d foes but also
divided the people of the United States into opposing parties, one in
favour of Napoleon, the other in favour of the British. The party
favouring Napoleon wanted war against the British. The other party
wanted peace.

The War Party hated the British, coveted Canada, and wished to break
the British blockade. The Peace Party said that Napoleon was a tyrant,
while the British were on the side of freedom, and that Napoleon was
rougher with American ships which broke the land-blockade than the
British were with those which broke the sea-blockade. The War Party
answered that, for one ship Napoleon could catch, the British caught
twenty. This was true. But it showed that the War Party would rather
make money on Napoleon's side than lose it on the side of freedom.

The War Party's last argument was that British deserters should be safe
under the American flag when on the high seas. The high seas meant the
sea far enough from any country to be a "no-man's-land," where, as all
the other peoples of the world agreed, any navy could enforce the laws
of war against any one who broke them. The War Party, however, said
"no," and went on tempting British seamen to desert, by offering
"dollars for shillings," a thing they could well afford, because they
were making a great deal of money out of the war, while the British
were forced to spend theirs in fighting the tyrant Napoleon.

The War Party won the vote in Congress; and war was declared in 1812,
just when Napoleon was marching to stamp out resistance in Russia.

This war sprang a double surprise on the British. First, the Americans
failed badly on land against Canada, though they outnumbered the
Canadians fifteen to one, and though the Imperial garrison of Canada
was only four thousand strong. Secondly, the little American Navy gave
the big British Navy a great deal of trouble by daring cruises on the
part of small but smart squadrons against the British trade routes,
and, as there were no squadron battles, by what counted for very much
more than squadron cruises in the eyes of the world, five ship duels
won without a break. Ship for ship of the same class the Americans had
the larger and smarter vessels of the two, and often the better crews.
Twenty years of war had worn out the reserves of British seamen.
"Dollars for shillings" had tempted many of the British who survived to
desert the hard work against Napoleon for the easier, safer, and better
paid