What Is Impressment In The War Of 1812
Impressment and the War of 1812
HIST 101 - American History to 1877
Professor Melinda M. Zupon
Derrick Gillespie
7/17/2016
Although there were a variety of causes for American involvement in the War of 1812, the most influential cause was the Royal Navy’s impressment of American seamen. Impressment had long been a forced service tool for the British military and was used extensively. This act was in direct conflict with the ideologies of the American people. The United States strongly dismissed impressment as an international right, a right that the British had claimed since medieval times. America viewed impressment as an assault on human rights and national sovereignty as well as an act outside due process of law. All of …show more content…
Impressment was used extensively during the Elizabethan era as a method of recruitment and was viewed as a maritime right of the Crown. This vital method of replenishing the maritime force was very important during England’s prolonged war with the French. As the need for sailors grew with the expansion of the English fleet and the more common method of impressing sailors during boarding and seizures at sea could not keep up, England used “press gangs” that would go town to town forcing people into the ranks of the naval fleet. In what can be defined no less than kidnapping, these gangs would get their targets drunk or drug them often resulting in the victim waking up aboard ship now owned by the ship’s captain. These gangs were also empowered to stop anyone on the street for service. If they did not have their exemption paperwork that allowed them not be taken, they were often whisked away no questions asked. (Museum …show more content…
England continued to press with impunity and America’s peaceful efforts did not deter them. Such a blatant assault on freedom could only be addressed in a way that England understood, decisively leading to the decision to enter The War of 1812. Bibliography
Deeben, John P. National Archives. Vers. Vol. 44, No. 2. 2012. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2012/summer/1812-impressment.html (accessed 07 16, 2016).
Henretta, James A., Rebecca Edwards, and Robert O. Self. America: A Concise History, Volume One: To 1877, 5th Addition. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012.
Museum, The Mariners. Prelude to the War of 1812. 2000. https://www.marinersmuseum.org/sites/micro/usnavy/08/08a.htm (accessed 07 16, 2016).
Records, National Archives. Records About Impressed Seamen, 1793-1814. n.d. http://www.archives.gov/research/military/war-of-1812/1812-discharge-certificates/impressed-seamen-1793-to-1814.html (accessed 07 16,
HIST 101 - American History to 1877
Professor Melinda M. Zupon
Derrick Gillespie
7/17/2016
Although there were a variety of causes for American involvement in the War of 1812, the most influential cause was the Royal Navy’s impressment of American seamen. Impressment had long been a forced service tool for the British military and was used extensively. This act was in direct conflict with the ideologies of the American people. The United States strongly dismissed impressment as an international right, a right that the British had claimed since medieval times. America viewed impressment as an assault on human rights and national sovereignty as well as an act outside due process of law. All of …show more content…
Impressment was used extensively during the Elizabethan era as a method of recruitment and was viewed as a maritime right of the Crown. This vital method of replenishing the maritime force was very important during England’s prolonged war with the French. As the need for sailors grew with the expansion of the English fleet and the more common method of impressing sailors during boarding and seizures at sea could not keep up, England used “press gangs” that would go town to town forcing people into the ranks of the naval fleet. In what can be defined no less than kidnapping, these gangs would get their targets drunk or drug them often resulting in the victim waking up aboard ship now owned by the ship’s captain. These gangs were also empowered to stop anyone on the street for service. If they did not have their exemption paperwork that allowed them not be taken, they were often whisked away no questions asked. (Museum …show more content…
England continued to press with impunity and America’s peaceful efforts did not deter them. Such a blatant assault on freedom could only be addressed in a way that England understood, decisively leading to the decision to enter The War of 1812. Bibliography
Deeben, John P. National Archives. Vers. Vol. 44, No. 2. 2012. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2012/summer/1812-impressment.html (accessed 07 16, 2016).
Henretta, James A., Rebecca Edwards, and Robert O. Self. America: A Concise History, Volume One: To 1877, 5th Addition. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012.
Museum, The Mariners. Prelude to the War of 1812. 2000. https://www.marinersmuseum.org/sites/micro/usnavy/08/08a.htm (accessed 07 16, 2016).
Records, National Archives. Records About Impressed Seamen, 1793-1814. n.d. http://www.archives.gov/research/military/war-of-1812/1812-discharge-certificates/impressed-seamen-1793-to-1814.html (accessed 07 16,