The Embargo Act

Warfare is a very controversial topic and when speaking on any war, one cannot possibly state that one isolated event solely attributed to its start. From the time students are introduced to the War of 1812 in high school, it has mainly been taught that the War of 1812 was caused by the taking hostage of American sailors by the British Navy. While American sailors being taken hostage may have been a major breaking point that ultimately set the tone for the declaration of the War of 1812, there were many other incidents that added fuel to an already burning fire. In this paper the writer will set out to discuss the events that seemingly had a part in the start of the War of 1812 and how the United States was affected after the war ended.

The Embargo Act forbade exports and imports from all countries and it was passed in hopes of hurting both France and Britain but instead the United

States suffered the most from it (Conlin, 216). The Embargo Act reduced exports from $108 million to $22 million (Conlin, 216). The Embargo Act not only made the United States suffer financially but in other aspects as well. Since there was no imports or exports allowed, hundreds of idle ships sat and rotted, tens of thousands seamen and dockworkers were left unemployed and many small businesses who were dependent on seamen’s and stevedores’ wages were forced out of business.

After a failed Embargo Act, Congress replaced it with the Non-Intercourse Act in 1809 and under this act, trade was opened with all nations except Britain and France. The Non-Intercourse act did leave the option for the president to reopen trade with France and/or Britain if they agreed to respect American shipping. It was in May 1810, Congress modified the Non-Intercourse Act with Macon’s Bill No. 2, in which it opened trade with both Britain and France. Macon’s Bill No. 2 specifically stated that if either of the two went against their word the United States would then cut off trade with the other and then become economically supportive of whichever country kept their word (Conlin,

Our nation is what it is today because of many wars and battles before us. We may not be the best nation in all aspects but we are one of the best and I think the War of 1812 set all of that in motion to happen. After the War of 1812 we seemingly came together for the most part as we continued to expand over this great land. The United States still had many issues that needed to be worked out and many obstacles to overcome but without the War of 1812 there is literally no telling what our nation would be today. Some wars have to happen while others could be avoided, this is one that I whole heartedly feel had to happen in order for the United States to prosper as the nation that it is today because without this war we may have still been very dependent on other countries for many years to come. While many other countries and nations are struggling to survive,