Smugglers

Question 1

John W. Tyler

Answer 1

examines the role of illicit trade in fostering the American Revolution: created economic dependence; made smuggling a necessity to sustain local economies; this in turn fostered a culture of resistance as a catalyst to revolution; patriots and profiteers were those advocating for independence & merchants seeking economic gain, intertwined nature of economic interests & ideological motivations in move to independence.

Question 2

E.P. thompson

Answer 2

recognises rebellion not as anarchy, but assertion of alternate governance.

Question 3

what are tyler’s two main reasons granted to the smuggler of Massachusetts

Answer 3

increased profits

those who sought to run ashore European manufacturers that had not been imported through great britain

Question 4

tyler’s main source

Answer 4

Ezekial Price Insurance Records

listed in detail owners of each venture, captain, destination & premium levied on each voyage

highlighted how Boston merchants were more honest to Price than officers of the royal customs house.

Question 5

why smuggle? (Tyler)

Answer 5

• Profit – means of avoiding monopolies (English East India Company est. 1600)
• Avoid prohibitions: the export of food stuffs during famine
• Bans in war times
• 1540s Spanish in America, Potosí, mine in Bolivia find silver, by 1600 inflation over 100%

Question 6

abuse of license system (Tyler)

Answer 6

• Ban exports to prevent price increases
• King issues licenses to allow merchants to trade, sold and subdivided
• More licenses, more smuggling.

Question 7

Customs that incentivised smuggling according to tyler

Answer 7

• Queen Mary, after the loss of Calais in 1558, wine duties were increased 1700%
• Edward I’s conquer of Wales, 1275 national custom on the export of wool.
• ‘Specific Duties’ i.e. 3s per tun of wine.
• Ad Valorem tax – 5% tax on declared goods.

Question 8

Who does Tyler note as examples of how smuggling was accepted by society

Answer 8

• Tyndall Brothers, Nicholas Thorne, John Smith
• Many of those involved held high political offices (Robert Pole, Mayor of Gloucestershire).

Question 9

‘trading with the enemy, 1584-1604’

Answer 9

Pauline Croft

Question 10

Pauline Croft main argument

Answer 10

challenges the traditional narrative of a strict Anglo-Spanish economic embargo during this time of political and religious conflict. Reveals navigation of wartime restrictions for economic gain, undermining official policies on both sides. Reflects broader themes of economic interdependence and the limits of state control over commerce during conflicts.

Question 11

what does croft write about evidence of the prevalence of illicit trade?

Answer 11

Despite the war, English merchants maintained significant trade with Spain, using ports such as Bayona and Cadiz, collaborating with local officials to circumvent embargoes.

English merchants sold goods openly in Bayona under the protection of local Spanish authorities.

Adaptability of merchants included tactics like reflagging ships as neutral (Scottish or Irish) or using foreign factors to mask English origins.

Question 12

What does Croft write about economic dependence?

Answer 12

-Croft emphasises the mutual dependence of English or Spanish economies, highlighting how Spanish silver financed English exports of grain, lead, and cloth

-Spain relied on English foodstuffs and munitions for its war efforts.

Question 13

what examples does croft give for English-spanish collaboration?

Answer 13

• Spanish local officials often turned a blind eye to English traders for economic gain, with one local justice allegedly providing 24-hour warning of any impending arrests.
  o “The local justice assured an English cape-merchant that if the king ordered arrests, he would have 24-hour warning”
• Some regions, like Galicia, displayed leniency, as seen in the example of Thomas James, an English merchant, who operated under Spanish patronage.
• “Four merchants in Malaga received Englishmen and their goods into their houses in 1585”

Question 14

what does croft’s article underline?

Answer 14

that profit often overrose wartime loyalties

English guns, prohibited for export, were smuggled into Spanish territories and even to Spain’s adversaries, including the Ottoman Empire.

Question 15

Croft talks about how merchants cheated the mercantile system - how did they do this?

Answer 15

use of neutral or foreign covers

merchants frequently employed scottish, irish, or flemish aliases to facilitate trade

ships liek “Dog of London” were disguised as Scottish vessels to access Iberian markets

Question 16

what does croft say about regional variations of trade, what does this tell us more broadly?

Answer 16

-While regions like Andalusia and Galicia were accommodating, major ports like Lisbon and Seville posed greater risks due to tighter royal control.

-The trade patterns reflected regional economic needs and resistance to central government policies.

Question 17

What does croft say about the impact of religious and political factors?

Answer 17

-Croft explored the tension between Protestant rhetoric and economic pragmatism

-While protestant leaders viewed Spain as the antichrist’s agent, economic realities led many merchants to disregard ideological divides.

Question 18

‘inside the illicit economy’

Answer 18

Evan T Jones

Question 19

What does Evan Jones examine in his work?

