Leave+US+Be!

toc = Questions =

The question that my group chose was: How did the United States citizens feel about neutrality,impressment, and the "solutions"? We chose this question to drive our research because we thought that it was interesting that the United States still clung to the idea of isolationism through all of the hardships and impressments between themselves and other countries. We also thought that it would be interesting to learn about how the impressment and "solutions," such as the Embargo Act of 1807, affected the citizens of the United States. We considered other questions like why France was not following the treaty of alliance, and if the tribute being paid to the Barbary States created hostility between the United States and other countries. Along the way, we started to wonder how the British and French citizens felt about the impressment and the Embargo Act. Were the French and British citizens actually fine with what their armies and navies were doing to the United States? Along the way most of our questions were answered, however, we found that some of the questions were easier to answer than others. We found that some of our questions actually lead us to more questions, which only bettered our interpretation.


 * Gathering and Evidence **

We started to gather the evidence by first typing in keywords such as Embargo Act 1807, Thomas Jefferson, impressment, etc. When we Google-searched some words and phrases, we clicked on websites that seemed to be reliable, as well as credible. We collected lots and lots of information, barely skimming it to begin, just enough to get a general idea of what sort of facts we were getting. We pasted all of the information in a Google document. Once all or most of the information was collected and pasted into the Google-document, we started to use the historical process of corroborating, close reading, sourcing, and contextualizing. The struggle that we had with finding information was finding primary sources. We found an abundance of secondary sources, but not enough primary documents. Eventually we found speeches, quotes, and letters, the only problem was that they mostly only showed Jefferson's perspectives, and the American perspective. The documents that we used were a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Elijah Brown, secondary d ocuments about impressment, the Non-Importation Acts, the Monroe-Pinkney Treaty, the Chesapeake Affair, the Embargo Act of 1807, the repeal of the Embargo/Non-Intercourse Acts, background, the __History Alive__ textbook, and speeches/quotes about impressment and the Embargo Act. Once these documents were collected, we did a little bit more searching, and found Admiral Berkeley's orders to search the //Chesapeake//, as well as the messages exchanged between the //Chesapeake// and the //Leopard//. Towards the very end of our research, we found a couple of secondary documents that had a little bit of background, and a snippet of how the British citizens felt about the impressing. The letter between Thomas Jefferson and Elijah Brown was written by Thomas Jefferson to Elijah Brown, a concerned citizen of the town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Thomas Jefferson explained that he knew of the concern that so many people were facing about the decisions being made (Embargo Act), and said that,"On no question can a perfect unanimity be hoped, or it certainly would have been on that would have been war on one side..." Jefferson explained the alternatives that the United States faced, which in no way shape or form, would have made everyone happy. Jefferson clearly stated his opinions, and discussed the Embargo Act, and its importance to diverting the United States from war. Jefferson gave his respects, and then closed the letter with his name. The secondary documents about impressment, the Non-Importation Acts, the Monroe-Pinkney Treaty, the Chesapeake Affair, the Embargo Act of 1807, and the repeal of the Embargo/Non-Intercourse Acts, were all from the same website. The documents gave a lot of information, almost completely written with an individual citizens' viewpoint, or an American point of view. Intermixed with the facts, there were speeches, and quotes from some of the key figures during the late 1700's- early 1800's impressment/neutrality. Some of the people that were quoted in these documents were Thomas Jefferson, James Page, James Monroe, the //Alexandria Gazette//, etc. The secondary document about background was from Wikipedia, and explained how the United States citizens felt about the Embargo Act, and briefly about the relationships between Great Britain, France, and the United States. During the Chesapeake Affair, a proclamation was read by the British to the American ship. The proclamation was part of the document named "Admiral Berkeley's Orders to Search the //Chesapeake//." We also looked at the primary documents of the messages that were exchanged between the //Chesapeake// and the //Leopard (//look at link at bottom of page to read the original messages). One of the final secondary documents that we found was about the XYZ Affair between the United States and France, and how it lead to a broken alliance. The last document that we looked at was a simple, but factual summary of the impressing of the American ships. The __History Alive__ textbook also gave us some information about the topic. The textbook was the original source that lead us to our research questions, and our whole entire project. We considered the sources, by looking at the dates that the documents were written compared to when the Embargo Act was in tact, etc. We looked at who the authors were, and what perspective that they would have had towards what was happening. For example, Thomas Jefferson saw the Embargo Act as a way to escape war, and to protect the American sailors and traders. He saw the Embargo Act as a leader defending what was happening to his country. American merchants/ traders saw the Embargo Act as a bad thing, that only took away their rights to make money, and to get new products. We spent time contextualizing and corroborating, looking at the information that was given, and comparing the information, dates, thoughts, opinions, etc. to those on other documents. The step that we spent the most time on was close reading. We highlighted information, and wrote comments on the sidebars. Some of the information that we looked at during this stage, generated questions about what the British and French citizens felt about what their countries were doing to the United States, so we put them into one general question, that became one of our main research questions. Mostly, every single one of our main research questions were answered, although not entirely to the depth that they needed to be. Some of the little questions that we asked on in the margins of the documents were not supported by any information that we found. Once we had gathered all of the information, read it over and over again, and done all parts of the historical process, we made an interpretation, and found pictures that matched what we were talking about.

