February, 2008 Workshop - National Archives, Waltham Mass

Documents for the "Eagle Collage" Sub-lesson

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• Eagle Collage
• Created from documents below (all of which were obtained through the generosity of the National Archives in Waltham, Massachusetts), this collage of eagle images can be used in a "concentration" type matching game for young elementary students. This lesson directly links to the Massachusetts frameworks by helping students recognize the "eagle" as a symbol of the United States government. Additional photos of the Customs house and City Hall eagles from Salem were taken by our museum educator, Rebecca Zimmerman.

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• Transcript (pdf)
• Graves' Citizenship papers
• From the Early national period, directly following the American Revolution, until after the War of 1812, seamen were sometimes "impressed," or kidnapped, by members of the British or French navy. Many sailors carried papers that would allow them to prove their identity. This 1803 document for a 16 year-old from Marblehead, states that he is a citizen of the U.S.

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• Transcript (pdf)
• Citizenship papers for the Bark, Chalcedony
• This 1841 document certifies that all of the crew on board a specific ship are U.S. citizens. The vessel hails from Salem and is bound for Buenos Aires.

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• Transcript (pdf)
• List of Persons (crew list) for the Brig, Athens
• In 1841, the Brig, Athens, sailed to Havana from Newburyport. On board were men ranging in age from 12 to 47. Natives of Newburyport, Newbury, Salisbury, Amesbury, Seabrook, and Boston were included on this voyage. The document gives statistical data about their ages and physical characteristics as well.

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• Shipping Agreements for the Ship, Brookline
• Shipping Agreements are documents which give information regarding crew statistics and payments. The reverse side is featured because the eagle engraving is seen there. This ship sailed from Salem to the Port of Good Hope in November of 1840.

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• Shipping Agreements for the Brig, Leander
• Shipping Agreements are documents which give information regarding crew statistics and payments. The reverse side is featured because the eagle engraving is seen there. This brig sailed from Salem to the West Coast of Africa in November of 1840.

Documents for the "Salem Impost Book" Sub-lesson

Impost books were accounts of vessels entering a port, their port of origin,information about the goods they brought in and, most importantly, the duties (taxes) they paid to the U.S. government on those commodities. Duties could be calculated based on a percentage of the value, or as a direct fee. Salem was a major shipping port during this period and brought in considerable revenue for the country as a whole. These pages show a wide range of countries that were touched by Salem ships, as well as the wealth of luxury and household goods that came through this city. These resources could be used in a variety of ways.

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• Transcript (pdf)
• Salem Impost Book - July 17, 1801 -
• This page shows ships coming from Surinam, Manilla, Guadaloupe, Calcutta, and Sumatra. (Note the amount of pepper coming in from Sumatra. Salem was a leading exporter of pepper at that time) These ships carried a large variety of merchandize ; molasses, sugar, pepper, coffee, indigo (a blue dyestuff), tea, and cotton.

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• Transcript (pdf)
• Salem Impost Book - August 4, 1801
• This page shows ships coming from Guadaloupe, Granada, and St. Petersburg. (The ship from St. Petersburg is the Friendship! A replica of the Friendship, constructed by the National Park Service can presently be seen in Salem harbor.) These ships carried a large variety of merchandize ; sugar, rum, molasses,coffee candles and hemp for cordage (rope).

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• Transcript (pdf)
• Salem Impost Book - April 19, 1802 (top)
• This page shows ships coming from Havana, New Orleans, Megadore (Morocco), Cadiz and Guadaloupe. There is a large variety of merchandize arriving; sugar, cotton, molasses, salt, Sherry and Claret wine.

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• Transcript (pdf)
• Salem Impost Book - April 19, 1802 (bottom)
• This page shows ships coming from Cadiz, St. Vincent, Canton (China), Trinidad and Alicant. (See Impost Places pdf for more information regarding modern names of these places) There is a large variety of merchandize arriving; sugar, molasses, salt, rum, tea, candy, brandy, Sherry and Claret wine. Salem was well known for their Far East trade. Note the amount of revenue from the ship coming from China.
  

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• Explanation of Places Mentioned in the Above Salem Impost Book pages
• researched by R Zimmerman, 2008(.pdf)

Documents for the "Coasting Manifest" Sub-lesson

Coasting Manifests are listings of materials being shipped from one port to another. During the "Gold Rush" period ships from Beverly and Salem took many items to the Pacific coast around what is today San Francisco and Sacramento. One ship, named the San Francisco, left from Beverly in 1849 with a cargo of items to be sold there. While you might expect to find supplies for the miners - like pick axes and gold pans, these ships more often contained materials to build new communities in the West. Parts of houses, and foodstuffs were commodities with sure worth. Check out the sub-lesson on our webpage to see how teachers can convey this higher level concept to elementary students.

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• Transcript (pdf)
• Coasting Manifest for the Barque, San Francisco, 1849
• This document shows the goods being transported to San Francisco by Thomas Remmonds and his crew in 1849. The items mentioned include materials for constructing houses, boots, soap, hats, salt, overalls, tobacco & iron. An engraving of the ship and some other documents pertaining to this voyage are owned by the Beverly Historical Society.THIS DOCUMENT MAY TAKE EXTRA TIME TO DOWNLOAD.

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