<P> The Chesapeake -- Leopard Affair created an uproar among Americans . There were strident calls for war with Great Britain , but these quickly subsided . President Thomas Jefferson initially attempted to use this widespread bellicosity to diplomatically threaten the British government into settling the matter . The United States Congress backed away from armed conflict when British envoys showed no contrition for the Chesapeake affair , delivering proclamations reaffirming impressment . Jefferson 's political failure to coerce Great Britain led him toward economic warfare : the Embargo of 1807 . </P>
<P> The Chesapeake -- Leopard Affair created an uproar among Americans . There were strident calls for war with Great Britain , but these quickly subsided . President Thomas Jefferson initially attempted to use this widespread bellicosity to diplomatically threaten the British government into settling the matter . The United States Congress backed away from armed conflict when British envoys showed no contrition for the Chesapeake affair , delivering proclamations reaffirming impressment . Jefferson 's political failure to coerce Great Britain led him toward economic warfare : the Embargo of 1807 . </P>
when the british fired on chesapeake in june 1807 congress
when the british fired on chesapeake in june 1807 congress
backed away from armed conflict
backed away from armed conflict