Essential Facts
Background
- Britain and France were at war with each other during the Napoleonic Wars.
- They were using blockades and trade embargoes to disrupt each other’s trade with foreign nations, such as the United States.
- Britain used Orders in Council, while Napoleon, the French Emperor, used the Continental System.
- The U.S. used economic sanctions to protect its trading rights, including the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809, which banned trade with France.
Napoleon Expands the Continental System
- Napoleon responded to the Non-Intercourse Act on March 23, 1810.
- The Rambouillet Decree ordered the seizure of all merchant ships under American flags that entered French ports after May 20, 1809.
Additional Details
- The Decree was retroactive to May 20, 1809, to align with the Non-Intercourse Act.
- Napoleon argued that since American ships were banned from trading with France, any ship claiming to be American must be involved in smuggling.
- The U.S. responded to Napoleon’s ongoing harassment of American ships with Macon’s Bill No. 2 on May 1, 1810.
Significance
The Rambouillet Decree is important to American History because it increased tensions between the United States, Great Britain, and France and restricted American trade. The tensions contributed to the outbreak of the War of 1812.
Rambouillet Decree — Primary Document Text
Napoleon, &c. &c. &c.
Considering that the Government of the United States, by an act dated 1st March, 1809, which forbids the entrance of the ports, harbors, and rivers of the said States to all French vessels, orders,
1st, That after the 20th May following, vessels under the French flag, which shall arrive in the United States, shall be seized and confiscated, as well as their cargoes;
2nd, That after the same epoch, no merchandise or produce, the growth or manufacture of France or her colonies, can be imported into the said United States from any foreign port or place whatsoever, under the penalty of seizure, confiscation, and a fine of three times the value of the merchandise;
3rd, That American vessels cannot go to any port of France, of her colonies, or dependencies: We have decreed, and do decree what follows:
Art. 1st. All vessels navigating under the flag of the United States, or possessed, in whole or in part, by any citizen or subject of that Power, which, counting from the 20th May, 1809, have entered or shall enter into the ports of our empire, of our colonies, or of the countries occupied by our arms, shall be seized, and the product of the sales shall be deposited in the surplus fund.
There shall be excepted from this regulation the vessels which shall be charged with despatches, or with commissions of the Government of the said States, and who shall not have either cargoes or merchandise on board.
Our Grand Judge, Minister of Justice, and our Minister of Finance, are charged with the execution of our present decree.
NAPOLEON.
Rambouillet Decree APUSH
The Rambouillet Decree is part of the following units, topics, and chapters in the AP US History curriculum:
Unit 4: 1800–1848
- Topic 4.4 — America on the World Stage
American Pageant Notes
- Chapter 11 — Triumphs and Travails of the Jeffersonian Republic (1800–1812)
- Chapter 12 — The Second War for Independence and the Upsurge of Nationalism (1812–1824)
American History Central
- Foreign Affairs in the New Nation
- War of 1812 — Causes of the War, Maritime Disputes
