| Summary: | <p class="first" id="d1344367e80">
The American declaration of war passed by Congress in June 1812 was followed by a
prize act which authorised the issuing of Letters of marque. These commissions or
licenses allowed American citizens to fit out privately armed vessels to seize British
ships. Although most privateers complied with Congress’s instructions, their counterparts
operating along the Maine coast used their commissions to further own economic self-interest
by orchestrating pre-arranged captures with British merchants in Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick. Since the British government encouraged its subjects to trade with the
enemy to undermine the American war effort, American privateers assumed most of the
risks. Merchants and mariners from as far away as New York and Connecticut traveled
to Maine to trade with the British despite the hazards of detection. As these privateers
engaged in fraud, other Americans turned to vigilante violence to uncover and foil
these schemes. After the British occupied Eastern Maine in the summer of 1814 trading
with the enemy became illegal on the British side of the border. Despite the risks,
British merchants continued to engage in trade with the enemy. Ultimately, persistence
of conflict and accommodation in the Northeastern Borderlands, the area comprising
Maine, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, helped undermined Eastern Maine’s allegiance
to the United States.
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