Smuggling During The Revolutionary Era

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America is the land of the free and Americans have upheld this concept since the revolutionary period. The Colonial law that was brought and enforced by British settlers governed the American colonies and states. The colonies acquisition of goods was restricted by Britain. The British government decided what products could be sold in America, by who and when. Americans got fed up with the regime, they started smuggling prohibited goods that the people wanted. Smuggling became the way to do trade. Routinely participated in trade with non-English pirates. As a result. “ by the revolutionary era of the mid-1700s, the colonies were home to a number of clandestine economies, thanks to smuggling rings and black markets, which had be- come a way of life in America” Roth, 2011, p. 61). Smuggling during that era was considered a crime and was punishable by law. The british government issued warrants to search the offenders homes and bring them to justice. However, those searches were viewed as “were viewed as unwarranted infringements on individual privacy and freedom by the colonists who took seriously the adage” (Roth, 2011, p. 80). The people who did not comply to the rule were marginalized and even imprisoned. In today’s world, smuggling, especially of drugs is still an ongoing act from the past. Law enforcement agencies try to fight it but can never stop it. I always wonder how a country such as America that has developed weapons and intelligence cannot stop …show more content…
It increases the demand for extra law enforcement to fight smuggling and crimes related to it such as theft, murder, incarceration and supervision costs, imprisonment costs and so forth. It also drives up the healthcare cost as the demand for treatment increases. Another way it affects society is by increasing unemployment, premature death of society members. Political relations between countries also become tense due to the war on