Prologue to War : England and the United States 1805-1812

wall, Cabinet Members. Only in citing manuscript collections not rigorously organized chronologically, or undated materials, do the footnotes include volume names or numbers or folio numbers. France, devoted to the strengthening of British commerce, most Pittites advocated a harsh policy toward Americans. Their leader, Spencer Perceval, was always eager for battle with his parliamentary enemies and ready to face any Napoleonic challenge. His piety, simplicity, and uncompromising view of the war made him very popular in Commons. Perceval was also stubborn and intolerant of criticism, and his ideas, particularly in the commercial field, often simplified Pitt's almost to the point of caricature. Perceval opposed toleration of American trade with the West Indies and sponsored the Orders in Council of November, 1807. His system received enthusiastic support from lesser members of the faction, perhaps most consistently from George Rose, a statistics-laden veteran at the Board of Trade, and from Daniel Stuart, editor of the Courier, one of the most important and certainly the most anti-American journal in London. Although cabinet colleagues sometimes doubted the wisdom of Perceval's policies, the force of his opinions and his strength in Parliament defeated major challenges until 1812. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1961.