Polly Decision

Essential Facts

• The Polly Decision occurred during America’s New Nation Era (1783–1815), in the final year of the Presidency of John Adams.
• The Polly Decision was issued by Justice Sir William Scott on April 29, 1800.
• It relaxed enforcement of the Rule of 1756, which banned neutral nations, like the United States, from trading with nations Britain was at war with.
• It allowed American merchant ships to use “Broken Voyages” to avoid seizure by the British Royal Navy.
• The Polly Decision helped American merchants flourish from 1800 to 1805.
• It was overturned by the Essex Decision in 1805, which restored strict enforcement of the Rule of 1756.

Significance

The Polly Decision is important to American History because it helped shape American foreign policy in the years leading up to the War of 1812. The Polly Decision was favorable to the United States, allowing its merchants to trade with foreign nations at war with Great Britain. This contributed to an economic boom in the U.S. that lasted until the ruling was reversed by the Essex Decision in 1805.

Polly Decision Overview and History

The Polly Decision issued by the British Admiralty Court on April 29, 1800, determined that American ships transporting goods from France to the United States and reexporting them to French Colonies in the West Indies did not violate the Rule of 1756.

• The Polly Decision helped create a significant increase in American reexports until 1805.
• It boosted trade opportunities for American merchants.
• The Decision helped strengthen the economic ties between the U.S. and other nations.
• Reexports became a major part of U.S. trade during this period.

The Rule of 1756

• The Rule of 1756 was a British policy, not an international law.
• It declared that “…ships from neutral nations in wartime were only permitted to carry cargos that were permissible in peacetime…”
• Britain was often at war with France and Spain, so it sought to disrupt their trade with their colonies in the West Indies and with other nations.
• The Rule applied to ships from neutral nations, such as the Netherlands, who were carrying goods between France, Spain, and their colonies.
• It allowed the British Royal Navy to stop and seize these ships without proof they had violated the Rule of 1756.
• Britain had the most powerful naval force in the world, so it could enforce the Rule of 1756 with little opposition.

The Broken Voyage Loophole

After the Rule of Law was implemented, neutral merchants found a loophole. Essentially, they carried goods from colonies at war with Britain to neutral ports. Upon arrival, they unloaded the cargo, paid any taxes that were due, reloaded the cargo, and continued to their final destination. Under this scenario, a Dutch ship could sail from the French West Indies to the Netherlands and then to France. This was known as a “Broken Voyage” because the goods did not go directly from the French Colonies to France. Had they done so, it would be a “Continuous Voyage.”

American Merchant Ships and the Rule of 1756

• During the French and Indian War, the American Colonies were still part of the British Empire and subject to the Navigation Acts.
• The Rule of 1756 applied to American merchant ships and banned them from trading with French Colonies in the West Indies.
• Some historians consider enforcement of the Rule of 1756 to be the beginning of the end of Salutary Neglect. However, Americans continued to smuggle goods to and from the West Indies.

The United States, Neutrality, and the Rule of 1756

• Following the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783), the United States was a new nation with limited military resources and a weak foreign policy.
• The Treaty of Alliance (1778) and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce (1778) officially allied the U.S. with France.
• In 1785, the United States and Great Britain agreed to Jay’s Treaty (1785), which allowed American ships to enter British ports.
• The French Revolution started in 1789, and France went to war with Britain in 1793.
• President George Washington refused to involve the U.S. in the war and issued his Proclamation of Neutrality (1793). Congress followed this with the Neutrality Act (1794).
• American neutrality upset France because of the treaties it signed with the U.S. in 1778.
• Tensions between France and the U.S. led to the XYZ Affair (1797–1800) and the Quasi-War (1798–1800).
• The Convention of 1800 between the U.S. and France ended the Quasi-War and restored trade with France.
• Britain and France were still at war, and the U.S. maintained its neutral stance, making its “merchantmen” neutral ships subject to the Rule of 1756.
• American ships used the Broken Voyage Loophole to transport goods between France, Spain, and their colonies in the West Indies.