Answer 19

examines the nature and extent of smuggling in sixteenth-century Bristol, focusing on the interplay between official customs records and private commercial accounts. Uses merchants’ accounts, customs data, and related documents – demonstrates the interconnectedness of legal trade, fraud, and state regulation, reflecting the complexities of early modern commerce.

Question 20

what methodologies does Evans deploy to detect fraud?

Answer 20

• Three approaches
  o Analysing official customs documents
  o Comparing them with private records
  o Closely examining the merchants’ internal accounts
• Examples include comparing ship lading records with customs declarations

o Discrepancies in the quantity of wine imported on the Primrose of Bristol suggest potential fraud but are complicated by expected losses due to “ullage” (leakage).

o “The amount of wine declared in Bristol was almost 15 tuns lower than that landed in Bordeaux”

Question 21

what does evans focus on key goods highlight?

Answer 21

• Smuggling efforts largely concentrated on high-value commodities: grain, leather, wine.
• Wine & iron imports showed minimal discrepancies, significant fraud was evident in the export of grain and leather.
• John Smyth’s accounts show substantial undeclared exports of grain and leather, with customs declarations covering only a fraction of the cargo.

Question 22

evan compares and contrasts legal documentation with personal, which personal documentation does he most frequently turn to?

Answer 22

John Smyth’s ledger

Question 23

What were the economic motivations to smuggle according to Evans?

Answer 23

• High costs of export licenses and customs duties, especially for prohibited goods like leather and grain, incentivised smuggling
• Smyth paid bribed to customs officials to circumvent these fees, reducing costs by as much as 20:1.
• Profits on illicit grain and leather exports were substantially higher than those on legally traded goods, with net margins reaching up to 150% for grain and 84% for leather, compared to modest returns on cloth.
• “Net profits on grain exports were generally between 50 and 150 per cent, while profits on leather could reach as high as 84%”

Question 24

evans highlights institutional involvement and systemic fraud, who does he use as example?

Answer 24

Nicholas Thorne, he participated and facilitated smuggling, highlighting the systemic nature of the illicit trade

Payments to officials like Tristram Lewkenor, deputy searcher, reveal how bribes were normalised to enable smuggling.

Question 25

What are the wider implications of Evans’ work?

Answer 25

Smyth’s records implicate at least 31 merchants and 5 customs officials in smuggling activities, suggesting the scale and normalisation of illicit trade within the Bristol merchant community.

The findings underline economic pressures and regulatory failures that shaped trading practices, offering insights into broader patterns of economic and social history during the period.

Question 26

who talks about elizabethan port books

Answer 26

N.J. Williams

Question 27

what does williams argue

Answer 27

that Elizabethan port books, while essential for understanding trade in the period, are flawed historical sources due to widespread fraud, corruption, and incomplete records. Williams explores the role of Francis Shaxton, a prominent merchant in King’s Lynn, as a case study for these issues.

Question 28

what limitations of port books does williams highlight?

Answer 28

“The details of trade given in [port books] must always be read in the light of other available evidence”

Research shows that recorded shipments often underrepresented actual trade volumes.

For example, Shaxton admitted to “entering his ships in the customs house ‘but for half the corne they had in them’”

Question 29

why did people smuggle in the tudor period?

Answer 29

avoid high tax, demand for forbidden goods, economic hardship, inefficient enforcement, religious/politics, corruption/complicity

Question 30

who profited from tudor smuggling?

Answer 30

merchants & traders, nobles&officials, religious groups

Question 31

What is the key debate in historiography around smuggling?

Answer 31

law vs morality

Question 32

which historians are part of the smuggler debate?

Answer 32

E.P. Thompson - concept of “moral economy”

J.A. Sharpe - broader spectrum of social crime

Steve Hindle - frames smuggling as local resistance to central authority

Question 33

‘dangerous merchandise’

Answer 33

paul monod

Question 34

what does monod argue?

Answer 34

asserts that smuggling evolved from a loosely structured, small-scale activity into a large, organised enterprise, driven in part by its association with Jacobitism and changing commercial and social dynamics in 18th century England.

Monod highlights that smuggling was not merely an economic or criminal activity but deeply intertwined with political loyalties, social hierarchies, and commercialisation of rural society. Jacobitism provided a framework that both legitimised and organised smuggling, contributing to its transformation into a highly structured and economically significant enterprise.

Question 35

‘smuggler nation’

Answer 35

peter andreas

Question 36

andreas main argument

Answer 36

argued smuggling was not only pivotal in the economic development of colonial America, but also played a critical role in shaping its identity and eventual push for independence

Question 37

‘the rise of protectionism in England 1686-1786’

Answer 37

ralph Davis

Question 38

what does Davis argue

Answer 38

argues that the transformation of England’s tariff structure during this period was characterised by increased customs duties and the gradual emergence of protectionist policies, which evolved incidentally alongside fiscal reforms. argues this was a practical response to fiscal needs.