The Embargo Act of 1807 was a general trade embargo on all foreign nations that was enacted by the United States Congress. As a successor or replacement law for the 1806 Non-importation Act and passed as the Napoleonic Wars continued, it represented an escalation of attempts to persuade Britain to stop any impressment of American sailors and to respect American sovereignty and neutrality but also attempted to pressure France and other nations in the pursuit of general diplomatic and economic leverage.
Thomas Jefferson, United States of America President from 1801 to 1809 and signer of the Embargo Act
Engraved teapot encouraging support for the Embargo: Encircling the lid is "Jefferson and the Embargo". On one side is "Mind your business" and on the other is "Prudence is the best Remedy for hard times".
An 1807 political cartoon showing merchants caught by a snapping turtle named "Ograbme" ("Embargo" spelled backwards). The embargo was also ridiculed in the New England press as Dambargo, Mob-Rage, or Go-bar-'em.
Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of coercion that attempts to get an actor to change its behavior through disruption in economic exchange. Sanctions can be intended to compel or deterrence.
An undersupplied US gasoline station, closed during the oil embargo in 1973