Of it as the passage of time. With todayld begin is what it was that first and then whatwar happened subsequent to that which led us to negotiating with , and thesh in ghent signing of the treaty on christmas eve. You may recall that the wars in europe began shortly after the beginning of the french revolution. It evolved into a world war between england and her allies and france and her allies. England, as the mistress of the seas, wished as much as possible to man her ships. But not only was a she impress his sailors from the merchant vessel, she was doing it in one specific instance from the uss chesapeake. Time that arst belligerent on one side should claim a right of impressment of any sailor from a neutral. This is a matter of considerable concern to mr. Jefferson. It was this that led to the embargo, which i had the responsibility of ensuring its enforcement. The decision was rather than go to war with england and or france, we would simply refuse our trade with both of them unt