Freedom By the Sea
<p>America connected with the world in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The center of the new nation’s shipping and whaling industry in the 1840s and 1850s, the small city on the southern coast of the state launched voyages to every ocean. Quakers had founded New Bedford in the 17th century along the Acushnet River, on land once inhabited by the Wampanoag. By the middle of the 19th century, it had grown into the nation’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180719-the-city-that-lit-the-world" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">richest city per capita</a>, not only from sailing and ship-building, but also from refining greasy barrels of liquified whale blubber into valuable oil and clean-burning candles. Families made rich from shipping and whaling built stately homes and elaborate gardens.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/new-american-history/freedom-by-the-sea-8e530bbeccff"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>
<p> </p>