Early Atlantic Trade Routes

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The Role of Shipping in Colonial New England

An Interactive Exploration of History

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This website addresses the role of shipping in the deveopment of the American colonies, particularly New England and Boston — one of the biggest shipping hubs in the Americas. The goal of analyzing this contribution is to understand how future expansion might progress. Since humans do not have experience with interplanetary colonization — a process that seems likely to develop within the next century — it is important to use knowledge of history to help understand how that process might evolve.

On this website, there is a series of mini-essays that aim to answer two key questions: how did shipping affect our nation's social roots, and how did it affect our economy? To unite the essays, there is a conclusion in the activites tab. This website is designed to be flexible. The essays can be viewed in any order, and the photo gallery also supplies photos linked to the essay they are in for further exploration.

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