4 1 Again we have taken up arms against the British When our Congress declared war on June 18 1812 I was ready to join the fight For years the British navy had been chasing down American ships and impressing seamen into their service But the British went too far in the summer of 1807 That June sailors on the British Leopard fired on our Chesapeake and boarded her They Thomas Williams American Soldier
5 believed the ship carried deserters from the British navy The Leopard took four men and left the Chesapeake damaged We were furious when we heard the news The British were acting as if we were still their colonies We could not sit by and let them abuse us so I followed the news closely to see how our government and President Thomas Jefferson would react But the answers were not simple Our nation Impressment of Americans by the British was one cause of the War of 1812
was navigating the trade restrictions of France and Britain who were fighting against each other In 1806 France tried to destroy British trade through American trade was hurt by British and French blockades 6
blockades Britain then attempted to block French ports Britain wanted any ship trading with France to come to Britain first and pay a fee France responded by declaring that ships following British rules would be attacked as though they were British How could our ships trade with Europe with such complicated restrictions We were stuck between these two warring nations with no easy solution After the Chesapeake incident our Congress responded with Jefferson’s Embargo Act American ships could no longer export goods under the terms of the act I believe Jefferson hoped to show Britain and France that they needed our trade Taking away trade with America would punish the French and British for their blockades and restrictions But these new enactments hurt us more than anyone for our nation became utterly cut off East coast tradesmen suffered greatly from the decline in business Many joined the cry for Free Trade and Sailors Rights 7
