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
Links to People, Places, and Publications
- Fabrício Prado
- Edge of Empire: Atlantic Networks and Revolution in Bourbon Río de la Plata
- Christian Koot
- Empire at the Periphery: British Colonists, Anglo-Dutch Trade, and the Development of the British Atlantic, 1621-1713
- A Biography of a Map in Motion: Augustine Herrman's Chesapeake
- Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
- Wim Klooster
- The Dutch Moment: War, Trade, and Settlement in the Seventeenth-Century Atlantic World
- Realm between Empires: The Second Dutch Atlantic, 1680-1815
Sponsor Links
- Omohundro Institute
- OI Reader
- William and Mary Quarterly-Journal of the Early Republic special American Revolution issue $10 Promotion
- The Great Courses Plus (1 Free Month of Unlimited Courses)
Complementary Blog Posts
Complementary Episodes
- Episode 036: Abigail Swingen, Competing Visions of Empire
- Episode 098: Gautham Rao, Birth of the American Tax Man
- Episode 112: The Tea Crisis of 1773
- Episode 121: Wim Klooster, The Dutch Moment in the 17th-Century Atlantic World
- Episode 139: Andrés Resédez, The Other Slavery: Indian Enslavement in the Americas
- Episode 158: The Revolutionaries’ Army
- Episode 159: Serena Zabin, Dangerous Economies
- Episode 160: The Politics of Tea
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