Embargo Act Passed: US Bans All Foreign Trade
Jefferson's own party controlled Congress, yet even they balked. The Embargo Act didn't just restrict trade — it killed it entirely. No American ship could leave for any foreign port. The president who'd championed limited government now deployed the Navy to blockade his own coastline. New England merchants watched fortunes evaporate overnight. Smuggling exploded along the Canadian border. Fourteen months later, with the economy in ruins and his popularity shattered, Congress repealed it three days before Jefferson left office. The man who'd purchased Louisiana couldn't sell the idea that isolation would force Britain and France to respect American neutrality.
December 22, 1807
219 years ago
Key Figures & Places
President of the United States
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Congress of the United States
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Thomas Jefferson
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United States Congress
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Embargo Act of 1807
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President
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History of the United States
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United States Congress
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Thomas Jefferson
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Barack Obama
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French Revolution
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Departments of France
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United States Armed Forces
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History of France
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Don't ask, don't tell
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Continental System
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Embargo Act of 1807
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Geschichte des Vereinigten Königreichs von Großbritannien und Irland
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