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 To prevent American neutral shipping from helping the French, theBritish instituted extensive marine blockades of European ports. The resultingseizures of American merchant shipping quickly brought demands forretaliation in the United States. From 1794 on, however, tensions eased as theadministrations of George Washington and John Adams worked to avoiddiplomatic difficulties with the British. In the years between 1803 and 1812 relations between the United Statesand Great Britain again deteriorated sharply. France was now ruled byNapoleon, and the European struggle became more widespread. Beginning in1805 the British imposed much stricter marine blockades.These orders severely restricted neutral trade with Europe. The effect ofthese blockades was compounded by the British practice of impressment. TheBritish navy claimed the right to stop neutral vessels on the high seas to lookfor "deserters." In the course of searching American ships, mistakes were oftenmade, and as a result many American seamen were impressed into the Britishnavy. From 1807 to 1811 the Democratic-Republican administrations of ThomasJefferson and James Madison attempted to change British policies by economiccoercion, restricting British imports as well as American exports to Great Britain.The most severe of these measures was the Embargo Act, passed in December1807, which banned all exports and confined American shipping to the coastaltrade. When neither economic coercion nor negotiation changed B...
