The
Embargo Act of 1807 was a United States law prohibiting all export of
cargo from US ports. Specifically, the act prohibited American shipping
bound for foreign ports and all foreign vessels from taking cargo at
American ports. It represented President Thomas Jefferson's response to
Britain's Orders in Council and France's Continental System, which were
severely hurting America's merchant marine. Although it was designed to
force the British and French to change their commercial systems, neither
country did.