Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act

Below is a political cartoon that shows one way images are used to depict how the American public feels about a historical event: Please ask your child to explain how this cartoon shows the American public's reaction to Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act.

Britain frequently impressed American merchants to the British navy, though they were a neutral nation. In 1807, the British ship Leopard fired on the American Chesapeake, killing three. America was roused for war, but Jefferson instead made the Embargo Act. This act ended all international trade. Jefferson figured that the US could more easily do without European luxuries than Britain could do without the crops and general supplies from America. But England found other means of procuring goods, so the act ended up hurting the United States' economy much more than Britain's, especially that of the north which had come to rely on trade. Some American merchants found ways of selling to Britain through loopholes, but the economy was nevertheless crippled.