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War of 1812
possessions in Europe, insuring that the only goods reaching Napoleon would be through British ports. This she hoped would increase her prosperity and power. The Essex hoped would increase her prosperity and power. The Essex decision of 1805 started a more rigid policy that put a stop to what they called the “broken voyage” system. This was where American ships sailed by way of American ports to evade the British prohibition of trade between France and French colonies.
In 1807 Napoleon began to vigorously enforce his Continental System which he hoped would deny Britain access to the European market upon which her economic life depended. He had no navy with which to accomplish this but he hoped to do it with his very difficult army. He ordered the confiscation of all British goods and excluded every ship that had stopped at a British port. Britain saw that if Napoleon accomplished his goal she might lose the war. The Orders-in-Council were her desperate reply. She extended her blockade to include every port from which France ,excluded her ships. She declared that she would treat as an enemy any vessel that tried to enter a French port without first stopping at a British port to pay a fee and get a license. The position of the neutral countries became impossible.
At first Britain and France were equally waging war toward the United States. But if you take a closer look I think they were not! Britain's control of the seas gave her much more power of enforcement. Even more important was the legal difference. She made her seizures at sea which was a violation of neutral rights under United States' interpretation of international law. Britain justified this as being necessary to defeat Napoleon. Napoleon, on the other hand, made his seizures primarily in French ports within the undoubted jurisdiction of his government. The Americans had not forgotten the dependence of colonial days. Now Britain was insisting they should have no trade of their own and that she should control all their foreign commerce. This was another issue that caused Americans to feel their independence was at stake.
On June 22, 1807, a vessel of the United States Navy named the Chesapeake set sail from Norfolk. When she was eighteen. The British boarded and removed four members of the Chesapeake crew who they claimed to be British deserters. Protests from all parts of the country denounced the incident as an outrageous violation of American sovereignty. Americans not only supported but demanded war. At the meetings where the Americans filed their complaint the British could have seized the opportunity to disclaim the action of its responsible naval officer. If she had done so with regret and sincerity and offered honest reparations this incident's effect on later American actions would have been much different. The responsible British naval officer had committed an act of hostility without the previous authority of his government. [next page]