Description:

Madison James

1805 Secretary of State Madison's report on impressed American seamen

 

Loosely bound printed pamphlet entitled "Letter from the Secretary of State, Accompanying Statements and Abstracts Relative 'to the number of American seamen who have been impressed or detained on board of the ships of war of any foreign nation…". Printed by William Duane and Son in Washington, DC and dated January 23, 1805. In very good condition, with overall toning and expected wear including curling and chipped edges and corners. The 37pp pamphlet measures 7.75" x 13.25". It also includes approximately 15 oversized foldouts that each measure 22" x 18.25" unfurled.

 

Impressment, or the forced enlistment of sailors into naval service, was one of the main causes of the War of 1812. The British Navy, desperate to fill its ranks of killed, maimed, or deserted sailors, regularly stopped vessels on the high seas and “shanghaied” passerby on mainland docks to fill their ranks. If the person in question could not present citizenship papers, they could be forced to join the British Navy.

 

The U.S. House of Representatives had requested statistical information about impressed American mariners on December 31, 1804; Secretary of State James Madison (1751-1836) delivered this report one month later, on January 23, 1805. Madison had compiled information about 1538 Americans claiming to be impressed by the British Navy over a 10-month period, between January 20, 1803 and October, 14, 1804. 

 

The pamphlet is an incredibly rich resource. From the raw data, for example, we can see that the British were opportunistic about impressing Americans both on land and on sea, in places as varied as Scandinavia, the British Isles, and the Caribbean, and as close to home as off of Sandy Hook!

 

The summary at pamphlet's end indicates that of the 1232 original cases of impressed Americans, about 1/3 were to be released and 1/4 were to remain detained due to a lack of documentation. Interestingly, there are also a few reported cases where claimants were not really American citizens, or had already started collecting English bounties aboard their new vessels!

 

The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair in 1807 and the continued impressment of American sailors caused considerable diplomatic tension between the United States and Great Britain. Former Secretary of State James Madison served as 4th U.S. President during the War of 1812.

 

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