Chapter 22

The history of impressment has yet to be written, but J. R. Hutchinson's "The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore" (1913) has shown clearly that the baleful effects of the British practice were not felt solely by American shipmasters. Admiral A. T. Mahan devoted a large part of his first volume on "Sea Power in its relations to the War of 1812," 2 vols. (1905), to the antecedents of the war. W. E. Lingelbach has made a notable contribution to our understanding of the Essex case in his article on "England and Neutral Trade" printed in "The Military Historian and Economist," vol. II (1917). Of the contemporary pamphlets, two are particularly illuminating:

James Stephen, "War in Disguise; or, the Frauds of the Neutral Flags" (1805), presenting the English grievances, and "An Examination of the British Doctrine, which Subjects to Capture a Neutral Trade, not open in Time of Peace," prepared by the Department of State under Madison's direction in 1805. Captain Basil Hall's "Voyages and Travels" (1895) gives a vivid picture of life aboard a British frigate in American waters. A graphic account of the Leopard-Chesapeake affair is given by Henry Adams in Chapter I of his fourth volume.

CHAPTERS VIII AND IX

Besides the histories of Mahan and Adams, the reader will do well to consult several biographies for information about peaceable coercion in theory and practice. Among these may be mentioned Randall's "Life of Thomas Jefferson," Adams's "Life of Albert Gallatin" and "John Randolph" in the "American Statesmen Series," W. E. Dodd's "Life of Nathaniel Macon" (1903), D. R. Anderson's "William Branch Giles" (1914), and J. B. McMaster's "Life and Times of Stephen Girard," 2 vols. (1917). For want of an adequate biography of Monroe, recourse must be taken to the "Writings of James Monroe," 7 vols. (1898-1903), edited by S. M. Hamilton. J. B. Moore's "Digest of International Law", 8 vols. (1906), contains a mass of material bearing on the rights of neutrals and the problems of neutral trade. The French decrees and the British orders-in-council were submitted to Congress with a message by President Jefferson on the 23d of December, 1808, and may be found in "American State Papers, Foreign Relations," vol. III.