On the seas, however, matters were different. It had been, after all, British treatment of American sailors that led to the war, and now American sailors were ready to have their own back. Sometimes that was in the navy, and when the Constitution took on and defeated the Guerrière in a stand-up ship-to-ship fight it was a huge boost to American morale. But the most decisive action came aboard privateers -- privately operated ships with licenses ("letters of marque") to attack enemy merchant ships for a mix of profit and patriotism. Read more

As historian John McMaster put it, "Hardly was the Constitution a year old when England began the practice of dragging American citizens from the decks of American ships, and during sixteen years had carried it on in every portion of the civilized world with impunity." It's estimated that each year the British impressed a thousand American sailors into their service. Merely kidnapping American sailors wasn't enough; commerce that might benefit the enemy must be halted. So American ships were stopped and often seized at gunpoint by the British, and American ports were blockaded. Read more