Formed in 1789 on the advice of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, the United States Revenue Cutter Service was the first naval service to be formed by Congressional mandate and is one of the two original organizations, along with the United States Life Saving Service, to form the present day United States Coast Guard. In the early days of the Republic, following the Revolutionary War, smuggling was a burgeoning occupation along the eastern seaboard. In an effort to curtail this activity and enforce trade tariffs, the United States Revenue Cutter Service began with ten cutters to patrol the coastal waters from Georgia to New Hampshire. By enforcing the maritime and customs laws of the United States, cutters from the Service were given the authority to board any merchant vessel within the territorial waters of the United States. Boarding parties compared the cargo to the shipping manifests, the discovery of any unauthorized cargo would allow the Service to seize the ship and take it to the nearest United States port with a customs house for legal proceedings.
The Service also performed military duties as an adjunct to the newly formed United States Navy, where cutters made up one-third of the naval force. Revenue cutters fought as warships in the quasi-war with France from 1798-1800, and against the British in the War of 1812. The Service also played an integral role in the eradication of piracy in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. During the Mexican War, the Service assisted in transporting troops and supplies to Texas, as well as assisting in the blockade of Mexican ports. It was at this time that the Revenue Cutter Service also formally took on life saving duties, a tradition that had always been adhered to since the Service?s inception.
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