Modern Greece : Values of a Civil War Blockade-Runner

Abstract

On June 27, 1862, during the American Civil War, the blockade-runner Modern Greece ran aground off the coast of Wilmington, NC. The ship was within reach of the guns of Fort Fisher, protecting the vessel from the Union blockaders attempting to ignite the ship and its goods. Not all of the cargo was removed from the ship during the war. Wilmington was in desperate need of supplies, so it is odd that not all of the cargo was removed, given the supposed value of the goods to the Confederacy. This project examines hypotheses for why only some of the cargo was saved. First, Wilmington was booming in 1862 from ship traffic and the goods were not worth the effort with a city surplus. Second, blockade-runner cargos were not valuable. Third, there was a reason, not based on market value, which stopped the salvage as a whole. Fourth, the cargo retrieved had the highest market value, while the rest was less valuable. Fifth, non-economic value dictated which goods were saved and which were abandoned. Evidence suggests the economic value of the goods was the largest factor in determining their removal from the ship. While shortage in Wilmington was influential in determining government supply needs, most items for sale after the salvage were luxury goods. A secondary research question looked at the change in Modern Greece’s value from 1862 to now. This project identifies several types of non-market and social values for the cargo in today’s society and demonstrates how the dramatic shift from commodity, to non-commodity, on an open market provides the main distinction for the difference in value over the last 150 years.