28 
Indiana University Studies 
supplemented by another laying an embargo on all vessels in 
ports of the United States.®^ In view of these acts, all Ameri- 
can trade with the British West Indies became legally for- 
bidden on the American side, in addition to the theoretical 
prohibition, which had continually existed on the side of the 
British, a condition of affairs which lasted until the close of 
the War of 1812. 
Thus, during the first three decades of American inde- 
pendence, altho the United States Government made repeated 
efforts thru diplomacy to secure the legal right for American 
ships to enter the British West Indies with their cargoes, only 
once did the British Government concede any admission, and 
then only under such conditions as to render it unprofitable 
for the United States Government to accept. That the latter 
did not resort to retaliatory measures during these years may 
be attributed to the fact that altho, theoretically, the British 
colonial system was intact, actually, from the time the Ameri- 
can Government, under its new Constitution, became able to 
pass such legislation until the outbreak of the War of 1812, 
the British West Indies were open to American shipping by 
proclamation almost continually. With the return of peace 
in Europe and America in 1815, however, this condition was 
changed, and with it the attitude of the United States. 
Public Statutes at Large, III, 88-93. 
