Shipbuilding

This was in the colonial period one of the foremost branches of manufacturing industry in the colonies, especially in New England. In Ma achusetts the busine began in the first years. In 1698 it was enacted that no ve el of more than thirty tons should be built save under the supervision of a competent shipwright. The first schooner, an American invention, was built at Gloucester in 1713. The American ships competed powerfully with those of England, and were thought the best and cheapest in the world. They formed America's chief manufacture for export. 224