Thomas Jefferson And The Embargo Act Of 1807

During the Napoleonic wars in the early 19th century, America faced problematic occurrences against Great Britain and France. In fact, France and Great Britain impressed innocent American sailors on the high seas and seized the vessels of the sailors. In order to grasp the right of sailing on international waters, Thomas Jefferson introduced the Embargo act of 1807. The forever controversial act implemented a restriction on all US domestic ships to participate in commercial transactions alongside foreign nations. Conversely, the controversial bill worked oppositely against Jefferson as the US economy crippled in the first year the restrictive bill passed Congress. Correspondingly the US lost over eighty million dollars in exports as the

Many northerners disregarded the Republican leader’s bill and continued international commerce, forcing Jefferson to expend resources to seize the law defying northern vessels. In 1809 Jefferson repealed the Embargo act shortly before Madison took over the reins of the oval office and implemented the non-intercourse act, eventually eroding under the increasing seizures of American vessels. Americans grew greedy for the acquisition of Canada, a possible virgin ground for agriculture, and vengeful towards the British for the impressment of US sailors and vessels. To add on to the increasing fire of American worry, the Native resistance towards western expansion, supplied by Great Britain, agitated western settlers trying to adapt to the unseen realm of the Louisiana territory. The British infringement upon US sovereignty rebooted American patriotism as a majority of citizens found a common cause to fight for a stable economy, acquirement of Canada, or the Independence and neutrality of the US, leading America to declare a war on an international

Agricultural Mid-Atlantic States, Southern states, and the western frontier voted for a declaration of war unlike New England and maritime and commercial Mid-Atlantic States voted no for a war (Doc.5). All Federalists in Congress opposed to the war not only to deny any authority of Madison, a republican, but mainly because the northern states continued commerce towards Great Britain, relating to the earlier acts of defying the Embargo Act. Most Republicans favored a declaration of war, representing republican states of the south and western regions, as Natives fought against the expansion of western regions and economic collapse of agriculture in Southern regions and suffered tragic impressments of US sailors and seizures of ships. A representative reported the growing conflict between the US and Great Britain stating, “The United States, as a sovereign and independent power, claim the right to use the ocean, which is the common and acknowledged highway of nations…. Great Britain, in defiance of this incontestable right, captures every American vessel bound to, or returning from, a port where her commerce is not favored” (Doc. 1). John Calhoun supported a declaration of war to end the British tarnish on American sovereignty stating, “Which shall we do, abandon or defend our own commercial and maritime rights, and the personal liberties of our citizens employed in exercising