The U.S. Customs Service: A Bicentennial History

From its inception on 31July 1789 the Customs Service has been responsible for oversight of all imports into the country. It has always collected tariff revenues and is charged with preventing smuggling; at its inception it oversaw the Coast Guard and America's lighthouses. In the early nineteenth century for a time it was responsible as well for enforcing the 1807 embargo on Britain, and it administered immigration until well after the Civil War. In the twentieth century, Customs has at different times enforced Prohibition laws, been charged with interdiction of the illegal traffic in drugs, and prevented the importation of pornography. At its origin it generated 2 million dollars in annual revenue for the financially pressed new nation, an amount that would reach 18 billion dollars two centuries later.