These outrages against personal independence were
regarded among the great masses of Americans with the utmost
indignation. Such injuries exasperated every soul not made sordid by
selfish desire for gain. That an innocent man, peaceably pursuing an
honorable vocation, should be forcibly carried on board a British
man-of-war, and there be compelled to remain, shut out from all hope of
ever seeing his family, seemed, to the robust sense of justice in the
popular breast, little better than Algerian bondage. The rage of the
people was increased by tales of horror and aggression that occasionally
reached their ears from these prison ships. Stories were told of
impressed Americans escaping the ships, who, on being recaptured, were
whipped until they died. In one instance, a sailor, goaded to madness,
seized the captain and, springing overboard, drowned himself and his
tormentor.
Every attempt to arrange this difficulty with England had signally
failed. The United States offered that all American seamen should be
registered and provided with a certificate of citizenship; that the
number of crews should be limited by the tonnage of the ship, and if
this number was exceeded, British subjects enlisted should be liable to
impressment; that deserters should be given up, and that a prohibition
should be issued by each party against clandestinely secreting and
carrying off the seamen of the other.
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