Sailing Across the Ocean To A Home In A New Land In The Mid 1800’s
When I read about sailing conditions, I hadn’t given much thought about the provisions that would have had to have been carried for the voyage. After all, the passengers weren’t served food during the voyage as they would be today. Here is what I discovered….
“The early sailing ships were generally cargo ships returning to America empty after delivering cotton, tobacco or timber to England, or East India, men-of-war too old for their original military use. Ships sailing westward to America had lots of space, so passage could be secured at low rates. Lower passage fares made the trip possible for emigrants who might otherwise find the journey’s cost a hardship. To ensure a profit for shipping companies, emigrants were packed into makeshift quarters without assurance of adequate ventilation, toilet facilities, or enough food or water.
These ships were light, seldom weighing more than three or four hundred tons, and they carried several hundred passengers. In the lowest part of the hold were stored the passengers’ heavy baggage, chests, water casks and cordwood for cooking fires. The only entrance was a ladder leading down from a hatch in the deck. On either side were two layers of berths wide enough for five persons. The travelers would have been advised to provide for themselves a strong wooden provision box, heavy enough to keep rats from gnawing through, utensils, a kettle, tools and food stuffs such as cheese, sausages, or onions. Nevertheless, food and water shortages were frequent on the long voyage.
A rather idyllic remembrance written in 1835 by one transatlantic voyager seems to overlook these hardships. “The passengers turned out on the deck like bees in the Spring. Some stand about the stove, cooking or wait their turn at the fire. Others take a walk around the jolly boat, which I may call the ship’s farmyard and talk to the cow, or the pigs or poultry in their several tongues; or they sit upon the water barrels amusing themselves with a book, or by the aid of tobacco fumes, wonder what sort of world it is they are bound for and build castles in the air.”
Those who stepped off the ships into a new life were lucky indeed. From the beginning, the ocean voyage was long, arduous and fraught with danger. The tiny ships braved pirates as well as storms. Depending upon the winds, an 18th century journey from Amsterdam to Philadelphia or Boston could last anywhere from five weeks to six months. The longer the voyage, the weaker passengers and crew became, and the more susceptible they became to diseases that could spread quickly in the crowded hold of a cargo ship. Some succumbed to deadly typhus, or ‘ship fever,” which was a common result when poor food was combined with lack of fresh air and sanitation. A fatality rate of around 10% was not uncommon. One 19th century writer observed, “If crosses and tombstones could be erected on the water….the whole route of the emigrant vessel from Europe to America would long since have assumed the appearance of crowded cemeteries.”
Upon their arrival, relatively few immigrants found the paradise promised by the advertisements of the shipping firms and land speculation companies that had enticed them to the new World. The early arrivals to America and Australia were, largely poor and unschooled. In Europe’s principal ports of exodus – Liverpool, Cork, Bremen and Rotterdam – emigrants were beset by thieves and hucksters. They were cheated by ships’ captains, because there was no set fee for tickets. Until the age of steam, the passengers were often ignorant of where they would eventually land. Although steamer lines began in 1816, as late as 1846 sailing ships were still dominating long-distance navigation. The early steamships were powered by paddle wheel until the introduction of screw-driven iron-hulled steamers designed specifically for immigrant transport. By 1870 nearly half of the voyages across the Atlantic were by steamer and much faster as a result. The coal – and wood-stoked steam-powered vessels shrank the time of a voyage from a variable 30 to 90 days to a reliable 10 to 14 days. These ships were much heavier than the light sailing ships. The typical steamer weighed up to 5.000 tons and carried up to 300 cabin passengers with 1,500 in steerage. In 1865 almost 130.000 people arrived in New York by steamship, while sailing vessels delivered around 85,000. By 1890 90% of the immigrants to the Americas arrived by steamship. The threat of fire, shipwreck and disease was a constant. Given the great numbers of people transported, the relative numbers of disasters were few. “
This information came from ‘The New World Book of Calvos’ published by Halbert’s Family Heritage. The first three chapters of the book cover emigration and immigration in general during different periods in time since the 16th century for different ethnic groups around the world.
