Exhibition with around 150 rarely seen objects tracing the first American trade with China after the Revolutionary War, part of the museum's Philadelphia 250 celebration.
Seeking Profit and Power: Philadelphia, China Trade and the Making of America is open at the Independence Seaport Museum at Penn's Landing, running from March 20, 2026, through January 3, 2028. It's part of the museum's 'Philadelphia 250' celebration of America's 250th anniversary, and it looks at the immediate aftermath of the Revolutionary War from an economic angle.
After the war, the new United States was cut off from its only offshore trading partner, Great Britain. To survive, the fledgling nation had to build new trade protocols and find foreign alliances, and it looked east toward China. The story centers on the Empress of China, a three-masted ship that made the first American voyage to Canton in 1784. It was captained by John Green, an Irish-born former Continental Navy officer, and underwritten by Philadelphia merchant Robert Morris.
Around 150 rarely seen objects trace the trade that followed, many on loan from Mount Vernon. You'll see porcelain made to order, sailors' journals, and silver coins, while American merchants paid in opium. The exhibition also follows the Philadelphia merchants who drove the trade, like Benjamin Chew Wilcocks and Rodney Fisher, and the fortunes it made: Stephen Girard became the richest man in America, and the Chinese merchant Wu Bingjian, known as Houqua, became the richest man in the world.
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Admission is $23, which is included in general admission. The exhibition runs through January 3, 2028, so you've got plenty of time to catch it.
