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1812

In June of 1812 the United States declared war on Britain. This
declaration was the result of almost thirty years of stormy relations between the two nations. It both took the British by surprise and worried many Americans who saw it as a foolish endeavor. The United States, maintained a cautious neutrality through successive administrations since 1789. The potential risks in changing this policy and settling the existing grievances against Britain by force were many.
The United States objected to many British maritime practices. The British carried out most of these practices in the 1790's during the first period of the war between Britain and France. However, they enforced them much more often after the renewed hostilities in 1803. The British shipping interests and their supporters also felt the
American merchant marine was profiting immensely from the
European wars. This growth of American shipping was a threat to British commercial supremacy, to British naval power, and to the safety of the country. Restrictions on American commerce would do harm to France. At the same time it would help the British maritime interests compete with the United States' shippers. Another of the maritime issues was that of impressment. It was the most volatile issue between the two countries. This was because it dealt with sovereignty. Impressment involved the right to search for deserters. It also involved the right of any British officer to make an on-the-spot decision concerning a man's nationality. The British position was that they had the right of sovereignty to chase fugitive nationals anywhere up to a line where another nation's sovereignty barred that pursuit. Britain claimed no right to search American vessels in territorial waters of the United States. Nor did the United States deny that Britain had the right to search American vessels in British territorial waters. It was a question of jurisdiction on the high seas, over which neither could claim...