Rule of 1756

Essential Facts

• Also known as the “Rule of the War of 1756.”
• Great Britain implemented the Rule of 1756 during the French and Indian War.
• It was designed to prevent ships from neutral nations from trading with colonies of nations at war with Britain.
• During the Colonial Era, the Rule contributed to the end of Salutary Neglect in the American Colonies by restricting American trade with the West Indies.
• By 1800, the United States was a neutral nation, and the Rule of 1756 applied to its merchant ships.
• The Polly Decision (1800) briefly relaxed the enforcement of the Rule of 1756 against American ships.
• The Essex Decision (1805) reaffirmed the Rule, which increased the seizure of American ships while Britain was at war with France.
• The United States was outraged because Jay’s Treaty (1795) was supposed to protect American merchant ships from harassment by British ships.
• The U.S. responded with the Non-Importation Act of 1806 which imposed economic sanctions against Britain.

Key Points

• 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.
• Neutral merchants created a loophole by extending their voyages, sailing to legal ports, paying duties, and then sailing to their final destination. American merchants used this loophole to their advantage after the American Revolutionary War. This is explained in more detail below in “The Broken Voyage Loophole.”

Significance

The Rule of 1756 is important to American History because it shaped British foreign and economic policy toward America from the French and Indian War through the War of 1812. During the Colonial Era, it influenced American reaction to British colonial policies that ended Salutary Neglect. After the American Revolutionary War, it helped shape United States foreign policy regarding the seizure of American merchant ships.

Rule of 1756 Overview and History

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, European nations, including Great Britain (British North America), France (New France), and Spain (New Spain), were able to trade with their colonies during peacetime without constraints. 

However, during wartime, trade between these nations and their colonies was threatened. Merchant ships from these nations were often attacked by enemy ships, including naval vessels and Privateers. Meanwhile, merchant ships sailing under the flags of neutral nations took advantage by trading with nations at war with each other, including their colonies.

• During the French and Indian War, Great Britain looked for ways to prevent France from trading with neutral nations.
• The Rule of 1756 was devised and said, “…ships from neutral nations in wartime were only permitted to carry cargos that were permissible in peacetime…”
• For example, ships from the Netherlands were not allowed to transport goods from the American Colonies to England during peacetime (according to the Navigation Acts). During wartime, the Rule of 1756 maintained Dutch ships were still prohibited from accessing ports in the American Colonies.
• However, the Rule of 1756 blocked American merchants from trading with the French and Spanish West Indies during wartime. This disrupted the trade for molasses and sugar, which was vital to the American Rum Industry.
• Some view the Rule of 1756 as the beginning of the end of Salutary Neglect, Britain’s unwritten policy that allowed American merchants to violate the Navigation Acts.

The Navigation Acts and Salutary Neglect

• The Navigation Acts regulated trade between Great Britain and the American Colonies.
• The Acts contributed to the Triangular Trade System and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
• British customs officials often neglected to enforce the Navigation Acts, allowing American merchants to trade freely with the West Indies. This is referred to as Salutary Neglect.
• Enforcement of the Navigation Acts ended Salutary Neglect.
• Admiralty Courts were used to enforce the Navigation Acts, bypassing the rights established in the British Constitution because they did not use jury trials.
• Under the Rule of 1756, ships violating the Navigation Acts could be seized and sold as prizes. This set a precedent for provisions that were found in the Sugar Act (1764).

The Broken Voyage Loophole

After the Rule of 1756 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.”

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 Case Challenges the Rule of 1756

• In 1800, an American merchant ship, Polly, was sailing from the United States to Spain.
• It was carrying goods from Spain’s colonies — sugar from Cuba and cocoa from Venezuela — to Spain. The cargo also included fish from Massachusetts.
• The goods were taken from the Spanish Colonies to a U.S. port before being sent to Spain. Legally, they were imported to the U.S. from the Spanish West Indies and then exported to Spain.
• While the Polly was sailing to Spain, it was stopped and seized by a British ship.
• The owners of Polly argued the goods were not shipped on a Continuous Voyage but on a Broken Voyage.
• The Admiralty Court agreed and ruled in favor of the Polly’s owners.
• This allowed American ships and other neutral ships to continue making Broken Voyages to trade with Britain’s enemies.

The Essex Decision Reverses the Polly Decision

• In the Essex Decision (1805), the British court reversed the decision, declaring Broken Voyages illegal.
• The reversal increased tensions between the U.S. and Britain and contributed to the War of 1812.

Rule of 1756 APUSH

The Rule of 1756 is part of the following units and chapters in the AP US History curriculum:

Unit 3: 1754–1800

• 3.2 — The Seven Years’ War (The French and Indian War) 

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)
• Chapter 12 — The Second War for Independence and the Upsurge of Nationalism (1812–1824)

Related Terms and Definitions

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.