Excerpt from History of the Second War Between the United States of America and Great Britain, Vol. 2: Declared by Act of Congress, the 18th of June, 1812, and Concluded by Peace, the 15th of February, 1813
The Congress which declared war, without voting adequate means for waging it, hoping with the executive to escape its hardships, by one of their last expedients, on the the 3d of March, 1813, excluded, from and after the war, all British persons - not only seamen, but all British persons - from all American vessels, private and public; in the vain hope, by the removal of the subjects of impressment, that its odious practice might expire in the mere assertion of a harmless principle, against which we need not contend in arms. That unavailing concession then became, as I believe it yet remains, a dead letter on our code; discriminating, contrary to the American Declaration of Independence, between native and naturalized citizens, and by repression mostly inoperative, since discounte nanced by the doctrines of that declaration, vainly attempting to domiciliate seafaring people, and overcome their habitual propensity to rove and serve without much regard to birth or allegiance. That concession to power enacted, however, a striking refutation of the most common British apology for their surprising naval defeats, by excluding altogether from American vessels the supposed British seamen, to whom British national prejudice attributed American naval victories. There were very few of them in our vessels, and those few very inferior to our mariners. The instructions to our peace ministers, dwelling on that act of Congress, stated that, for the supply of our ships-of-war and merchant-service, we ought to depend on our own population, which experience had shown to be an abundant resource.
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