Intro to Cape Verdean Culture

In the 1790s, maritime communities along the U.S. East Coast were developing societies including American whalers from New Bedford and fi shing ships from Portugal which traveled to and from Cape Verde. During that time, many Cape Verdeans joined these crews. By the mid-1800s New Bedford had transformed into an economic maritime center, where Cape Verdeans excelled in the whaling & maritime industry trades. Between 1860 and 1965, forty-one percent of the ships trading between New England and the Cape Verde were owned by Cape Verdeans.