connections, expanding the influence of the United States in the Pacific.