The Smugglers Of Gooseneck Cove

Why Smuggling?

Under British colonial rule, smuggling in the American colonies flourished. Prior to 1763, the British followed a policy known as “salutary neglect.” The distance between Great Britain and their American colonies was so great that they knew that laws regulating colonial trade could not be easily enforced. It cost four times as much to use the British navy to collect the duties as the value of the duties. Another reason is that the citizens in the colonies were only offered expensive British products. Some citizens turned to smuggling French goods that were much cheaper and readily accessible to the public. Smuggling was profitable, a necessity, and continued throughout the Revolutionary War.

The Gaspee Affair That Helped Ignite the Revolutionary War

The HMS Gaspee was a British customs schooner taxed with patrolling Narragansett Bay to intercept smuggling in Rhode Island, or as the British called it, “Rogue Island.” On the 9th of June 1772, it was chasing a small pocket ship, the “Hannah,” off of Warwick, RI, who it believed was carrying smuggled French rum and molasses. The Gaspee ran aground in shallow water. Its captain waited for the rising tide, but the following morning, it was boarded by merchants John Brown, Abraham Whipple, and others who burned it to the waterline. The British established a special commission to investigate the perpetrators, but no arrests were ever made. Rising resentment from the colonists continued to escalate, culminating in the Boston Tea Party the following year.

Isidore Samuels and the Smugglers of Gooseneck Cove

Smuggling plays a crucial role for the Patriots in the novel The Rebel Isidore Samuels. While at his sister’s wedding, Isidore receives an encoded letter warning that British regulars are on the march to catch American Patriots and smugglers at Gooseneck Cove. Faced with the dilemma of leaving the wedding of the sister he so adores, Isidore rides out to warn his friend and mentor, Dr. Meriwether, and other members of the Sons of Liberty that they are riding into an ambush. The Patriots are in desperate need of arms and munitions, and the scheduled delivery is tonight at Gooseneck Cove. The French, who want nothing more than to seek revenge on the British for the loss of their North American colonies, are willing to provide guns and powder to the Americans. However, despite Isidore’s riding quickly to warn his friends, he arrives with only moments to spare. The British break up the delivery of contraband and force Isidore, Dr. Meriwether, and the other Sons of Liberty to flee for their lives. But the smuggling must go on, and Isidore and Dr. Meriwether forge a new scheme and suspect a traitor is in their midst.