Impressment, trade, and expansion pull the United States toward war

Sailor rights, impressment, neutral trade, and territorial ambition were competing causes rather than one settled explanation for the war. A practical problem was proving that an English-speaking sailor had become American when Britain did not readily recognize a change of allegiance and neither side had dependable identity documents. American objections to blockade also served a desire to trade with France and Caribbean colonies, even though the United States had used blockade against the Barbary powers. Both governments made reciprocal choices that antagonized the other and made a negotiated solution harder. These disputes form the political and legal background to Porter's banner of free trade and sailor rights.