ECONOMIC SOCIAL 103 



From 1800 to 1812 was a period of great 

 commercial activity in the United States, 

 and even where every effort was made to 

 comply with the French decrees and British 

 orders in council, trade with the belliger- 

 ents and the countries under their control 

 was dangerous. As a matter of fact, how- 

 ever, American merchants made little at- 

 tempt to respect decrees and orders in 

 council, but ran blockades, bought and 

 forged licenses and trusted to high freights 

 to compensate for the occasional loss of a 

 vessel. The number of American vessels 

 seized, prior and subsequent to the decrees 

 and orders in council, amounted, according 

 to Mr. Monroe, to 1475. l Not all these 

 were condemned, to be sure, but enough 

 vessels were lost to the American marine to 

 keep many shipyards busy. So long as 

 American merchants were willing to risk 

 their cargoes, American ship-builders were 

 willing to build them ships. These vessels 

 were built to order for cash, or were paid 

 1 NUes Register, vol. 3, p. 67. 