=Interpretation=

Overall, our interpretation was that the Embargo Act was just one of many failures in trying to find a solution to the impressment, and to stay away from war. Impressment and isolationism were two major problems for four presidents: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. During John Adams presidency, the people in the French navy were the key people in the seizing of American ships trading with Britain. By the time Jefferson took over as president the impressing was mainly being done by Great Britain. With America still being in its founding stage, and still learning how to be a country without any monarchy, they did not have a strong military or navy, and they had many torn beliefs on how the country and government should have beeen run. It was a difficult task to try to impress even the majority of the citizens, so the leaders decided to do what they thought was necessary, even if it sacrificed their appearance towards the public eye. Another debate between the American citizens was whether or not the United States should follow Washington’s policy of isolationism, or if they should fight back against the other countries that were doing harm to the United States, and trying to control things. When France, Britain, and pirates were seizing American ships, it was bad enough, but when they started asking for a tribute for the ransoms, it was just plain unfair, and overboard. Throughout the terms of the four presidents in which isolationism and impressment were major problems, there were many “solutions” that were tried, and worked for a while, or that completely failed. When Adams was president he created peace missions to France, and with the help of Napoleon, the alliance between France and the United States ended. The alliance was causing more problems than benefits. In 1800, a Convention was held, and it went into a formal alliance, the only one that the United States would have for the next century and a half. Napoleon forced the impressing to stop and he demanded that all of the captured Americans be set free. For a brief time, all conflicts between the United States and France had come to end, there was peace. Unfortunately for the United States, that peace and tranquility did not last long, for when Jefferson became president, the conflicts and impressing started to become a problem with Great Britain. Jefferson was very set on not going to war, and he valued the thought and hope of staying isolated from the rest of the world and the conflicts through Washington’s policy of isolationism. Jefferson thought that he would be able to come up with many diverse solutions that would help to keep the United States neutral, but it proved a lot more difficult than he thought. While Jefferson was in office, the Non-Importation Acts were passed, the Monroe-Pinkney treaty was written, the Chesapeake Affair intensified the already difficult problems, the Non-Intercourse Acts were passed, and the Embargo Act was passed. On April 18, 1806, the Non-Importation Acts were passed. The Non-Importation Acts stated that Great Britain would have a list of things that they would not be able to import to th e United States. Jefferson thought that the Non-Importation Acts, written by Joseph A. Nicholson, a Maryland congressman, were a good solution, and Jefferson said the the House of Representatives were never “‘more solidly united in what they believed to be the best for the public good.'" The negotiations between the United States and Britain caused the enactment of these act to be postponed from November 15, 1806.  After a delay in plans, Jefferson sent James Monroe and William Pinkney to negotiate with Britain, and after several months, a treaty was made. The treaty “defined neutral and belligerent rights in time of war and established terms of trade between the United States and the British Empire." Jefferson and his advisers decided that the treaty could not be ratified by Congress until there were clauses in the treaty about the impressment of the United States seamen. Years later in 1812, the //Alexandria Gazette// said “...the rejection of that treaty, the responsibility of which act Mr. Jefferson has boldly taken to himself, has been the fruitful source of all the evils, which we have suffered from embargoes and non-importation acts, and may soon suffer from war.”Impressment was a major problem, but until the Chesapeake Affair, the tension between the United States and Great Britain had not quite been at its capacity. Sailors from the British navy were joining the ranks of the U.S.S //Chesapeake//. By February of 1807, an American ship gained three men from the H.M.S //Melampus//. The British told the Americans that they demanded the men back, but their request was denied, leading to an investigation lead by James Madison (Secretary of Navy), who said that the three men were American citizens. The men were John Strahan and William Ware from Maryland, and Daniel Martin from Massachusetts, and had been impressed so that they were not considered deserters. George Cornfield, the British Vice Admiral, told all captains and commanders of British ships, that were placed along the American coast, that they could and would search for British soldiers that had deserted, and that were on the U.S.S //Chesapeake//. In the preparation of the //Chesapeake// going to the Mediterranean, the //Chesapeake// and the H.M.S //Leopard// crossed each others’ paths on June 22, 1807. When the British messenger came aboard the Chesapeake to read the proclamation, " By the hon. George Cranfield Berkeley, Vice Admiral of the White, and commander in chief of his majesty's ships and vessels, employed in the river St. Lawrence, along the coast of Nova Scotia, the Island of St. Johns and Cape Breton, the Bay of Funday (sic), and at and about the Island of Bermuda, or Somers Island. Whereas many seamen, subjects of his Britannick Majesty, and in his majesty's ship and vessels, as per margin,* while at anchor in the Chesapeake, deserted and entered on board the US frigate Chesapeake, and openly paraded in the streets of Norfolk, in sight of their officers, under the American flag, protected by the magistrates of the town, and the recruiting officer belonging to the above mentioned American frigate, which magistrates and naval officer refused giving them up, although demanded by his Britannick Majesty's consul, as well as the captains of the ships from which the said men deserted. The Captains and commanders of his majesty's ships and vessels under my command, are therefore, hereby required and directed, in case of meeting with the American frigate Chesapeake, at sea, and without the limits of the U. States, to shew to the captain of her, this order, and to require to search his ship for the deserters from the above mentioned ships, and to proceed and search for the same; and if a similar demand shall be made by the American, he is to be permitted to search for any deserters from their service, according to the custom and usage of civilized nations, on terms of amity with each other. Given under my hand, at Halifax, Nova-Scotia, the 1st day of June, 1807. G. C. Berkeley To the respective captains and commanders of his majesty's ships and vessels on the North American Station.” ___ * HMS Bellisle

