The life of a English navy sailor was not good.
Meat, when available was almost always .
"Ships biscuit" a type of bread that was rock hard, was .
frequently .
covered with maggots. English sailors often ate in dark corners to avoid .
seeing what bugs .
might be on their food. American merchant ships offered 10 times the pay .
and although .
the food was not fancy it "stuck to your ribs". The English Navy responded .
by stopping .
American ships and taking sailors and forcing them into service in the .
English navy. It .
was hard to tell who was English and who was American because many .
Americans were .
"English-Americans" and also many had false papers saying they were .
American born. .
The result was many true American born natives were "impressed" into the .
English Navy. .
The United Sates tried many times to get England to change the English .
policy toward .
neutral shipping and also the policy of impressment. In April, 1806, the .
United States .
Congress passed a new law. This law was called a Non-importation Act which .
band .
English goods from American markets. This law was not really put into .
place until 1807, .
after the "Chesapeake" incident. In June of 1807, the English warship .
"Leopard" stopped .
a smaller American warship the "Chesapeake" and claimed the American ship .
how four .
English deserters. The English captain demanded to board the American ship .
and search .
for them. When the American captain refused , the English ship opened fire .
killing three .
and wounding eighteen others. The American ship had rushed out of port and .
had not .
properly stowed the gunpowder and rope matches(fuses) and could not return .
fire. .
Americans called for stronger penalties and the Embargo act of 1807 was .
passed. Thomas .
Jefferson said, "England has become a den of pirates and France has become .
a den of .
thieves". Now all land or seaborn trade with foreign nations was made .
illegal. This act .
primarily hurt the New England region which had heavily depended on trade .
