Rough Rice and Sea Island Cotton: The Georgia Coasting Trade, 1800-1861

In the years prior to the Civil War, a small fleet of sailing vessels plied the waters of the southeastern coast between lower South Carolina and northeastern Florida, transporting cargoes between the port of Savannah and the small port towns and plantations of the region. These ships, single-masted sloops and two-masted schooners, sailed in the "coasting trade," and became important to the state of Georgia in the late eighteenth century. During the shipping season, from October to March, "coasters" sailed into Savannah from plantations and small towns all along this stretch of coast to unload their cargoes of Sea Island cotton and "rough" or unmilled rice. Drawing heavily on shipping information published in port newspapers, as well as official vessel documents, this study examines the Georgia coasting trade from 1800 to 1861. Detailed information on these coasting ships, their owners, captains, crews, and the cargoes they carried is presented for this six-decade period.