In 1776, when the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain they were in no position to compete with the British Royal navy on the high seas. At that time, the British Royal navy was the most powerful in the world and America was in no position to face them on the high seas. American Congress first established a navy out of individual vessels outfitted for war, but were unable to confront the Royal navy without being easily decimated. Yet, Americans would not give up. Private citizens armed existing vessels or built new ones of very size and description and took to the seas to protect the shores and merchants. Many of these ships actively sought out to disrupt British shipping and capture their cargo as prizes and even destroy British ships. On March 23, 1776, the Continental Congress formalized the commissioning process of these privateers and set up universal rules of conduct. It is estimated that the total damage to the British shipping by privateers was about $18 million during the Revolutionary war.
In 1814, James Madison praised the role of privateers played during the War of 1812. The War of 1812 was the last major war in which private armed vessels played an important role. At the outbreak of the war, many of these armed vessels were small, often carrying only a single gun. But as the war progressed their manpower and number of guns increased. Many were carrying anywhere from 7 to 20 guns or more. When war broke out in 1812, the US Navy had less than 15 large operational war ships while the Royal Navy had well over 100 war ships, 4 fifty-gun ships and 134 frigates. In 1803 and 1806, President Jefferson had requested more than 100 gunboats to be built, but Congress was hesitant to authorize as many. Now in response to the Royal Navy, the United States authorized about 500 private ships into service as privateers. In his 1814 State of the Union Address, Madison explained that "in spite of the naval force of the enemy" , American privateers were able to bring "rich prizes" into our ports. Madison considered this to be proof that the blockade imposed by the British Orders in Council was not only illegal but also impractical. It would ultimately fail in it's purpose to vex and discourage the trade between the United States and other neutral countries.
"In spite of the naval force of the enemy accumulated on our coasts, our private cruisers also have not ceased to annoy his commerce and to bring their rich prizes into our ports, contributing thus, with other proofs, to demonstrate the incompetency and illegality of a blockade the proclamation of which is made the pretext for vexing and discouraging the commerce of neutral powers with the United States."One of the most famous privateers was a 20-gun vessel known as the America sailing out of the port of Salem, Massachusetts. The America reportedly captured 26 prizes. Timothy Spezia of The Gibson House Museum researched the America and it's career as a privateer. The America was built in 1803 and originally sent out to sea as a merchant vessel. The ship spanned a length of 114 feet and was 30 feet wide. In 1812, she was then commissioned as a privateer and her length was reduced to 108 feet to make her speedier and more maneuverable. The United States Navy authorized the America to prey on English commercial vessels and take their cargo as prizes. Throughout the war, the America captured a total of 47 vessels mostly in the North Atlantic. 27 of these ships and their cargoes were sent back to the Untied States for a total value of $1.1 million.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29456
https://www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/privateers.html
http://www.eighteentwelve.ca/?q=eng/Topic/66
http://www.stateoftheunionhistory.com/2016/04/1804-thomas-jefferson-building-and.html
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/The_American_Privateer_General_Armstrong_Capt._Sam._C._Reid.jpg
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