Crime and Punishment / 1700s-1800s
Crime and Punishment: Industrial Smuggling
High import duties made smuggling profitable, and many people were happy to buy cheap goods.
What To Remember
- Smuggling was a social crime because many people disliked import duties and were happy to buy cheaper goods.
- High duties on goods such as tea, spirits, tobacco, and cloth made smuggling profitable for labourers and organised gangs.
- Smuggling fell when duties were reduced, showing that economic causes mattered more than harsh punishment alone.
Why smuggling grew
Import duties made foreign goods expensive, so smuggled goods could undercut legal prices.
In 1748, 103 people were officially wanted as smugglers; over 70 percent were labourers.
For low-paid workers, one night of smuggling could bring six or seven times a normal daily wage.
Why it was hard to stop
Smuggling gangs could include 50 to 100 armed men, making them dangerous for customs officers to confront.
Ordinary people often turned a blind eye because they gained cheaper goods and disliked government taxes.
There were too few customs officers, and coastal communities could hide goods quickly.
Government response
In 1784, the Duke of Richmond was asked to break smuggling gangs; 35 smugglers were hanged and 10 died in prison.
This had limited impact because there were at least about 20000 smugglers.
Smuggling fell more clearly when duties were lowered in the 1780s and again in the 19th century.
Revision Prompt
Was smuggling mainly caused by poverty, greed, weak law enforcement, or government taxation?