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Colonial shipbuilding


Between America’s vast natural resources, excellent location in relation to the world market, capital flow and plentiful skilled labor; the American colonies had a comparative advantage in shipbuilding. The American colonies also had other incentives to improve their shipbuilding process and produce more ships than any other country. World trade was increasingly being conducted by way of the sea and British trade restrictions on other goods from the colonies decreased trade flows. This caused the colonies to turn to shipbuilding and many American colonists found they could make a viable living within the shipbuilding industry.

Timber was critical for the development of the shipbuilding industry. It has been stated, “For every ton of shipping a vessel held, at least one and half loads of timber were required, with a load of timber being approximately equivalent to one tree’s worth of wood.” More specifically, British war vessels required two thousand trees for construction. The abundance of timber and lumber made shipbuilding highly economical in the colonies. Woods like Pine, oak, maple, beech, birch, hickory, ash and cypress trees were plentiful in Colonial America.


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