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Why did President James Madison restore nonintercourse against Great Britain in 1810?
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War of 1812
Battle between the frigates HMS Shannon and USS Chesapeake off Boston during the War of 1812; detail of a lithograph Louis Haghe after by J.C. Schetky.
President James Madison restored nonintercourse against Great Britain in November 1810 based on the provisions of Macon’s Bill No. 2, which had been enacted earlier that year.12
This legislation stipulated that if either Great Britain or France dropped their commercial restrictions against the United States, the U.S. would revive nonintercourse against the other nation. In August 1810, Napoleon signaled that he would exempt American shipping from the restrictive Berlin and Milan decrees. Although the British provided evidence that French restrictions were still being enforced, Madison chose to accept the French overture and reinstated nonintercourse against Britain, a move that brought the United States one step closer to the War of 1812.2