THE VIRGINIA DYNASTY 1801 1825
WAR OF 1812
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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To give aid to others
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To influence or persuade others to do something
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To take someone against their will, or kidnap
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To lead someone to a safe place
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Detailed explanation-1: -Prior to this Britain practiced a cruel but effective way of combating the manpower shortage in their navy: impressment. 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.
Detailed explanation-2: -In 1794, Great Britain was at war with France. To fight this war, the British seized 250 American ships in the West Indies. American sailors were also “impressed, ” or taken and pressed into service in the Royal Navy.
Detailed explanation-3: -Because voluntary enlistments could never satisfy the demand for sailors, the British resorted to the use of press gangs to forcibly place men into service. As many as half of all seamen manning the Royal Navy were impressed. About 10, 000 Americans found themselves impressed into service during the Napoleonic Wars.
Detailed explanation-4: -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.
Detailed explanation-5: -Impressment, the practice of coercing men into the service of a navy by force, had been part of English maritime culture since before the Magna Charta and lasted for more than six centuries for the simple reason that it was cheaper than paying a wage that would have attracted men to the work in the first place.