Terri Karsten
asked
Sara Whitford:
I'm very interested in the smuggling aspect of your book, since smuggling was a big issue throughout the colonial period. Do you have any research sources you can recommend?
Sara Whitford
I have done a lot of studying about not only smuggling in the colonial era, but what prompted otherwise law-abiding men to do it. It happened in all sorts of ways and by men you might otherwise not expect.
One thing that I had not known about until I started studying that decade between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution was the informal policy known as "Salutary Neglect." That basically meant that throughout the early 1700s, England looked the other way at most American colonial trade violations. They didn't force the colonies to play by the rules because they knew the fledgling economy would grow much more quickly if it were unhampered by oppressive trade regulations.
By the end of the Seven Years' War, however, King George and Parliament decided it was time for Americans to start doing their part to refill Great Britain's coffers so the period of Salutary Neglect came to an end—especially, with the the passage of the Sugar Act in 1764. A conversation about this very thing takes place in The Smuggler's Gambit between Adam and Boaz.
As to sources for researching smuggling, I would recommend these to start:
Americans with Attitudes: Smuggling in Colonial America (A research article)
Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America (Goodreads listing for book by Peter Andreas)
Colonial Records - The Colonial Records of North Carolina has various entries about smuggling and smugglers, at least relating to how various legislators were responding to the issue, as well as particularly interesting items such as this one about the pirate Blackbeard and his dealings with Governor Charles Eden. I would imagine virtually any of the states that were the original 13 colonies would have similar information in their records.
One has to think outside the box when it comes to smuggling. While many might have a knee-jerk reaction to the concept as one only performed by rogues and reprobates, the truth is smuggling is rampant even to this day. Here in North Carolina, for instance, many kinds of fireworks are illegal to possess without a license. Does that stop North Carolinians from buying said fireworks? Goodness, no! I know of people who make it a point to travel to the South Carolina border every year before Independence Day to stock up on what they would call patriotic contraband. And what about folks from California who will purchase items from out of state because California manufacturing and environmental regulations would otherwise ban them? And then there are those in other countries who smuggle in Bibles or other books or movies that are otherwise banned?
One thing that I had not known about until I started studying that decade between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution was the informal policy known as "Salutary Neglect." That basically meant that throughout the early 1700s, England looked the other way at most American colonial trade violations. They didn't force the colonies to play by the rules because they knew the fledgling economy would grow much more quickly if it were unhampered by oppressive trade regulations.
By the end of the Seven Years' War, however, King George and Parliament decided it was time for Americans to start doing their part to refill Great Britain's coffers so the period of Salutary Neglect came to an end—especially, with the the passage of the Sugar Act in 1764. A conversation about this very thing takes place in The Smuggler's Gambit between Adam and Boaz.
As to sources for researching smuggling, I would recommend these to start:
Americans with Attitudes: Smuggling in Colonial America (A research article)
Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America (Goodreads listing for book by Peter Andreas)
Colonial Records - The Colonial Records of North Carolina has various entries about smuggling and smugglers, at least relating to how various legislators were responding to the issue, as well as particularly interesting items such as this one about the pirate Blackbeard and his dealings with Governor Charles Eden. I would imagine virtually any of the states that were the original 13 colonies would have similar information in their records.
One has to think outside the box when it comes to smuggling. While many might have a knee-jerk reaction to the concept as one only performed by rogues and reprobates, the truth is smuggling is rampant even to this day. Here in North Carolina, for instance, many kinds of fireworks are illegal to possess without a license. Does that stop North Carolinians from buying said fireworks? Goodness, no! I know of people who make it a point to travel to the South Carolina border every year before Independence Day to stock up on what they would call patriotic contraband. And what about folks from California who will purchase items from out of state because California manufacturing and environmental regulations would otherwise ban them? And then there are those in other countries who smuggle in Bibles or other books or movies that are otherwise banned?
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