But staying neutral was not easy. The United States was having trouble with Britain.
For many years, Britain had been taking men by force to serve in its navy. Britain claimed the right to seize any British citizen, anywhere. The custom was called impressment.
Conditions in the Royal Navy were not good at that time, and many sailors deserted. Some went to work on American ships. The American ships were stopped and searched in British waters. Anyone born in Britain was seized. Historian Andrew O’Shaughnessy says sometimes American citizens were also taken.
“There was also still something of an imperial attitude in Britain toward America. They were still insisting that some American citizens had been born British. It was often difficult for them to be able to distinguish between their own subjects and Americans.”
Several thousand sailors were taken off American ships during the early 1800s.
In 1807, an incident made relations between Britain and America even more tense. Britain believed that four of its sailors had deserted and fled to an American ship called the Chesapeake. The United States said the men were American citizens who had been forced to serve in the British navy. The United States refused to return them.
When the Chesapeake sailed out of American waters, the British ship Leopard tried to stop and search it. The American captain would not stop. First the British ship fired two warning shots. Then it fired all its guns directly at the Chesapeake. The American ship could do little to defend itself. The captain surrendered.
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2013-11-25
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