4 1 5 the golden age of sail (science)

by Lisa M. Cocca

H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN H ARCO URT


by Lisa M. Cocca

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A group of boys stand on a dock looking
out into a harbor. They watch as men lift and
load cargo onto the ships. They see the tidal
waves foaming as they crash against the
ships. The boys aren’t worrying about the

hard work. They aren’t even worrying about
the dangerous sea. They are too busy
daydreaming. They dream about a ship that
can sail faster than any of the ships in the
harbor.

2


A Growing Need
Boys weren’t the only people dreaming of
faster ships in 1840. The world was growing
and changing. People needed to move faster
to keep up with the changes.
America was rich in natural resources.
Great forests covered much of the land. They
provided lumber for many uses. People
needed wood to build houses, furniture, and
ships. Rich soil also covered much of the
land. This made it possible for farmers to
grow large crops. Farmers grew food and
cash crops such as cotton and tobacco.
Metals and minerals such as salt were also
important resources.

3


Inventors were busy, too. They made
machines that changed how people worked.

New machines cut and shaped the wood
faster than ever before. Other machines
turned cotton into thread and thread into
cloth. Because machines did these and other
jobs so much faster, people made more goods
at a lower cost.

Cotton bolls ready
for harvest.

Cotton was an important cash crop for American
business.

4


Turning cotton into
fabric was big
business. In the mid1800s, the work was
moved from
cottages to factories.

Cotton loom

5


More goods meant a need for more
customers. There was no shortage of markets
in the world. Pioneers had moved as far west

as California. The new towns meant new
markets for the goods. America also had
many resources other countries did not have.
Americans used those resources and new or
improved machines to make goods faster and
for less money. This opened more markets
around the world to American goods.
Many people moved to California
before the Gold Rush began.

6


The spread of markets around the world
created new challenges. How could people
move goods to the customers? New roads
and trains helped, but did not solve the
problem. Wagons moved slowly in good
weather, and not at all in many poor weather
conditions. Trains could only go where there
were tracks. An ocean divided America from
its markets in Europe. Ships were the answer
to the problem.
7


Clippers
People were growing and making more
goods. The cost of shipping those goods was
also rising. Sea captains knew the quicker

they safely delivered goods, the more trips
they could take and the more money they
could make.
The speed that early cargo ships could
make was betrayed by their broad width.
Clipper ships sailed faster, because the front
of the ship was narrower. This allowed it to
cut through the water more quickly.
Unfortunately, the new shape left less room
for cargo.
The Golden Age of Sail
was also the Golden Age
of Piracy. Sea captains
needed to keep their
crew and cargo safe by
sailing faster than the
pirate ships.

8


Yankee Clippers
How could a ship builder use the speed of
a clipper to move goods? This question
haunted a man named Nat Palmer. Nat had a
yearning for the sea from a young age. He
was still a teenager when he first became
captain of a ship.
Like many young men in the mid-1800s,
Nat had a need for speed. He had seen many

of the long, narrow boats often used by
fishermen in New England. This gave him
an idea for a ship that used the V-shaped
bottom of the clippers in a new way.

9


Nat needed help to make the idea a
reality. He was not an architect, nor was he a
shipbuilder. On top of that, building a ship
cost a great deal of money. Nat was not a rich
man. Finding people to help with these
things was not easy. Nat’s idea was so
different that many people were horrified to
take a chance on it working.
The masts on the Yankee Clippers rose much
higher than the masts on other boats of the
time. Despite this, the term “tall ship” was
rarely used during the Golden Age of Sail.

masts

10


Shipbuilders at work

For a while, it looked like Nat’s idea
might never be tested. Then on one

memorable day, he met Edward Collins.
Edward owned a successful shipbuilding
company. He believed in Nat’s idea and
agreed to put up the money to build the ship.
Together they went in search of an
architect. John Willis Griffiths was a
designer who loved new ideas. He was the
right architect for the project.
11


They had the idea, they had the money,
and they had the design. Only one more
piece was missing. They needed someone to
build the ship. The men hired Donald
McKay to be the lead builder. The idea
became a reality.
The Yankee Clipper ships were long and
sleek, with four-cornered sails. Most
important, they were fast and built to carry
cargo.

Donald McKay became famous for building clipper
ships. His ship the Great Republic was 302 feet long.
It was the biggest American clipper ship ever built.

12


Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Seafaring men raced with each other
across the oceans. Many Yankee Clipper
captains set world records. One ship, the
John Baines, sailed from Boston to England
in under 13 days.
Although the Yankee Clippers cut much
time from trips, most journeys were still
long. The Flying Cloud set a record when it
sailed from New York to San Francisco. That
trip around Cape Horn took 89 days.
Successful Sails
SHIP

ROUTE

LENGTH of JOURNEY

James Baines

around the world

133 days

Nightingale

Shanghai to London

91 days

Sea Witch

Canton to New York

81 days

Richard Robinson

New York to Bombay

88 days

Flying Cloud

New York to San Francisco

89 days

Sea captains were often away from home for long
periods of time. Many of them took their families on
board for long trips.

13


New ideas helped businesses grow in
America. These ideas created a need for the
Yankee Clipper. Yet, another new idea
brought an end to the clipper cargo ships. By
the end of the 1850s, steam-engine ships
made the clippers outcasts. These new ships

did not depend completely on the winds.
They could move goods faster and cheaper
than the clippers.

By the late 1850s, the steamer was more useful and
more popular for shipping goods great distances.

14


Responding
Word Builder Make
a Four Square Map around the word seafaring.
What words would you use to describe a
seafarer? Copy the graphic below and add
more words.
TARGET VOCABULARY

brave
seafaring

Write About It
Text to Self The sailors who built and sailed the
clipper ships liked adventure. Write a paragraph
describing an adventure you have had. Include at
least two words from the World Builder in your
description.

15

TARGET VOCABULARY

betrayed
condition
foaming
horrified
memorable

outcast
seafaring
shortage
tidal
yearning

Infer/Predict Use text clues to
figure out what isn’t exactly stated by the author.
TARGET STRATEGY

What did the angry wave say to the
beach? I’m so mad; I’m
at the mouth.

16


Level: P
DRA: 38
Science
Strategy:

Infer/Predict
Word Count: 1,415

4.1.5 Build Vocabulary

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

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