What Was Impressment?

One of the major American complaints leading up to the War of 1812 was that the British, desperate for sailors to man their ships, were kidnapping American citizens on the high seas and forcing them to serve in the Royal Navy.

While this was certainly happening, it is more complicated than that.

At the time, most countries considered “citizenship” to be determined by the country in which you were you were born, and to be unchangeable. If you were born anywhere in the territories of Great Britain, you were a subject of King George, and as far as King George was concerned, you would always remain his subject — even if you emigrated to the US, lived there for years, became a “naturalized” citizen, and/or were employed on American ships. Seagoing subjects of the King of Great Britain had always been obligated to serve in his Navy whenever needed. And they were especially needed during the long struggle against Revolutionary and later Napoleonic France.

With roughly a thousand ships in commission, the Royal Navy had to resort to extreme measures to find sailors. It became common for British warships at sea to stop foreign vessels and examine their crews, looking for seamen who could be claimed as British subjects. Many British subjects were indeed avoiding military service, and earning higher wages, by working on American vessels. These sailors were the first to be seized. At that time, it was difficult to tell American from British sailors, and anyone with an Irish accent, especially, was likely to be taken. Many naturalized Americans, and even some native-born Americans, were removed from their ships, which enraged their friends and relatives as well as the US government.

Sailors took to carrying citizenship papers, but such papers soon became widely forged, and so the papers eventually were disregarded by British boarding parties.

Complaints and appeals occasionally led to the release of these sailors, but that process took time.

Nobody knows exactly how many men were impressed. Or how many of those were foreigners, how many were naturalized Americans, and how many were native-born Americans. But then as now, there were two major parties in American politics, and the Republicans — who were generally friendly toward France and hostile to Britain — exaggerated the number of impressments. The opposing Federalist Party downplayed them. The debate about how serious a problem impressment was, and what if anything should be done about it, went on for decades.

And we still don’t know what the numbers were.

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A sailboat is floating on top of a body of water.

Five Top Things You'll See on your Salem Cruise

February 3, 2025

1 - You’ll see the sails go up… and the captain turn off the motor! Yes, we really do sail our traditional wooden schooner, and we love the reaction we get when our guests realize that the wind alone is powering our progress through Salem Sound! One of our skippers calls out “Welcome to the 19th century!” as he cuts the motor. As long as the weather is reasonable, guests are welcome to take a turn at the tiller and feel the pressure of the water on the rudder as FAME sails along. The schooner’s eight-foot-long locust tiller is a thing of beauty, handcrafted especially for FAME at the local boatyard where she was launched in 2003. 2 - You’ll see lighthouses — lots of them! We generally can see five or six lighthouses on a typical trip. The Derby Wharf and Hospital Point lighthouses we usually see quite close up, as they are right in Salem Harbor. But after that it depends on where the wind is coming from, because the wind determines our route for each trip. If the wind carries us to Beverly, you get a good look at the Hospital Point lighthouse. If we end up sailing to Marblehead, you’ll see the hundred-year-old steel tower of the Chandler Hovey Light. Either way, off in the distance you’ll see the lighthouse at Baker’s Island, once an important landmark. And if you’re joining us for a sunset cruise, you’ll see all these lights come on as the sun nears the horizon. You may even sight the distant blink of the Eastern Point Light, 12 miles away in Gloucester. See our other blog entries for more on each light! 3 - You’ll see islands — and each island has its own story. Misery Island was named by a stranded, miserable boatbuilder; Children’s Island has had at least two other names and got its current one because it hosts the Marblehead YMCA camp. Winter Island is no longer an island, but archeology has shown that it was the site of indigenous settlements for thousands of years before European settlers arrived here. Misery, Bakers, and Children’s Islands all hosted resorts back in the heyday of the “Gold Coast” when wealthy Bostonians flocked to the shores of Salem Sound each summer. See our other blog entries for more on each island! 4 - You’ll see over a thousand boats, in the marinas and on the moorings of Salem and Marblehead Harbors. Between Salem, Marblehead and Beverly nearly 2000 private yachts are kept here each summer, making the North Shore one of the boating capitals of the East Coast. Most of these boats rest quietly at the dock during the week, but on a sunny summer day you can see dozens and maybe over a hundred vessels “underway, making way.” Marblehead boasts some gorgeous private boats. It is also the site of six yacht clubs and a sailing regatta seemingly every weekend all summer, featuring everything from small dinghies to large cruisers! 5 - You’ll see our competent, experienced, personable crew, who are there to answer your questions, make sure you’re comfortable, and tell you more about lighthouses, islands, forts and beautiful waterfront homes we are passing. They’ll be looking for volunteers to raise the sails and take the tiller. They’ll explain how our vessel works and how our ancestors used wooden sailing ships to explore the known world, trade with distant lands, chase the valuable shoals of codfish and mackerel, and in FAME’s case, hunt down and capture enemy vessels in times of war! Our crew are wonderful sources of historical information and local knowledge — don’t hesitate to ask them questions. They may even explain how the cannon works — and give you a live-firing demonstration!