3 Objects from the Independence Seaport Museum Collection

“Wastebook B” Account Book 

 “What is it and where is it in the museum?”

 This  book is known as an account book, specifically “Wastebook B”. This book was used during the sales of enslaved Africans within Philadelphia back in the 1760’s. It’s located on the first floor of the musume in the exhibit called ‘Tides of Freedom’. 

“Why is it interesting?”

    I was drawn to this object because of the layout surrounding the object in the exhibit. It’s an account book, but it wasn’t the first thing I noticed. What I was initially drawn to was  the small wooden stage which was meant to replicate the feeling of being on a display for people to buy and auction you as enslaved people were. There’s a few barrels on the stage that was able to play a specific voice over used to mimic the voice of an auctioneer as you stand on the footprints on the wooden deck. 

    Besides the placement of the object, I thought it was very interesting to see exactly what was written in these books and to see the actual pricing that people were being sold during slavery. It’s heartbreaking to see how these merchants and white people were so quick to put a price on a human life, let alone dehumanize a person.  It’s quite emotional to see a piece of history in its most raw form on display like this. 

“What did you learn about it and where did you get the information? “

      What I learned about this object was that back in the 1760s there was an intricate process of documentation used to sell enslaved people. Most white merchants auctioning enslaved Africans would use this specific type of book as a rough, daily diary of transactions meant to be transferred into a more formal ledger book to keep all finalized transactions and documentation. These books were meant to be discarded after being transferred which is why the name of this specific account book is “Wastebook B”. I learned all of this from the plaque next to the book which contains the name of the book and some information about the merchants and purpose of these books.

“What can you tell us about the object in light of this new information?”

     After knowing what the intent for these books were, I never thought that there was such extreme documentation put into place for selling enslaved people. It was never anything I really thought that these merchants would do besides making a small note of it or none at all, I wasn’t expecting to read that they would transfer their documents into a formal ledger . This blows my mind because I feel as though the prices that enslaved people were sold for aren’t talked about as much so this was something to take in with a heavy heart.

Auction Stage

“Tea Set” 

   “What is it and where is it in the museum?”

    This tea set was made in Canton China which dates back to 1790-1810. It is located on the second floor of the museum in a glass casing titled ‘Conspicuous Consumption’.

“Why is it interesting?”

    This tea set and other tea items within the collection were interesting to me because of how detailed and beautiful each of these items were. It was interesting to view a tea set imported straight from China in the late 1700s and was kept in good condition after all these years. 

 “What did you learn about it and where did you get the information? “

     What I learned about this set was that it was originally owned by Israel Cope and gifted to the musume by Barbara Gilbert in 1989. I also learned that wealthy Americans in the late 1700s used expensive imported Chinese goods to show and boost their social status. Most women from this time would have impressed guests by using the tea set as well as having the other tea items from this collection. These imported tea sets are shown to recall the role in which Chinese imports had in American society. All of this information can be found on two of the plaques located within the glass casing besides this tea collection.

“What can you tell us about the object in light of this new information?”

      What I can say about this tea set and the information I learned is that by understanding how imported goods played a role in social status for wealthy Americans, one can think about how during this same time slavery was also a major important role within the importation of “goods”. I use quotation marks in this case because enslaved people were not seen as human but as “goods” such as this tea set  to be sold to wealthy Americans to help them either boost their social class or maintain it which is sickening to think about in my opinion. 

Tea Set & It’s Collection

“Opium Pod”

 “What is it and where is it in the museum?”

        This object is known as an Opium Pod. It’s located on the second floor of the museum in a glass casing titled ‘Conspicuous Consumption’.

“Why is it interesting?”

       This object was interesting to me because of how unique this plant-seed appeared in the glass casing. It’s something I’ve never seen before so it caught my attention by its size and interesting shape. As I was reading and learning some information, it was very interesting to learn how such a small plant object played a huge role within the drug trade in America, particularly in Philadelphia. 

“What did you learn about it and where did you get the information?” 

       What I learned about this opium pod is that the British empire at the time had a monopoly on Indian opium which led local merchants to find other alternative sources of opium in places such as Smyrna, Turkey in 1804. Over time, Philadelphia drug dealers profited from the trading of alternative opium pods. In fact, Philadelphia played a significant role in the illegal smuggling of opium into China during their trades. All of this information can be found on the plaque located within the glass casing besides this pod and on the giant plaque behind the glass casing labeled as ‘Trading With China”.

