Chesapeake-Leopard Affair
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HMS Leopard (right) fires upon the USS Chesapeake |
In the
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair (also referred to as the
Chesapeake Affair), which occurred on
June 22,
1807, the
British warship HMS Leopard attacked and boarded the
American frigate USS Chesapeake under the command of Commodore
James Barron off the coast of
Norfolk,
Virginia, killing or wounding 21 men and capturing four alleged British
deserters. One was hanged and three imprisoned in
Halifax,
Nova Scotia.
The American public was outraged with the incident, as President
Thomas Jefferson noted: "Never since the
battle of Lexington have I seen this country in such a state of exasperation." The President closed U.S. territorial waters to British warships, demanded payment for damages, and requested an end to British efforts to search United States ships for "deserters," acts which were commonly considered an excuse to
impress American sailors into British service (of the four sailors taken off the Chesapeake, three were U.S.-born who had "deserted" after having been
impressed into the British Royal Navy).
This event served to escalate tensions between the two countries and can be seen as one of the events leading up to the
War of 1812. Indeed, many demanded war following the incident, but President Thomas Jefferson instead used diplomacy and economic pressure in the form of the
Embargo Act of 1807.
*
Little Belt Affair*
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