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Orders in Council (1807)
Encyclopedia
The Orders in Council were a series of legislative decrees made by the United Kingdom
in the course of the wars with Napoleonic France
which instituted its policy of commercial warfare. Formally, an "Order in Council" is simply the type of legislation (in contrast to an Act of Parliament
) by which the British government decreed these policies. However, especially in American history, the term "Orders in Council" is also used collectively to refer to the group of such decrees in the late-18th and early-19th centuries which restricted neutral trade and enforced a naval blockade of Napoleonic France and its allies. The Orders in Council are important for the role they played in shaping the British war effort against France, but they are also significant for the strained relations—and sometimes military conflict—they caused between the United Kingdom and neutral countries, whose trade was affected by them.
In Europe, restrictive British trade policy led to the formation of the Second League of Armed Neutrality
, and deteriorating relations with other neutral powers, notably Denmark
(with whom the British would fight a series of wars
) and Russia
. In the Atlantic, the Orders in Council were one of the main sources of tension between the United Kingdom and the United States
which led to the War of 1812
. In total, the collective "Orders in Council" refers to more than a dozen sets of blockade decrees in the years 1783, 1793, 1794, 1798, 1799, 1803-1809, 1811, and 1812; in practice, it is most often associated strictly with the decrees of January 7, 1807, November 11, 1807, and April 26 1809 which were most inflammatory to the Americans. The Order in Council of June 23, 1812, in a belated attempt at reconciliation with the Americans, repealed those three decrees, but, as the news was still crossing the ocean the United States declared war on the British two days later.
By 1806, Napoleon was master of continental Europe effectively locking Great Britain
out of the continent. However, the defeat of the French and Spanish navies at the Battle of Trafalgar
(1805) ended any thoughts of an invasion of Great Britain. Napoleon, aware of British commercial strength, thus resorted to a policy of economic warfare, in what became known as the Continental System
.
The Berlin Decree
of 1806 forbade French, allied or neutral ships trading with Britain. By this means Napoleon hoped to destroy British trade, disrupt its growing industrial expansion and diminish its credit.
Great Britain responded with the Orders in Council of 1807 issued 11 November 1807 . These forbade French trade with the United Kingdom, its allies, or neutrals, and instructed the Royal Navy to blockade French and allied ports.
Napoleon retaliated with the Milan Decree
of 1807, which declared that all neutral shipping using British ports, or paying British tariffs, were to be regarded as British and seized.
More significantly, enforcing the economic blockades led both the United Kingdom and France into a series of military engagements. The British bombarded Copenhagen in September 1807 (Battle of Copenhagen) to prevent the Danish joining the Continental System, and the British policy of stopping neutral ships trading with France played a large part in the outbreak of the Anglo-American War of 1812
. However, it was Napoleon's invasion of Russia in the same year, again in part to enforce his continental system, that proved to be the turning point of the war. He was never able to recover militarily from that defeat.
The economic warfare ended with Napoleon's final defeat in 1815.
in June of 1812 just as the United States was declaring war. On June 16, 1812, two days before the United States declaration of war, Lord Castlereagh
, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs announced in Parliament of the United Kingdom
that the Order in Council would be suspended.
On the very day that the Minister took his formal leave of the United States, June 23, 1812, a new British Government headed by Lord Liverpool provisionally repealed the Order in Council.
Forty-one days after the United States Congress
declared war, the word arrived in London on July 29, 1812. Two days later, July 31, 1812, the Ministry ordered its first counter-measures. It forbade English ships to sail except in convoys and restrained American ships in English ports. The Orders in Council had been repealed on June 23, 1812, but the ministers did not intend to take additional measures until they could learn the American reaction. Word of the repeal of the Orders did not reach President James Madison
until August 12, 1812, some fifty days later. Even then he refused to halt hostilities because he did not know how Britain had reacted to the declaration of war.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the course of the wars with Napoleonic France
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
which instituted its policy of commercial warfare. Formally, an "Order in Council" is simply the type of legislation (in contrast to an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
) by which the British government decreed these policies. However, especially in American history, the term "Orders in Council" is also used collectively to refer to the group of such decrees in the late-18th and early-19th centuries which restricted neutral trade and enforced a naval blockade of Napoleonic France and its allies. The Orders in Council are important for the role they played in shaping the British war effort against France, but they are also significant for the strained relations—and sometimes military conflict—they caused between the United Kingdom and neutral countries, whose trade was affected by them.
