USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -By British law, naval captains had the right to stop ships at sea, search for deserters and other British citizens, and force them to join the crews of warships-a practice called “impressment.” Some British captains seized almost any able-bodied, English-speaking sailors they could find.

Detailed explanation-2: -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-3: -Naval impressment The Crown claimed a permanent right to seize men of seafaring experience for the Royal Navy, and the practice was at various times given parliamentary authority. Impressment was vigorously enforced during the naval wars of the 18th century by Acts passed in 1703, 1705, 1740 and 1779.

Detailed explanation-4: -impressment, also called crimping, enforcement of military or naval service on able-bodied but unwilling men through crude and violent methods. Until the early 19th century this practice flourished in port towns throughout the world.

Detailed explanation-5: -The U.S. Continental Navy also applied a form of impressment during the American War of Independence. The impressment of seamen from American ships caused serious tensions between Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War.