The Battle for the Migrants: The Evolution from Port to Company Competition, 1840-1914
This chapter discusses the role of Dutch and Belgian consular agencies in opening and sustaining the business of transatlantic steamship lines from Rotterdam and Antwerp to the United States. Via a case study of the Holland America Line it analyses the responsibility of shipping agencies to gather information on migrant opportunities in the United States and to maintain the reputation of European ports. It uses the Line’s correspondence with New York shipping agents and the Board of Directors to interpret business strategies and inter-firm relationships. Though little is known about the activities of shipping agents and shipping companies in influencing migration, it concludes that their advertising efforts and the effects of fierce company competition brought the prospects of the New World into the mindset of a great number of Europeans. It requests further scholarly research into the impact of agents on migration patterns