It’s an overused metaphor bordering on cliché, but in 1806 the fledgling United States found itself between the proverbial “rock” — the island home of Great Britain — and “a hard place” — the expansionist empire of France under Emperor Napoleon.
At the time, Britain and France were, as usual, at war. Granted, the Battle of Trafalgar a year earlier had scuttled Napoleon’s plans to conquer the British, but in its wake Napoleon had won several decisive battles against Europe’s other powers, making France the dominant continental power, while Britain remained the dominant sea power.
And then Napoleon decided to expand his conventional war against Britain into a commercial war by initiating what might be called the first of the “dueling decrees.” This week (Nov. 15) in 1806 Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree, which made it illegal for any nation to trade with Great Britain.
Given its heavy reliance on trade with its former mother country, the United States was greatly dismayed by the Berlin Decree, but then Britain retaliated with its own decree — the Orders in Council — which declared that Britain would blockade all French ports and forbid any foreign nation from trading with France unless that nation first paid a sizeable customs duty to Britain.
Given its heavy reliance on trade with the nation that had helped it rebel against its former mother country, the United States was equally dismayed by this Orders in Council.
But then Napoleon upped the ante with the Milan Decree, which stated that if any nation’s ships submitted to Britain’s Orders in Council, those ships would be considered British property and subject to seizure by the French navy.
At this point America, whose economic existence depended in large part on trade with both nations, responded in a manner that begs another overused metaphor bordering on cliché. She “bit off her nose to spite her face” by issuing her own decree, the Embargo Act of 1807, which prohibited American ships from sailing to any foreign port for the purpose of trade.
The Embargo Act was meant to pressure Britain and France to repeal their various decrees by denying them American goods. Unfortunately, when you are the weakest of the trading partners, embargoes tend to hurt you the most, and within a year American exports went from $110 million to $25 million and imports from $140 million to $55 million. Were it not for increased trade with Caribbean nations and smuggling between America and Canada (a British colony), America’s economy would have imploded.
The “dueling decrees” would have been comic had they not been so tragic. Indeed, five years later they helped cause a real “duel” between Britain and the United States — the War of 1812.
Bruce G. Kauffmann’s email address is bruce@
historylessons.net.
Schools
BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSONS: America dismayed by the ‘dueling decrees’
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS: Montgomery Meigs establishes Arlington National Cemetery
This week (June 15) in 1864, Brig. Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, who had been appointed Quartermaster General of the Union Army in 1861, established Arlington House, the former home of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, as a cemetery for the Union’s soldiers. Today Arlington National Cemetery is America’s national military burial ground.
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS: This week in 1944: D-Day and the Airborne assault on Normandy
This week (June 5) in 1944, with the D-Day invasion of the Nazi-occupied Normandy coast set to begin, the man in charge of that invasion, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, paid a special visit to members of the U.S. 82nd and the 101st Airborne.
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Terre Haute North, South African-American clubs taking educational journey to Washington, D.C.
Students and teachers from Terre Haute North and South Vigo high schools saw three years of hard work pay off Monday afternoon as they lined up eagerly at the doors of a school bus to start a long ride to Washington, D.C.
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS: A woman’s voice of moral clarity
This week (June 1) in 1950, Margaret Chase Smith, the Republican senator from Maine and the first woman ever to serve as both a U.S. senator and member of the House of Representatives, gave a speech that, looking back, was a voice of moral clarity amidst a cacophony of madness and vilification.
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Education-technology grants given to Valley
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz has announced the 2013 Technology Resource Grants, awarded to help organizations purchase technology resources for student instruction in career and technical educations classrooms.
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Turkey Run presents academic awards
Turkey Run High School freshmen, sophomores and juniors were honored at an awards program on May 16.
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Goals, Pride & Achievements
Laci Pethtel of Oblong is the 2013 recipient of the Lincoln Trail College Professional Assistants Group scholarship.
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VCSC to offer summer meals
Sarah Scott Middle School will offer free breakfast and lunch for people 18 years old and younger Monday through June 20.
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Road Runners name scholarship winners
The Wabash Valley Road Runners have named Anne Mullican and Justin Clapp as the recipients of the 2013 WVRR scholarships.
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South student blazes competition with research
Ryan Chung, a junior at Terre Haute South Vigo High School, placed first at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in the computer science category.
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Indiana State University Dean’s List
Indiana State University has announced its dean’s list for the spring 2013 semester. Area students recognized for their academic achievement include:
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RP recognizes outstanding students
Riverton Parke High School’s class of 2013 was honored on May 15 at the annual senior awards night in the school’s cafetorium.
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Student blood donors receive scholarships
Roche Diagnostics and Indiana Blood Center are recognizing 81 high school seniors in Indiana who participate in community service.
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Bruce’s History Lessons: Morse’s telegraph and its impact as a ‘game changer’
This week (May 24) in 1844, Professor Samuel F.B. Morse sat in the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., surrounded by members of Congress, who had come to witness history.
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High schoolers attend automotive, welding skills competitions
Area high school students put their skills to the test at the annual Automotive Skills and Welding Skills competitions on April 18 at Ivy Tech Community College—Wabash Valley.
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Riverton Parke presents concert, music awards
The Riverton Parke Jr.-Sr. High School Music Department presented its annual Spring Concert on May 13 in the school gymnasium.
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Turkey Run senior awards and honors
Turkey Run High School seniors were honored at an awards program May 13. Scholarships and departmental and activity awards were presented.
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South earns national yearbook design honor
The Terre Haute South yearbook, Uaxactun, has been recognized for excellence and featured in the 2013 Gotcha Covered Look Book, Volume 11 celebrating the best-of-the-best in yearbook design and coverage.
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Vincennes University Dean’s List
The Vincennes University Dean’s List for Spring 2013 includes students from the Vincennes campus, Jasper campus, Aviation Technology Center in Indianapolis, military bases, and other extended sites.
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4 more honored as Four Star Schools
In addition to the three Vigo County schools (Terre Haute South Vigo High School, Dixie Bee Elementary and Fayette Elementary schools) that were announced earlier, four more Wabash Valley schools were recognized as Indiana Four Star Schools.
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Bruce’s history lessons: Truman’s decision to recognize Israel
This week (May 14) in 1948, at the direction of President Harry Truman, the United States recognized the existence of the newly formed state of Israel, which had declared independence earlier that day. It was, Truman later stated, among the most important decisions of his presidency.
- Reunion listings: May 16, 2013
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Chances and Services for Youth to participate in food program
The Chances and Services for Youth recently announced plans to participate in the Summer Food Service Program.
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South Latin students compete at convention
Terre Haute South Vigo High School Latin students competed with other Indiana schools at the recent state convention at ISU.
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Southwest Parke School Corp. receives eLearning grant
Southwest Parke Community School Corp. has received an Imagining and Creating eLearning grant for the 2013-2014 school year through the Indiana Department of Education.
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Otter Creek competes in regional Academic Super Bowl
The Otter Creek Academic Super Bowl teams competed in the regional Academic Super Bowl competition on April 27 at Sarah Scott Middle School.
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Riverton Parke FFA teams compete at April 16 contest
Two Riverton Parke FFA Parliamentary Procedure Teams competed at the section competition for the Parliamentary Procedure Demonstration Contest on April 16 at the Indiana FFA Center in Trafalgar.
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