When I read about sailing conditions, I hadn’t given much thought about the provisions that would have had to have been carried for the voyage. After all, the passengers weren’t served food during the voyage as they would be today. Here is what I discovered….
“The early sailing ships were generally cargo ships returning to America empty after delivering cotton, tobacco or timber to England, or East India, men-of-war too old for their original military use. Ships sailing westward to America had lots of space, so passage could be secured at low rates. Lower passage fares made the trip possible for emigrants who might otherwise find the journey’s cost a hardship. To ensure a profit for shipping companies, emigrants were packed into makeshift quarters without assurance of adequate ventilation, toilet facilities, or enough food or water.
These ships were light, seldom weighing more than three or four hundred tons, and they carried several hundred passengers. In the lowest part of the hold were stored the passengers’ heavy baggage, chests, water casks and cordwood for cooking fires. The only entrance was a ladder leading down from a hatch in the deck. On either side were two layers of berths wide enough for five persons. The travelers would have been advised to provide for themselves a strong wooden provision box, heavy enough to keep rats from gnawing through, utensils, a kettle, tools and food stuffs such as cheese, sausages, or onions. Nevertheless, food and water shortages were frequent on the long voyage.
A rather idyllic remembrance written in 1835 by one transatlantic voyager seems to overlook these hardships. “The passengers turned out on the deck like bees in the Spring. Some stand about the stove, cooking or wait their turn at the fire. Others take a walk around the jolly boat, which I may call the ship’s farmyard and talk to the cow, or the pigs or poultry in their several tongues; or they sit upon the water barrels amusing themselves with a book, or by the aid of tobacco fumes, wonder what sort of world it is they are bound for and build castles in the air.”
Those who stepped off the ships into a new life were lucky indeed. From the beginning, the ocean voyage was long, arduous and fraught with danger. The tiny ships braved pirates as well as storms. Depending upon the winds, an 18th century journey from Amsterdam to Philadelphia or Boston could last anywhere from five weeks to six months. The longer the voyage, the weaker passengers and crew became, and the more susceptible they became to diseases that could spread quickly in the crowded hold of a cargo ship. Some succumbed to deadly typhus, or ‘ship fever,” which was a common result when poor food was combined with lack of fresh air and sanitation. A fatality rate of around 10% was not uncommon. One 19th century writer observed, “If crosses and tombstones could be erected on the water….the whole route of the emigrant vessel from Europe to America would long since have assumed the appearance of crowded cemeteries.”
Upon their arrival, relatively few immigrants found the paradise promised by the advertisements of the shipping firms and land speculation companies that had enticed them to the new World. The early arrivals to America and Australia were, largely poor and unschooled. In Europe’s principal ports of exodus – Liverpool, Cork, Bremen and Rotterdam – emigrants were beset by thieves and hucksters. They were cheated by ships’ captains, because there was no set fee for tickets. Until the age of steam, the passengers were often ignorant of where they would eventually land. Although steamer lines began in 1816, as late as 1846 sailing ships were still dominating long-distance navigation. The early steamships were powered by paddle wheel until the introduction of screw-driven iron-hulled steamers designed specifically for immigrant transport. By 1870 nearly half of the voyages across the Atlantic were by steamer and much faster as a result. The coal – and wood-stoked steam-powered vessels shrank the time of a voyage from a variable 30 to 90 days to a reliable 10 to 14 days. These ships were much heavier than the light sailing ships. The typical steamer weighed up to 5.000 tons and carried up to 300 cabin passengers with 1,500 in steerage. In 1865 almost 130.000 people arrived in New York by steamship, while sailing vessels delivered around 85,000. By 1890 90% of the immigrants to the Americas arrived by steamship. The threat of fire, shipwreck and disease was a constant. Given the great numbers of people transported, the relative numbers of disasters were few. “
This information came from ‘The New World Book of Calvos’ published by Halbert’s Family Heritage. The first three chapters of the book cover emigration and immigration in general during different periods in time since the 16th century for different ethnic groups around the world.