USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -After the Chesapeake Affair in June 1807, pitting the British warship Leopard against the American frigate Chesapeake, President Thomas Jefferson faced a decision regarding the situation at hand. Ultimately, he chose an economic option to assert American rights: The Embargo Act of 1807.

Detailed explanation-2: -Jefferson had two crucial diplomatic objectives in mind. First, he wanted to persuade the British to stop impressment, the practice of forcing American sailors to serve aboard British naval vessels. Second, he wanted to resolve the issue of neutral trading rights for American merchant ships.

Detailed explanation-3: -The embargo was precipitated primarily by Napoleon Bonaparte’s 1806 Berlin Decree, which announced that neutral ships carrying British-made goods were subject to seizure by France, thus exposing American ships to attacks by privateers.

Detailed explanation-4: -He believed that economic coercion would convince Britain and France to respect America’s neutral rights. The embargo was an unpopular and costly failure. It hurt the American economy far more than the British or French, and resulted in widespread smuggling.