slavery was the british practice of boarding american ships.
slavery was the british practice of boarding american ships.
what is the british practice of boarding american ships?
slavery
starting in the mid-1790s the royal navy, short of manpower, began boarding american merchant ships in order to seize american and british sailors from american vessels. although this policy of impressment was supposed to reclaim only british subjects, the law of britain and most countries defined nationality by birth whereas the united states allowed individuals who had been resident in america for some time to adopt american citizenship. there were, therefore, large numbers of individuals who were british by british law but american by american law. the confusion was compounded by the refusal of jefferson and madison to issue any official citizenship documents: their position was that all persons serving on american ships were to be regarded as us citizens and that no further evidence was required. this stance was motivated by the advice of albert gallatin, who had calculated that half of american deep-sea merchant seamen - 9,000 men - were british subjects. allowing the royal navy to reclaim these men would destroy both the us economy and the vital customs revenue of the government. any sort of accommodation would jeopardize these men, and so concords such as the proposed monroe-pinkney treaty (1806) between the u.s. and britain were rejected by jefferson.
origins of the war of 1812
due to the large size of their navy, the british did not rely as much on privateering. the majority of the 1,407 captured american merchant ships were taken by the royal navy. the war was the last time the british allowed privateering, since the practice was coming to be seen as politically inexpedient and of diminishing value in maintaining its naval supremacy. however privateering remained popular in british colonies. it was the last hurrah for privateers in bermuda who vigorously returned to the practice after experience in previous wars. the nimble bermuda sloops captured 298 american ships. privateer schooners based in british north america, especially from nova scotia took 250 american ships and proved especially effective in crippling american coastal trade and capturing american ships closer to shore than the royal navy cruisers.
war of 1812