Customs Unions in the Nineteenth Century

In the nineteenth century economic progress was fostered by the establishment of national common markets and this involved the abolition of many internal customs duties and tolls inherited from an earlier age. The collection of customs duties at the frontier instead of at a number of places inside a country greatly facilitated internal commerce. In the British Isles the political union of England and Scotland was also an economic union of the two countries. The union of the British and Irish parliaments in 1801 was followed by complete economic unification in 1826.