Model of the 1797 Ship Friendship, c. 1804 Peabody Essex Museum Thomas Russell and Mr. Odell Salem in History, 2006 Eldredge Print Model of the 1797 Ship Friendship, c. 1804 Thomas Russell and Mr. Odell On board the Friendship Wood, cordage, bronze Gift of William Story M48

H I S T O R I C A L C O N T E X T Following the Revolutionary War (1776-1784) American merchants in the former British colonies were eager to enter into the China trade, which had been controlled by the British. Owners Jerathmiel Peirce and Aaron Waite of Salem, Massachusetts must have looked forward to great profits that voyages of the Friendship would bring to them. From 1787 to 1812, the Friendship completed 15 documented voyages to such countries as China, Italy, Jarkarta, (then Batavia), Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Russian Federation (then Imperial Russia), Spain, Sumatra, and Venezuela. Voyages were dangerous, and there were no guarantees of safe return. European countries, especially Great Britain and France, rivaled each other for power, and often involved other countries in their opposition. By 1812, problems between Americans, British, and the French grew worse, and the United States declared war against Britain. At the time, the Friendship was sailing on its fifteenth voyage, heading to Archangel, Russia. It arrived there on June 12, 1812, but by the time it departed in July, the United States was at war with Great Britain. News of the war had not reached the ship’s captain, and he continued on the route through the British Channel and across the Atlantic Ocean, where the British vessel HMS Rosamond captured the Friendship and took the crew as prisoners. While Captain Stanley and crewmembers eventually returned to Salem, the Friendship was sold at auction in Great Britain in 1813.

A R T H I S T O R I C A L C O N T E X T During the long off-duty hours that sailors endured on extended voyages, it was common to commemorate a voyage by building a model or drawing images of the vessel on which they served. During a voyage from Salem to Canton and Sumatra (1802-1804), the Friendship’s second mate and carpenter made this 9-foot long full model and presented it to the captain, who later donated the model to the East India Marine Society (today the Peabody Essex Museum).The delicately carved and faithfully represented model was one of the sources used to recreate the full-scale vessel located today at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, National Park Service.

SAMPLE GUIDING QUESTIONS • Describe the ship based on what you see in the model. • How many guns can you see? Why might a U.S. trading vessel need guns in 1804-5? • In the year 1804, when this model was made, sometimes people from other countries like Great Britain or France took sailors from American ships to work on their ships against their will. If you were one of those sailors, how would you feel? How do you think your family would feel? • Given the dangers at sea, and length of time people might be away on a voyage, why would entrepre neurs (businessmen) continue to send ships and sailors to the East Indies? • How would people in Salem have felt when the British captured the Friendship in 1812? How would this have affected profits for the owners and merchants in Salem?

SUGGESTED LEARNING ACTIVITIES • To offer students a better sense of how large this ship was (about 100 feet high and 100 feet long), show them a picture of a 10-story building, which is about the same height. Or, have students draw the length of the ship in chalk on an empty parking lot. • Ask students to read ship’s log information from a voyage of the Friendship (available on-line at: http://www.saleminhistory.org/USandWorld/1812/primarysources.htm). Trace the ship’s course using longitude and latitude coordinates on a world map.

2003 Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Frameworks: 5.32, 3.12, 5.11, 5.33, USI.26

Peabody Essex Museum Salem in History 2006