The China Trade: Lifeblood of the early American elite

In the 1453, when the Ottoman Empire replaced the Byzantine, Europe’s connection to some of the most lucrative trade routes in the world was blocked. For the next three centuries, western merchants looked for new routes to China, the world’s largest economy. America was very much an in-the-way place. Through an exploration of the Astor family, I discuss the role that international trade played in the formation of the early American elite, and the enduring legacy of America’s early life as a land in between the great economies of the 17^th and 18^th century: China and Europe.