Embargo of 1807

During the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson, trouble was brewing in Europe that could pull the United States into a military conflict it could ill afford to participate in. War broke out between Britain and France as Napoleon attempted to conquer Europe. This conflict would dominate American politics for the next decade to safeguard American interests. Both political parties, the Federalists and the Republicans, would propose different policies and actions. One of those actions was the Embargo of 1807 by Republican President Thomas Jefferson. What was the Embargo of 1807? What prompted the Embargo of 1807? And what were the result and lasting impact of the Embargo of 1807?

Embargo Act: Summary

The Napoleonic Wars that ravaged Europe between 1802 to 1815 disrupted American commerce. As Napoleon conquered countries, he cut off their trade with Britain and seized neutral merchant ships that had stopped there. The British responded with a naval blockade that seized American ships carrying sugar and molasses from the French colonies in the Caribbean. The British also searched American merchant ships for British deserters and used these raids to replenish crews, a practice known as impressment. Between 1802 and 1811, British naval officers impressed nearly 8,000 sailors, including many American citizens.

Embargo Act of 1807: Thomas Jefferson

Had the United States been better prepared for war, the growing public concern may have caused a declaration of war. Instead, President Thomas Jefferson responded by increasing funds to improve the military and putting economic pressure on Britain through an embargo.

Fig. 1 - Thomas Jefferson

One of the triggering events that led to the Embargo of 1807 was the impressment attack on the American warship, the USS Chesapeake. While out at sea, British forces from HMS Leopard boarded the Chesapeake. The Chesapeake carried deserters from the Royal Navy - one Englishman and three Americans. Upon their capture, the Englishman was hanged in Nova Scotia, and the three Americans were sentenced to lashings. This event, though not the only impressment against Americans, outraged the American public. Many called upon President Thomas Jefferson to act. Wary of being pulled into a war with England, Jefferson ordered all British ships to leave American-controlled waters and began to organize legislation for the Embargo of 1807.

Embargo of 1807- Facts:

Listed below are some critical facts about the Embargo Act of 1807, its causes, and its effects.

• Passed by President Thomas Jefferson on December 22, 1807.

• Banned exports from the U.S. to all foreign nations and drastically reduced imports from Britain.

• Causes: British and French interference with American merchant trade. British impressment of sailors and French privateering of American vessels.

• Effects: A collapse of the American economy with little impact on the economies or actions of France and Britain.

Embargo Act: Effects

Few American policies have been as unsuccessful as Jefferson’s embargo. The lucrative American merchant trade collapsed; exports fell 80 percent from 1807 to 1808. New England felt the brunt of this depression. Ships wallowed in harbors, and unemployment soared. In the winter of 1808 and 1809, talk of secession spread through New England port cities.

Fig. 2: Satirical Political Cartoon About the Embargo of 1807

Great Britain, in contrast, was only mildly affected by the embargo. Those English citizens who were hurt the most- those in the Caribbean and factory workers, had little to no voice in Parliament and thus little voice in policy. English merchants gained since they took over the Atlantic shipping routes from the stalled American merchant ships.

Moreover, because the British blockade of Europe had already ended most of the trade with France, the embargo had little effect on the French. It gave France an excuse to privateer against American ships that had managed to escape the embargo by avoiding American ports.

Embargo of 1807: Significance

The lasting significance of the Embargo of 1807 is its economic impact and role in drawing the United States into war with Great Britain in 1812. Though passed by Jefferson, the Embargo Act of 1807 was inherited by his successor, Republican James Madison. Jefferson had removed the embargo in his last days in office but passed a similar policy, the Non-intercourse Act of 1809, to protect American interests; Madison upheld this policy through 1811.

Fig. 3 - A portrait of James Madison

One of the significant impacts of the Embargo of 1807 was that it showed the weakness of the American economy to other countries. Jefferson and then Madison both overestimated the power and influence of American trade on Europe and underestimated the effect of the importation of foreign goods on the American economy. Once the American economy collapsed, America’s diplomatic power in dealing with Britain and France was severely weakened.

In addition, Madison was dealing with pressure from Congress from Republican Senators and Congressmen from western states dealing with an uprising of indigenous peoples, especially the Shawnee. Weapons had bolstered these tribes from British trade in Canada, and the Shawnee renewed their Confederacy in the Ohio River Valley, forcing the United States to take action.