After the Chesapeake and Leopard Affair, King George III Sends a New Ambassador to the United States to Take an Aggressive Posture

“…No causes of doubt or difference any longer existing, the relations of peace and amity between us and our said good friends, should be strengthened and confirmed…”

 

This was only the 5th UK ambassador to the new United States; we have never seen such a high level authorization before

The French Revolution led to a series of conflicts in Europe, in which the French were pitted against the great dynastic powers of Europe. When war first flared up in 1793, these powers, led by Great Britain, but also including Prussia, Austria and others, were trying to reverse the outcome of the revolution and restore the French monarchy. However, French victories and the rise of Napoleon changed the complexion of the situation, and a series of wars resulted, with shifting coalitions, lulls and flare-ups, and the nations of Europe devoting their entire life’s blood to achieve success. These conflicts lasted until 1815, when with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, the 22 years of strife ended. Europe would not see another continent-wide war for a century.

The United States, as a major maritime nation trading with all the combatants, was inevitably drawn into the conflict. President Washington issued a Declaration of Neutrality, and Americans tried to sustain this stance. But the desperation of the combatants made this impossible, and the administration of every American president from Washington through Madison was consumed in dealing with this series of crises. There were for two reasons for the intensity of the problems they faced. One was that in this life-and-death struggle, each side wanted to prevent the United States from trading with the other, from providing its enemy with munitions, foodstuffs, and other necessities. France, plagued by massive crop failures and desperately in need of grain and other supplies, commissioned numerous French privateers who both legally and illegally captured cargo from merchant vessels of every flag engaged in foreign trade with Britain. Approximately 300 American ships were captured by the French Navy and privateers under letters of marque issued by the government of France. This almost led to war between the former allies during the Adams administration. The British engaged in the same practice. American trade was profoundly affected by all this.

The second reason was at least as significant: the Royal Navy claimed the right to stop American ships on the high seas, remove seamen alleged to be British subjects, and impress them into service. During the peacetime that preceded the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy had about 10,000 men; by the War of 1812, the number had risen to 140,000. Plus, 40,000 more had deserted, some to find work on better-paying American merchant ships. In the late 1790’s, the British began to use U.S. ships as a steady supply source. Their naval commanders stopped American vessels, whether in British waters or on the high seas, and searched their decks. Their rationale was that, since in time of war their law permitted the Navy to stop a neutral ship, search her for contraband of war, and if found condemn ship and cargo in a prize court, that same principle would permit them to search a vessel for British deserters and impress them into service again. Although this policy of impressment was supposed to reclaim only British subjects, the Royal Navy was hardly careful who in practice they picked up, and moreover the law of Britain defined nationality by birth whereas the United States allowed individuals who had been resident in America for some time to adopt American citizenship. There were, therefore, large numbers of individuals who were British by British law but American by American law. The confusion was compounded by the refusal of Presidents Jefferson and Madison to issue any official citizenship documents: their position was that all persons serving on American ships were to be regarded as US citizens and that no further evidence was required. Between 1806 and 1812 about 6,000 seamen were impressed and taken against their will into the Royal Navy, outraging the American leadership and people, who felt it was an attack on their sovereignty, so dearly bought by the sacrifices of the Revolution just a quarter century before.

This dispute came to the forefront with the Chesapeake Affair, which Americans saw as an insult, and worse, a violation of US neutrality. On June 22, 1807, the British warship HMS Leopard fired on and boarded the American warship USS Chesapeake, which was taken by surprise and could not put up much of a fight. The British killed three and carried off four men they claimed were deserters from the Royal Navy. In fact, only one was a British citizen; the other three were Americans wrongly taken. The Chesapeake–Leopard Affair created an uproar among Americans, and there were strident calls for war with Great Britain (the first such calls since the Treaty of Paris in 1783 ended the previous war).

At the time of the incident, the UK ambassador was David Erskine. In 1809, Erskine and President James Madison negotiated a compromise on Anglo-American disputes over shipping in the Atlantic, which might have averted the War of 1812. However, the deal was rejected by King George III and the British Government recalled Erskine.

In his place, George III sent a new Ambassador whose job it was to distance the UK from this arrangement, which might have averted escalation.

Document signed, George III, countersigned by George Canning, Windsor Castle, July 7, 1809, appointing “our well beloved Francis James Jackson, Esquire, our Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to our good friends the United States of America.” The full authorization is present, 3.5 pages, allowing Jackson to confer with his counterparts in the United States on any negotiations or treaties, stating “that no causes of doubt or difference any longer existing, the relations of peace and amity between us and our said good friends, should be strengthened and confirmed…”

A remarkable moment in the leadup to the War of 1812, signed by the previous war’s King and future Prime Minister Canning. Jackson died in 1811 in the US and was not successful. War would come the next year.