Embargo Act summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Embargo Act.

Embargo Act, Legislation by the U.S. Congress in December 1807 that closed U.S. ports to all exports and restricted imports from Britain. The act was Pres. Thomas Jefferson’s response to British and French interference with neutral U.S. merchant ships during the Napoleonic Wars. The embargo had little effect in Europe, but it imposed an unpopular restriction on New England merchants and exporters (see Hartford Convention). Legislation passed in 1809 lifted the embargo, but continued British interference with U.S. shipping led to the War of 1812.

Napoleonic Wars Summary

Napoleonic Wars, series of wars between Napoleonic France and shifting alliances of other European powers that produced a brief French hegemony over most of Europe. Along with the French Revolutionary wars, the Napoleonic Wars constitute a 23-year period of recurrent conflict that concluded only

France Summary

France, country of northwestern Europe. Historically and culturally among the most important nations in the Western world, France has also played a highly significant role in international affairs, with former colonies in every corner of the globe. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the

United Kingdom Summary

United Kingdom, island country located off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe. The United Kingdom comprises the whole of the island of Great Britain—which contains England, Wales, and Scotland—as well as the northern portion of the island of Ireland. The name Britain is sometimes used to

United States Summary

United States, country in North America, a federal republic of 50 states. Besides the 48 conterminous states that occupy the middle latitudes of the continent, the United States includes the state of Alaska, at the northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii, in the