HMS Bellona

HMS Triumph

HMS Chichester

HMS Halifax

HMS Zenobia

Captain James Barron refused to let them search his ship, despite the proclamation, saying that there were no deserters on board, and that he had his orders not to let anyone muster anyone from his crew. The captain’s response made the British extremely angry, causing the //Leopard// to open fire on the //Chesapeake//, and twenty minutes later, the //Chesapeake// had surrendered to the British. Three men were taken off of the //Chesapeake//, as well as a proven deserter named John Wilson (Jenkin Radford). The fight between the two ships killed three seamen, seriously injured eight people, and gave over ten people non-life-threatening injuries. The British fired upon the American flag, ruined American life and property, and above all, the American sovereignty was completely and utterly violated. Jefferson said, “‘These aggravations necessarily lead to the policy either of never admitting an armed vessel into our harbors, or of maintaining in every harbor such an armed force as may constrain obedience to the laws, and protect the lives and property of our citizens, against their armed guests.’” The Chesapeake Affair news spread across the United States, and as the news spread, so did the anti-British sentiment. It was said by Jefferson that, “‘This country has never been in such a state of excitement since the Battle of Lexington." Jefferson knew that something needed to be done, so the Virginia militia was told to capture the //Leopard//. After the ship was captured, the British sailors were returned to Britain. President Jefferson wanted the British government to apologize to the United States, and he wanted the military to prepare for another conflict. Jefferson also wanted the ships that were not in American waters, to be able to return to American water. Furthermore, President Jefferson and his cabinet members discussed the issue, although they did not talk to Congress for various reasons. Furthermore, Jefferson and his cabinet did not want to tell Congress about their discussions because they did not want Congress to interpret their thoughts as a lead into war. After the Chesapeake Affair, John Page, a friend of Thomas Jefferson’s, wrote Jefferson saying that “...an immediate embargo is necessary in order to retrieve our lost honor & to bring the mad King to his senses.’” Jefferson and his cabinet got together to talk on December 15, 1807 about the state of the country, and what the next steps were. The people in Europe told the United States that they would not agree to any settlement, and if there just happened to be one, a royal proclamation promised that the United States would be seeing more impressments. Napoleon also had a full fledged plan of carrying out the Berlin Decree, which was creat ed in a response to the British blockade on France to United States shipping. By December of 1807, the debates over whether or not an embargo should be put into effect were at an all-time high. James Sullivan, the Massachusetts governor, and Albert Gallatin, the secretary of the treasury, were two of the main people that were against the whole idea of an embargo. Sullivan was the governor of a major state in the trade route, and an embargo would deeply affect his constituents. Gallatin’s problem however, was that he would have trouble enforcing the embargo, and instead, he wanted to make changes to the Non-Importation Acts. Gallatin told President Jefferson that, “‘In every point of view, privation, suffering, revenue, effect on the enemy, politics at home, I prefer war to a permanent embargo.’” Gallatin’s arguments did not prove to be as powerful as they needed to be in order for Jefferson to listen, for Jefferson gave a speech to Congress, and on December 22, 1807, the Embargo Act was passed. After the E mbargo Act was passed, the Non-Importation Acts immediately became obsolete. Three changes were made to Embargo Act, called the supplementary, the additional, and the enforcement acts. The three acts included the requirements of “bonds from vessels in the coast wise trade, and also from those in fishing and whaling,” and “tightened the system by requiring bonds for foreign vessels engaged in the coastal trade; and, what was more significant, it forbade the exportation of goods of any sort by land as well as by sea.” One of the major problems that the Embargo Act had was that it caused a very high increase in smuggling trade. Port authorities had the right to capture any vessels that were suspicious, and the Army and Navy could help with the enforcement. The framers of the Embargo Act realized that the British had not been affected by the Embargo Act as much as they had wanted. The British