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Prelude
1807

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In 1807, England and France-two of the most powerful countries in the world-were at war with each other. Each country wanted to isolate the other one. So England said it would seize any ship that traded with France. So France said it would seize any ship that traded with England.

America traded with both France and England-what could it do to keep from getting caught in the middle?

President Thomas Jefferson's answer was the Embargo Act, which Congress passed on this day. It prevented American ships from trading with any foreign country. The idea was to keep the United States out of the crossfire...but the act started a conflict of its own.

Merchants all over America lost money because of the embargo. They yelled, they protested and finally, they broke the law-finding ways to smuggle goods out of the country.

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Quote
Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky.

- Oliver Wendell Holmes in "Old Ironsides"

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