All along the American seaboard in the early 18th century, colonists were in the business of shipping. In major ports and smaller towns on the coast, small ships were built and sailed in coastwise inter-colonial trade. The growth of West Indian colonies in the Caribbean created demand for North American provisions and supplies to support the plantation economies of the islands. Much of it, however, was illegal under the imperial trade policies of Britain, France, and Spain. The sophisticated navigation and ship-handling skills of the coastwise American mariners, operating on shallow waters in smaller vessels, positioned them as ideal smugglers in this trade.

Historian Carl Herzog of the USS Constitution Museum traces how in the 60 years leading up to the American Revolution, British North American colonial merchants and mariners increasingly flouted the imperial mercantilist policies of their own nation as well as those of the colonies they traded with. During their journeys, they developed professional shipboard relationships, business acumen, and patterns of stealth and subterfuge that sailed them along into the tides of revolution.

May We Suggest

If the above program interests you, join us for The New United in the Age of Sail online program on Wednesday, December 16 with historian Carl Herzog.

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