still got some goods through smuggled trade, and either adapted to the altered prices, and/or increased their trading with South American countries. In fact, some French people actually liked the Embargo Act because it was in support of Napoleon’s Continental System. To the United States citizens, the Embargo Act was annoying and unjust, proving that that government had too much power. The citizens called the Embargo “O Grab Me," ”Go Bar Em,” and “Mobridge,” and "Dambargo." Even though it seemed as though the British were completely okay with the whole impressing American ships, a lot of the British citizens found that impressment was "an inhumane and unconstitutional system. The Embargo Act lead to a dramatic increase in the Federalist electoral college in 1808. The Embargo Act was not the solution that the United States needed to end the impressment of its sailors. On February 29, 1808, James Madison told the United States Congress that, “‘From the returns in the office it would appear that four thousand twenty-eight American seamen had been impressed into British service since the commencement of the war, and nine hundred thirty-six of this number had been discharged, leaving in that service three thousand two hundred and ninety-two.’” George Washington Cabell of Tennessee, head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote an overview of the relationship of the United States, France, and Great Britain, and he gave policies that could be possible solutions. The three solutions that he found were: one, “partial repeal with submission,” two, “to impose the non-importation acts on France,” and three, “to begin military preparations.” Jefferson left the decision up to Congress and, after a long debate, they decided that there needed to be a “substitution of a non-intercourse act.” Three days before President Jefferson left the office, on March 1, 1809, the Non-Intercourse Acts were passed. The acts stated that all of the French and British ships would be banned from American waters, and that Britain and France were the only two countries with whom the Embargo Act did not apply. Perhaps the only good thing that came from the Embargo Act, was that it helped the United States stay away from war with Great Britain for a time being. Eventually Great Britain and the United States went to war with one another, know known as the War of 1812. The presidents and the United States government tried their hardest to end the impressment of American ships without entering war, and though all of their solutions did not work out, they used a vast amount of teamwork to try to. As the impressing got worse and worse, the presidents found that it was harder to find ways to stay neutral, and to find ways that would be followed by the relentless British navy. The United States seamen had to endure a lot of impressing, but at least they knew that the country's leaders were trying their very best to stop the French and the British. The Americans had a strict view of being completely and utterly innocent, doing no wrong, but they did their share of impressing the British. In 1812, American super frigates took over British opponents that were not as big, and that did not have as much power as the American ships. American privateers also played a big role in the "heavy toll of British merchant ships." The Americans shocked the British, and perhaps themselves, doing what had been aggravating them for years and years. Back and forth the American and British took turns doing things to each other, but eventually after years of endless harassment, there was finally peace and tranquility.

In general, the interpretation had a mix of surprising and not-so-surprising information. We already knew that the early United States had trouble with Britain, and that it struggled to stay an independent nation. We were a little surprised to learn that the British citizens were appalled at what their navies were doing. We were also surprised to learn that Napoleon was so set on helping the United States, but behind their backs, gave secret orders,etc. to his men. Overall, we learned a lot about the topic that we were researching, and came to several important conclusions that will help us later on when we study other topics/events in U.S. History.

The following link provides the primary documents of the messages that were exchanged between the //Chesapeake// and the //Leopard//, as well as Humphrey and Barron.

[|Messages Exchanged Between Humphrey and Barron on the Chesapeake and the Leopard]
The following links are the links to get to the websites that we found all of our documents on.

===[|Letter to Elijah Brown from Thomas Jefferson]===

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