“What can you tell us about the object in light of this new information?”

    In light of this information, One can see just how much trading played a significant role within American Society. Besides the importation of goods and enslaved people, illegal drug trades started to occur all roughly around the same time, which is mindblowing to think about. Even more so to know how Philadelphia specifically played a role of trading and imporatiaton as a whole in all of this. 

Journal Pages: Reflection Of Objects

“Well, What is Lofting?”
“Lofting is when we enlarge the lines from a plan to the actual size of the boat. With these full-size drawings, we can then make the moulds which will act as substructures to build our boat upon.” -John Thompson (My Professor)

“What did you do?”

     What my classmates and I did for the lofting process was create a smaller scaled set of plans for a boat similar to the duck-boat we will be actually making for the course. The plans we made were smaller than the ones we will build but the exercise helped us gain insight to the entire process. We started off with a large piece of plywood that was painted white, and created a basic grid of all the straight lines seen. This grid helps us to determine the different stations/sections of the boat (vertical  lines) and the water lines (horizontal lines). This grid is made to follow a “table of offsets”, which has the actual measurements for the boat to follow. 

Once we made the grid, we then mapped out the following lines onto our grid: 

• Sheer-line  is the line that determines the  top curve/line of the boat 
• Baseline is the line that determines the bottom or base of the boat 
• Center Line is the line to help create the planview of the boat  to determine and see the width of the boat. It physically represents the center line of the boat so that we can draw and measure out the top half of the boat. 
• Transom is the line that determines the back end or edge of the boat, its usually a sharp diagonal line

After finding these lines, we mapped out the following lines: 

•  Waterlines are the horizontal lines that mark the height of which the water will reach the sides of the boat. These lines are usually squared off to help determine  the points for the curved buttock lines 
• Buttock lines are the curved lines that create the shape of the boat’s body. To achieve these curves, we measured the points of the curve by following the table of offsets and using specific tools such as icepicks, hammers and  batons( a bendable piece of wood) to help draw the curves onto the plan. 

Profile and Plan View Our Class Worked On

Marking Points & Baton

“What did you contribute to the project as a whole?” 

      What I contributed to the project as a whole was to help create the fundamental plans for the boat. It is about being accurate to the actual scale of the boat so that we as a whole class can have a reference to look back to while physically building the boat. It’s essentially creating the “blueprints” of the boat as I like to put it. So in order to be as accurate as possible and to avoid mistakes, my group and I all worked together as a unit to make sure we all were doing the process correctly and double checking each other’s work. To achieve this, we designated roles to each other such as hammering the icepicks, calling out the measurements needed for each point and a checker to make sure the measurements and points were lined up together. 

 “What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?”

       The challenges I faced while doing this process was making sure to have the correct measurements. For instance, a section of the measurements for the table of offsets involved being in 8ths fractions so we had to make sure we were simplifying and using the correct fractions when mapping out the points. So for instance when we had 4/8ths we had to make sure it was simplified to ½ and so and so forth. Due to sometimes getting confused about this, our instructor Dave helped us make magic rulers which simplified the process of understanding how to measure fractions out. I still have my magic ruler to this day in my journal for the class! 

      Another challenge I faced was breaking multiple batons last week when mapping out the body plan of the boat. My classmate and I were trying to mark the points of the buttock lines with our batons and icepicks when I accidentally broke a baton, which led to us trying again and again to bend the baton to match the curve but they each broke when we were trying. It turns out we were using the wrong line for our point which caused our batons to have too much tension when curving that led it to eventually snap in half. This is a prime example of always making sure to double and triple check your measurements to ensure it’s accurate and correct. After fixing this, our batons were able to hold the curve without snapping on us! 

“Look At All These Broken Batons”

“What did you learn?” 

    I learned so much from the lofting process. I learned that the process takes a bit of time but it’s important to be patient and as accurate as possible to avoid mistakes occurring when building the boat later on. If something goes wrong in the plans it can cause a drastic problem with the wood measurements and create shortages by accident. So as a team it’s best to take our time and work together as a unit to create the plans. It may be tedious but it’s worth it in the end! There are so many aspects to know and understand about the lofting process that it can be easily confusing but breaking it down and learning how to do the process in a few days is a great way to learn. 

Work In Progress

Journal Pages: Response on Lofting