4 1 5 the golden age of sail (science)

They dream about a ship that can sail faster than any of the ships in the harbor... A Growing NeedBoys weren’t the only people dreaming of faster ships in 1840.. People needed wood to bu

by Lisa M Cocca

by Lisa M Cocca

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: 4 (b) Digital Stock; 10 (b) © Charles Smith/Corbis

All other photos © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers

All art © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers

Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

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

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

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 was an important cash crop for American business.

Cotton bolls ready

for harvest.

Turning cotton into

fabric was big

business In the

mid-1800s, the work was

moved from

cottages to factories.

Cotton loom

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Shipbuilders at work

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.

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

James Baines around the world 133 days

Nightingale Shanghai to London 91 days

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.

TARGET VOCABULARY 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

Write About It

seafaring brave

condition

foaming

horrified

memorable

outcast seafaring shortage tidal yearning

TARGET VOCABULARY

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

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

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

Online Leveled Books

Level: P

DRA: 38

Science

Strategy:

Infer/Predict

Word Count: 1,415

4.1.5 Build Vocabulary