USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Impressment, or “press gang” as it was more commonly known, was recruitment by force. It was a practice that directly affected the U.S. and was even one of the causes of the War of 1812. The British navy consistently suffered manpower shortages due to the low pay and a lack of qualified seamen.

Detailed explanation-2: -American merchant vessels were a common target. Between 1793 and 1812, the British impressed more than 15, 000 U.S. sailors to supplement their fleet during their Napoleonic Wars with France.

Detailed explanation-3: -Impressment, colloquially “the press” or the “press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice.

Detailed explanation-4: -Shanghaiing or crimping is the practice of kidnapping people to serve as sailors by coercive techniques such as trickery, intimidation, or violence. Those engaged in this form of kidnapping were known as crimps. The related term press gang refers specifically to impressment practices in Great Britain’s Royal Navy.

Detailed explanation-5: -The impressment or forcible seizure of American seamen by the British Royal Navy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries has traditionally been viewed as a primary cause of the War of 1812.