Maritime rights and the road to the War of 1812

Britain claimed a right to search neutral shipping for contraband and reclaim British sailors found at sea. Theodore Roosevelt's account links the dispute to the doctrine that a British subject remained one despite serving under another flag. Short-handed captains could resolve disputed nationality in their own favour, leading to the impressment of American sailors. Roosevelt acknowledges fraudulent naturalization of British seamen alongside brutal disregard of American rights. He presents American resistance and British efforts to deny assistance to Napoleon as conflicting national interests that made war almost inevitable.