1812 Dbq

One of the leading causes which made the United States went to war with Great Britain in 1812 was the trade restrictions that England had placed on America. At that time, Britain was at war with France, and they depended on a maritime economic blockade to defeat France. However, America was a neutral side, so American merchants tried to get commercial interests by trading with the French. England wanted to block this trading, so they issued twelve “Orders in Council” to impeded American trade with France during 1783-1812. The new laws caused a lot of difficulties for American merchants because it required many of special licenses. They also made the American economy was into a depression. The United States opposed that these restrictions were illegal under international law. The Anglo-American relations became heavy strain.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the British could not find enough man volunteers to expansion their Royal Navy. Therefore, they started to take American sailors, who used to be British but later became U.S citizens, and forcing them into military service. There was about over 9000 American sailors caught from their ships or in port to serve in the Royal Navy between 1808 and 1811. The American was embarrassed when they could not protect their sailors. Their anger was extremely increased when British ships appeared in U.S territorial waters to search impressed men. The American believed that the British did not respect American sovereignty. It helped to cause the