Episode 161: Smuggling and the American Revolution

by Liz CovartNovember 21, 2017

Play episode

At the end of the French and Indian, or Seven Years’ War in 1763, Great Britain claimed that smuggling was a BIG problem in its North American colonies and cracked down on the practice.

But just how BIG of a problem was smuggling in North America? Why did British North Americans choose to engage in the illegal importation of goods like tea? Was it really all about cheaper prices?

Fabrício Prado, Christian Koot, and Wim Klooster join us to explore the history of smuggling in the eighteenth-century Atlantic World and to investigate the connections between smuggling and the American Revolution.

About the Series

The mission of episodes in the Doing History: To the Revolution series. is to ask not just “what is the history of the American Revolution?” but “what are the histories of the American Revolution?”

The Doing History series explores early American history and how historians work. It’s produced by the Omohundro Institute.

Be sure to check out Doing History season 1, Doing History: How Historians Work.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Fabrício Prado, Christian Koot, and Wim Klooster join us to explore the history of smuggling in the eighteenth-century Atlantic World and to investigate the connections between smuggling and the American Revolution.

In this episode our guest scholars reveal how merchants and traders conducted trade in the eighteenth-century Atlantic World; the practice of smuggling and how early Americans understood the practice; And details about the role smuggling played in the origins and progress of the American Revolution and its War for Independence.

What You’ll Discover

The Atlantic World in the eighteenth century
Trade and mercantilism
How European empires tried to restrict colonial trade
Smuggling and trade
Dutch presence in the eighteenth-century Atlantic World
The eighteenth-century Dutch transit trade
Familial trade networks of the Atlantic
English and British Navigation Acts
The Anglo-Dutch rivalry
The “problem” of smuggling in the eighteenth century
Sint Eustatius’ development into a major Atlantic port and transshipment hub
The “Golden Rock”
Sint Eustatius’ role in the American Revolution
The “First Salute” to the United States
British reactions to Dutch assistance of the American revolutionaries
British Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney
British conquest of Sint Eustatius
Ramifications of British actions in Statia for the Franco-American force at Yorktown