II.

Economic Effects

By confining U.S. ships to their ports, the embargo seriously threatened American livelihood. To circumvent the law, hundreds of ships sailed before enforcement was effective; other ships later exploited legal technicalities to remain in foreign waters and in trade with the warring nations; still others resorted to extensive smuggling. Nevertheless, northern shipping interests declared the act disastrous, and southern planters suffered substantial losses. Governmental efforts to tighten application through the Enforcement Act (1809) only produced more flagrant violations of the law, denunciations of the national government, and outcries of states' rights and near rebellion in New England. The embargo proved as unsuccessful abroad as it was unpopular at home. Because the British navy had already blockaded the Continental coast, France could not feel the embargo's effect and, ironically, confiscated $10 million worth of U.S. shipping in European ports, under the pretext of assisting the embargo's enforcement. Imports to England from new Latin American markets offset losses of American grain and cotton. Similarly, increased British exports to Latin America matched a decrease in British exports to the U.S.