The Polly Incident

• In the winter of 1800, the British seized the American ship Polly in the North Atlantic.
• The Polly’s cargo included fish from Massachusetts, sugar from Cuba, and cocoa from Venezuela. Cuba and Venezuela were Spanish Colonies.
• At the time, Great Britain and Spain were fighting each other in the Anglo-Spanish War (1796–1808).
• Under the Rule of 1756, British officials believed they had the authority to stop and seize the Polly because it was carrying Spanish goods from the Spanish Colonies to Spain.
• The Admiralty Court in Halifax, Nova Scotia, upheld the seizure of the ship and its cargo.
• The case was appealed to the High Court of Admiralty.

Justice Scott Rules in the Polly Case

• Justice Sir William Scott ruled on the Polly Case on April 29, 1800.
• He defined importation for neutral countries as the landing of goods and payment of duties.
• This meant that an American ship could carry goods from the Spanish West Indies to the United States and then to Spain — as long as it stopped in the U.S., unloaded the goods, paid the duties, and reloaded them.
• Rufus King, the American Minister to London, helped convince Prime Minister William Pitt to agree with this interpretation of the Rule of 1765.
• Essentially, Britain made a trade concession to the U.S. and gave American merchants more flexibility under the rule of 1756.

The 1805 Essex Decision and Its Impact on American Trade

• The Essex Decision (1805) overturned the Polly Decision.
• American ships trading with the French West Indies became subject to capture and seizure by the British.
• The Admiralty Court ruled that stopping in the U.S. and paying duties was not enough to prove the goods were truly imports.
• British officials started seizing American ships soon after the decision was made.
• Over 300 American merchant ships were seized due to the provisions of the Rule of 1756.
• The Essex Decision caused outrage in the U.S., hurt the economy, and increased tensions that led to the War of 1812.

Polly Decision APUSH

The Polly Decision is part of the following units and chapters in the AP US History curriculum:

Unit 4: 1800–1848

• Topic 4.4 — America on the World Stage

American Pageant Notes

• Chapter 7 — The Road to Revolution (1763–1775)
• Chapter 11 — Triumphs and Travails of the Jeffersonian Republic (1800–1812)

Vocabulary

The following terms and definitions provide more information and context for students studying the Polly Decision.

Boarding Party — A group of seamen designated to storm over the sides of another vessel in order to capture it.

Blockade — In terms of foreign relations between the United States, France, and Great Britain, the term Blockade means a naval Blockage of coastal ports. Blockades were used to prevent merchant ships and warships from certain nations from accessing ports. Britain used Orders in Council to set up a blockade of the coast of Europe, while France used the Berlin Decree (1806) and Milan Decree (1807) to blockade British ships from accessing European ports.

Broken Voyages and Continuous Voyages — Broken Voyages were trips made by merchant ships that loaded goods in a neutral port (in America) before sailing to a port in a nation at war with Britain, such as France or Spain. This allowed goods to be shipped from Spanish Colonies in North America to Spain and bypassed the Rule of 1756. Under the rule, neutral ships making a Continuos Voyage from an enemy port (in New Spain) to an enemy nation (Spain) could be seized by British authorities. However, many American merchants stopped unloading their cargo in the neutral ports before sailing to their final destination. Eventually, British officials decided to put a stop to this because they considered a journey that did not unload cargo to be a Continuous Voyage. Ships were required to show documentation that proved they had followed the proper process for shipping goods.

Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights — This phrase became a popular slogan in the United States during the buildup to the War of 1812. The slogan supported the U.S. going to war and protested the British Orders in Council, Napoleon’s Continental System, and the Impressment of American seamen by the British Royal Navy.

Merchantman — A privately owned ship involved in commercial activities.

Prize — A Prize was an enemy vessel seized during wartime and subsequently sold. The money raised from the sale was divided among the men involved in the ship’s capture. The possibility of earning prize money enticed men into joining the United States Navy and the British Royal Navy during the War of 1812.

Reexports — Reexports  — or reshipments — are goods exported from one port (France) to another (United States) and then to a final destination (French West Indies). Reexports were part of the loophole American merchants used to avoid the seizure of their ships under the provisions of the Rule of 1756.