Flanked by the countinghouses ofSchermerhorn Row on the right and the fish market on the Left, the Fulton ferry steams out into East River traffic, making its intrepid way from Manhattan to Brooklyn in the 1840s. ( "View ofBrooklyn, "by E. Whitefield)
of some new buildings up in Brooklyn H eigh rs. W e effecred rh e name change simply by pain ring a sign and prinring srarionery. The Posr Office accepred rhis wirhour a murmur and finall y rh e Ciry pur back "Fulton Srreer'' signs. Everyo ne knew whar rhe real name of rhe srreer was, afre r all.
A War that Brought Peace New Yo rk rempers bo iled in rh ar sa me sp lendid yea r 1807, when rh e Englishman J ohn Lam berr marveled ar sce nes ofsea commerce in Sourh Srreer, and Roberr Fulto n rook his sreamboar up ro Livingston's manor ho use "C lerm onr" on rhe Hudson and on up to Albany. Whar m ade peo ple an xio us and angry was Presidenr T homas J efferso n's decision to impose an embargo on all foreign rrade to avo id insulrs to American ships and seam en ar rh e hands ofBrirain and F rance in rheirriranic war ove r rh e furure of Europe. Of rhe rwo belligerenrs, rhe Brirish were by far rhe worsr offenders of neurra! American shipping. Com manding rh ewo rld 's sea lanes, rhey had more need of seamen and mo re opporruniry ro snarch men off rhe decks of American ships. Brirish shipping was srrerched to mainrain rhe wo rldwi de co mmerce which enabl ed rh em to fin ance a war againsr a E urope co nquered or coerced by N apoleon into subservience to rhe new French Empire. And rhe Royal Navy, commanding rhe seas afrer Nelson 's victory ar Trafalgar in 180 5, was srrerched to conrain rhe F rench and Spanish fl eers, rhe navies of H o ll and, co nquered by apoleon , Denmark, coerced by Napo leon , and rh e big fleers of Sweden and Russia, which swayed opporrun isri cally from o ne side ro rhe orher, lo nging ro rweak rhe rail of rh e Brirish lion , bur fear ing irs heavy paw. T he Royal Navy had more ships rhan ever befo re, which ir had to man from a popularion base much smaller rhan rhe popularions broughr under Napoleo n's sway. The need for sea men was real, bur ir led to severe violarions of American ri ghrs ar sea, including a disgraceful firin g on rhe unprepared US fri ga re Chesapeake. Orders-in-Council allowed Brirish ships to seize American cargoes for a wide range of causes, and seizure of Ame ri can seamen was recognized as valid if rhe seaman had been born in Brirain. Ir was nor rhese very real abuses which led ro rhe ourbreak of rhe War of 18 12, however. New England and maririme ew York vo red againsr wa r w hen war was urged by rhe radi cal interesrs in Congress pushing for US conquesr of Canada. Bya narrow margi n, however, wa r was d eclared. The res ulrs surprised borh sides. Firsr, rh e American forces marching in to liberare Canada were
SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99
dri ve n back by scour Canadian resisrance. Then Brirish frigares, accustomed to bearin g anyrhing rhey m et ar sea, shorr of an enemy line-of- bartleship, were overwhelmed and caprured by superi o r Am eri can firepower and ship-handling in a series of engagemenrs wirh rhe American heavy frigares Constitution and United States. The Royal Navy had to order irs frigares to parrol only in pairs in American waters. American sloops of small er size achieved similar successes against rheir Brirish counrerparrs. And when Brirish forces mounred aggressive drives into American rerritory aro und Lake Erie and Lake C hamplain, US victo ri es over Brirish fl eers in borh rh ese lakes forced rhe invadin g Brirish armies to retreat. Brirish forces landed in rhe Chesapeake and burnr rh e US Capitol in Washington DC, while liberarin gAmerican slaves. Bur rhey were th en driven off in rheir arre mpr o n Balrimore. T he American Francis Sco rr Key, who had go ne aboard a Brirish ship to secure rhe release of an American civilian, wa rched rhe bombard menr of Fon McHenry. When he saw rh e fl ag still fl ying afrer a day-a nd-nighr bo mbardm enr, he wro re a poem , "T he Srar-S pangled Banner" whi ch, ser to rhe rune of a popular Brirish so ng, became rhe US Na ri o nal Anrhem. The fl ag, 29 feet in rh e ho isr and 36 feer in rh e fl y, was forrunarely big enough to be seen rhrough rhe smoke of rh e bombardment. The Brirish , giving up rhe arrempr to storm rhe forr, sa il ed away ro rry to caprure New Orleans ar rhe mourh of rhe Miss iss ippi . This arrack was pressed home and fai led di sasrrously, wirh d evasraring losses to rh e Brirish. Ironical ly, when rhe arrack took pl ace in J anuary 18 15, peace had already been declared, bur nei rher side learn ed rhis in rime ro avoid rh e slaughrer. Both sides had wa nted peace afre r rwo-and-a-half yea rs of co nflict. America had suffered rhe humiliarion of rhe Brirish go ing where rhey wanted on rhe American sea coast and occupying a large part of the coas r of Maine. A co nvention of New E ngland Srares stron gly opposed to the wa r had met at Hartford and had co me near voting rhemselves our of rh e Union. But rhe decisive pressure fo r peace had come from the depredari ons of American privateers, which drove British in surance rates to new heights while puttin g an enormous amount ofliquid wealth from rhe sale of caprured cargoes into the hands of American shipping interesrs. W ith peace ar last achi eved in E urope afrer 20 yea rs of nearl y continuo us war wirh France, and wirh rhe gateway to the rich trade with America open o nce again, British m erchants piled goods into New York in a dumpin g operarion to drive our 15