Whether to Fight France or England

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Whether to Fight France or England

That the United States was in a time of disrupted trade, economic distress and

shaky foreign alliances, demonstrates that war with either France or England

was inevitable, however, the United States was able to detain the war from

happening for about twelve years.

Relations between the United States and Great Britain had been strained

after the United States won its independence in 1783, but the greatest

problems developed during the war between England and France that broke

out in 1793. To prevent American neutral shipping from helping the French, the

British instituted extensive marine blockades of European ports. The resulting

seizures of American merchant shipping quickly brought demands for

retaliation in the United States. From 1794 on, however, tensions eased as the

administrations of George Washington and John Adams worked to avoid

diplomatic difficulties with the British.

In the years between 1803 and 1812 relations between the United States

and Great Britain again deteriorated sharply. France was now ruled by

Napoleon, and the European struggle became more widespread. Beginning in

1805 the British imposed much stricter marine blockades.

These orders severely restricted neutral trade with Europe. The effect of

these blockades was compounded by the British practice of impressment. The

British navy claimed the right to stop neutral vessels on the high seas to look

for "deserters." In the course of searching American ships, mistakes were often

made, and as a result many American seamen were impressed into the British

navy.

From 1807 to 1811 the Democratic-Republican administrations of Thomas

Jefferson and James Madison attempted to change British policies by economic

coercion, restricting British imports as well as American exports to Great Britain.

The most severe of these measures was the Embargo Act, passed in December

1807, which banned all exports and confined American shipping to the coastal

trade. When neither economic coercion nor negotiation changed British

policies, war sentiment built in the United States.

Adding to this time of tension between Great Britain and the United

States were the “War Hawks”. In 1810 young Democratic-Republican "War

Hawks" from the West and the South argued that the right to export American

products without losing ships and men had to be defended. They also objected

to the British inciting the Indians along the Great Lakes frontier and argued that

the British would be forced to change their policies if the United States attacked

Canada. Some believed that the future of republican government was in danger

if the United States could not successfully defend its rights. Others hoped that if

Canada was conquered it could be retained after the war.

The War Hawks protested the incursions being made by Great Britain on

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