In Europe, restrictive British trade policy led to the formation of the Second League of Armed Neutrality
Second League of Armed Neutrality
The Second League of Armed Neutrality or the League of the North was an alliance of the north European naval powers Denmark–Norway, Prussia, Sweden and Russia. It occurred between 1800 and 1801 during the War of the Second Coalition and was initiated by Paul I of Russia...
, and deteriorating relations with other neutral powers, notably Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
(with whom the British would fight a series of wars
English Wars (Scandinavia)
The English Wars were a series of conflicts between Sweden and Denmark-Norway as part of the Napoleonic Wars. It is named after the most prominent region of its other main participant, the United Kingdom, which declared war on Denmark-Norway due to disagreements over the neutrality of Danish trade...
) and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. In the Atlantic, the Orders in Council were one of the main sources of tension between the United Kingdom and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
which led to the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. In total, the collective "Orders in Council" refers to more than a dozen sets of blockade decrees in the years 1783, 1793, 1794, 1798, 1799, 1803-1809, 1811, and 1812; in practice, it is most often associated strictly with the decrees of January 7, 1807, November 11, 1807, and April 26 1809 which were most inflammatory to the Americans. The Order in Council of June 23, 1812, in a belated attempt at reconciliation with the Americans, repealed those three decrees, but, as the news was still crossing the ocean the United States declared war on the British two days later.
Background
By 1806, Napoleon was master of continental Europe effectively locking Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
out of the continent. However, the defeat of the French and Spanish navies at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
(1805) ended any thoughts of an invasion of Great Britain. Napoleon, aware of British commercial strength, thus resorted to a policy of economic warfare, in what became known as the Continental System
Continental System
The Continental System or Continental Blockade was the foreign policy of Napoleon I of France in his struggle against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland during the Napoleonic Wars. It was a large-scale embargo against British trade, which began on November 21, 1806...
.
The Berlin Decree
Berlin Decree
The Berlin Decree was issued by Napoleon on November 21, 1806, following the French success against Prussia at the Battle of Jena. The decree forbade the import of British goods into European countries allied with or dependent upon France, and installed the Continental System in Europe.It...
of 1806 forbade French, allied or neutral ships trading with Britain. By this means Napoleon hoped to destroy British trade, disrupt its growing industrial expansion and diminish its credit.
Great Britain responded with the Orders in Council of 1807 issued 11 November 1807 . These forbade French trade with the United Kingdom, its allies, or neutrals, and instructed the Royal Navy to blockade French and allied ports.
Napoleon retaliated with the Milan Decree
Milan Decree
The Milan Decree was issued on December 17, 1807 by Napoleon I of France to enforce the Berlin Decree of 1806 which had initiated the Continental System. This system was the basis for his plan to defeat the British by waging economic warfare...
of 1807, which declared that all neutral shipping using British ports, or paying British tariffs, were to be regarded as British and seized.
Consequences
Due to the strength of the Royal Navy, the British blockade of continental Europe was reasonably effective. French trade suffered, and its primitive industrial revolution was set back. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, actually increased trade with its overseas colonies over the period. Smuggling persisted, and even Napoleon made exceptions to his embargo so he could procure necessary supplies for his war effort.War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. However, it was Napoleon's invasion of Russia in the same year, again in part to enforce his continental system, that proved to be the turning point of the war. He was never able to recover militarily from that defeat.
The economic warfare ended with Napoleon's final defeat in 1815.
Repeal of the Orders in Council
The British made their greatest concession to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in June of 1812 just as the United States was declaring war. On June 16, 1812, two days before the United States declaration of war, Lord Castlereagh
Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh
Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, KG, GCH, PC, PC , usually known as Lord CastlereaghThe name Castlereagh derives from the baronies of Castlereagh and Ards, in which the manors of Newtownards and Comber were located...
, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs announced in Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
that the Order in Council would be suspended.
On the very day that the Minister took his formal leave of the United States, June 23, 1812, a new British Government headed by Lord Liverpool provisionally repealed the Order in Council.
Forty-one days after the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
declared war, the word arrived in London on July 29, 1812. Two days later, July 31, 1812, the Ministry ordered its first counter-measures. It forbade English ships to sail except in convoys and restrained American ships in English ports. The Orders in Council had been repealed on June 23, 1812, but the ministers did not intend to take additional measures until they could learn the American reaction. Word of the repeal of the Orders did not reach President James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
until August 12, 1812, some fifty days later. Even then he refused to halt hostilities because he did not know how Britain had reacted to the declaration of war.