Trade Embargoes Further Reading Trade Embargoes: An British/Canadian Perspective Napoleonic Wars: A British/Canadian Perspective

An American Perspective In the early 19th century, Britain and France were engaged in a life-or-death struggle. France controlled most of the European landmass and Britain controlled the seas. When it became obvious that neither side was likely to win a decisive military contest, the warring nations turned to commercial warfare. Enterprising neutral trading vessels, especially American ones, took over the lucrative trade previously controlled by British and French ships. As the Napoleonic Wars continued, these neutral vessels became entangled in a web of British and French trade embargoes. In November of 1807, Britain issued a trade regulation called an Order in Council, which compelled all neutral ships to either call at British ports or be subject to a search by British authorities. A month later, Napoleon decreed that neutral ships that sailed to British ports, paid British duties, or allowed themselves to be searched by the British, would be considered as denationalized and could be seized by France. American vessels were caught between a rock and a hard place. If an American ship was sailing to a European port under French control, it could be seized by a British ship if it had not called at a British port. If it had made such a stop, it was then liable to be seized by Napoleon's officials. From 1807 to 1812, more than nine hundred American ships were seized by either Britain or France. Although both the British and French embargoes disrupted U.S. trade, most of the blame fell on the British Orders in Council, since America was still smarting from the Revolutionary War it had fought against Britain a few decades earlier. In June of 1807, the American public was incensed by the Chesapeake affair in which a British Royal Navy ship bombarded an American vessel and then impressed several American seamen. This incident also helped to place blame. President Thomas Jefferson could have garnered public support for the war at this time, but he preferred to resolve the problem with a reciprocal trade blockade. Jefferson's Embargo Act closed American ports to foreign trade and prevented U.S. ships from leaving their own ports. This decree was extremely unpopular because it hurt America much more than Britain or France. It was soon replaced by the Non-Intercourse Act which forbade American trade with France, Britain, or their colonial allies until either country was willing to revoke their embargoes. The British finally repealed the hated Orders in Council on June 16, 1812. News of this move however, arrived in the U.S. much too late. The American Senate approved a motion declaring war on Britain on June 18, 1812.