Temporarily reversed Jeffersonian commercial policy and allowed trade with the warring states of England and France.
Passed into law May 1, 1810, following the failed Embargo
of 1807 and the expiration of the Non-Intercourse Act of
1809, Macon’s Bill No. 2 attempted to influence the policies
of France and Britain. The measure continued the Jeffersonian policy of threatening to sever economic relations to force
these nations to respect U.S. neutrality and shipping rights on
the high seas. Sponsored by Republican Representative
Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the bill lifted all restrictions on trade with
France and England and promised to only bar war ships from
American ports. It also stated that if either belligerent ended
its restrictions against U.S. commerce before March 3, 1811,
the president could authorize the resumption of nonintercourse against the nation that refused to change its policy
within three months of the first country’s declaration to end
its restrictions against American shipping.
The bill enabled Napoleon Bonaparte to manipulate
American policy to his own advantage, and it increased tensions between the United States and England. On November
1, 1810, Napoleon officially revoked the Berlin and Milan decrees that blockaded England and authorized the seizure of
U.S. ships that refused to trade with France. According to the
provisions of the bill, England was to revoke its restrictions
by February 1, 1811. Although British officials did issue licenses to American ships to enter English ports, Parliament’s
unwillingness to officially renounce the Orders in Council
that blockaded continental Europe forced the United States
to reimpose nonintercourse against Britain. Even though
Napoleon continued to seize American ships in French ports
in violation of Macon’s Bill No. 2, the actions of the British
Navy proved more threatening and more damaging to U.S.
shipping and neutrality and furthered the divide that resulted
in the War of 1812.
—Peter S. Genovese
References
Horsman, Reginald. The New Republic: The United States of
America, 1789–1815. New York: Longman, 2000.