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Impressment was a method used in Europe to get sailors by forcing them to join the navy without notice. The men who were impressed were nearly all sailors on merchant ships, and had experience at sea, which made them valuable.

When the United States declared independence, there was little in the way of records that could prove a man was of one country or another. Many of the sailors on US merchant ships were English born, including both some who had moved to the United States and taken up citizenship, and some who had not.

British ships stopped American merchant vessels, and a number of sailors who were on them were identified as British and removed for sea duty. Naturally, there were legitimate US citizens included among those who were taken. And just as naturally, the US government was more than slightly upset that its citizens were being kidnapped by the British government.

The impressment of US sailors was one of the causes of the War of 1812.

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12y ago

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