France, to make a friend of England, whom he still looked upon as the
natural enemy of the United States; for, notwithstanding all that had
come and gone, he still regarded France with something of the old
affection. In the autumn of 1807 he called a special session of Congress
in consideration of the increasing aggressions of Great Britain,
especially in the attack upon the Chesapeake, and the injury done by the
interdiction of neutral trade with any country with which that power
was at war. But he had no recommendations to offer of resistance nor
even of defense, except that some additions be made to the gunboats, and
that sailors on shore be enrolled as a sort of gunboat militia. The
probable real purpose of calling the extra session, however, appeared in
about two weeks, when he sent a special message to the Senate
recommending an embargo.

An act was almost immediately passed which, if anything more was needed
to complete the ruin of American commerce, supplied that deficiency. A
month before this time the English ministry had issued a new order in
council--the news of which reached Jefferson as he was about to send in
his message--proclaiming a blockade of pretty much all Europe, and
forbidding any trade in neutral vessels unless they had first gone into
some British port and paid duties on their cargoes; and within
twenty-four hours of the President's message recommending the embargo,
Napoleon proclaimed a new decree from Milan, by which it was declared
that any ship was lawful prize that had anything whatever to do with
Great Britain,--that should pay it tribute, that should carry its
merchandise, that should be bound either to or from any of its ports.
All that these powers could do to shut every trading vessel out of all
European ports was now done; and at this opportune moment Mr. Jefferson
came to their aid by compelling all American vessels to stay at home. It
is not easy in our time to conceive of a President proposing, or of a
party accepting, or of the people submitting to, such a measure as this.
But Mr. Jefferson's followers were very obedient, and there was,
undoubtedly, a very general belief that trade with the United States was
so important to the nations at war that for the sake of its renewal the
obnoxious decrees and orders in council would soon be repealed. But,
except upon certain manufacturers in England, little influence was
visible. General Armstrong, the American minister in France, wrote: