The colonies in North America and throughout the West Indies were embroiled in a series of wars that lasted nearly a century. By the advent of the Seven Years' War, the colonists had been on the receiving end of British, French, and Spanish interference in their everyday life. The blame does not rest solely with Britain; France and Spain were just as guilty of restricting free trade throughout the colonies in order to preserve the integrity of their laws and regulations thousands of miles away in Europe. Life in the New World consisted of earning a living and building strong relationships with other colonials. I believe this fact was difficult for mainland Britain, France, and Spain to comprehend because state politics were of no concern to colonists who were going hungry. Learning to live alongside one another in harmony allowed the colonials to prosper; it made little difference if you were a British colonial or a Spanish colonial, as long as you provided a service of value, then you were accepted. The fact that the European powers thought otherwise proved highly problematic for them but a solution soon emerged.

Free trade was hindered by a newly revised edition of the Navigation Acts enforced by the British and other regulations adopted by Spain to restrict trade throughout the West Indies and the southern colonies. But, as S. D. Smith observes in his review of James Pritchard's work In Search of Empire, "the issue for Atlantic history, however, is not whether one model fits all cases but, rather, the extent to which events in one region affected other regions. By emphatically rejecting Imperial authority's importance and replacing it was purely local human interactions, In Search of Empire questions the extent to which Atlantic communities were related to one another at all." Furthermore, "in contrast to those who view sea power as a stimulus to growth of New World territories, Pritchard sees colonial wars as having been a hindrance, providing further support for his contentions that French colonial policy remained subordinate to the region's continental considerations."

Alan Karras, a professor of International Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, offers an excellent case study illustrating the scope of smuggling and its legitimacy as an accepted form of business in the West Indies and East and West Florida. Smuggling was necessary to the survival of many colonists who were on the periphery of civilization. It helped feed and clothe families who, otherwise, would perish from starvation or sickness. Many were dependent upon convoys from Europe to supply their needs because trade was forbidden with British America under the Navigation Acts, depriving many British, Spanish, and French colonists of the basic essentials to live. These convoys, however, were infrequent and largely brought goods of inferior quality. This only served to increase smuggling of goods. This fact of life did not go unnoticed by imperial officials, who often turned a blind eye to illegal commercial activities. They would only enforce regulations during times of war; in times of peace, they would allow activities to return to the status quo. It is interesting to note that Karras detects a surge of patriotism among privateers who confiscated enemy-held cargos as "legal prizes of war." Most imperial officials, such as the Governor of the Bahamas, did little to enforce the Navigation Acts contrary to his Attorney General did his best to notify the appropriate authorities that illegal activity was rampant. Andrew Symmer, Agent for the Turks Islands, was even used as a scapegoat by the newly arrived Governor Shirley "who determined to consolidate his own position by favoring his London superiors over local residents." Governor Shirley's actions unwittingly led to a reappraisal of custom and law in the West Indies. Trade continued as it always had in spite of the frequent wars fought by Europe's leading powers. It developed in response to the times and allowed for colonists to enjoy a good quality of life.

Some historians believe that the economy in British North America during the 18th century owed little to smuggling and more to the increase of British manufactures and trade. Allan Gallay disagrees with John McCusker and Russell Menard's thesis in their book The Economy of British America, 1607-1789, noting "there is no doubt that Americans benefited from British mercantilism, particularly by protection of shipping and the bounty system, but widescale smuggling, the frequent calls for paper money, and creative ways in which Americans avoided the Navigation Acts illustrate the great energy and effort Americans expended on escaping British regulation." In Gallay's opinion, "the most widespread form of colonial disobedience of British laws can be found in the favorite American pastime of smuggling . . . although it is difficult to quantify, it may be more hazardous to exclude estimates of smuggling and to ignore it completely." In his review article, Gallay touches upon John McNeil's pioneering work Atlantic Empires of France and Spain, which devotes ample attention to smuggling throughout the colonies and looks closely at the "large illicit trade between Jamaica and Cuba ...."