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Article: Impressment of Seamen
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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IMPRESSMENT OF SEAMEN
IMPRESSMENT OF SEAMEN
was one of the chief causes of bad relations between Great Britain and the United States during the early years of the Republic. Recruits for the Royal Navy were forcibly mustered in the eighteenth century by the press gang. While neutral vessels appear to have been so victimized prior to 1790, the problem became acute between that date and 1815. Under cover of the belligerent right of search, British boarding parties removed from the decks of foreign neutrals any seamen "deemed" British. The practice was steadfastly regarded in England as indispensable to sea power in the war with France. Although American seamen were the occasional victims ...