gmertca, , ?|emp, an& JUapoleon - Vote Hemp

America, Russia, Hemy, and Napoleonburg and return with $9,800 worth of goods—but the total ofsuch clearance amounted to not even a drop in the bucket. 2In Great Britain the effects of the Continental Systemspread like a killing fog. Clearances from her ports to Europedropped from 2,290 in 1807 to 1,282 in 1808. Th e value of herexports to the north of Europe decreased by 50 per cent. Herimports of naval stores plummeted. For example, in 1807, sheimported £639,507 worth of hemp, and in 1808, only£218,947 worth. 3 In 1808, attempts were made to raise hempin India, Ne w Holland, and even to mak e cordage out of thefiber of the plantain tree of the West Indies. 4 The price ofhemp shot upward. Hemp, £53 per ton in the summer of 1807,was £118 a year later. 5In Russia 1808 confirmed for the anglophiles all that theyhad supposed Alexander's alliance with France would mean.England, which regularly took half or more of the exports ofRussia, was cut off by war. Jefferson's embargo prevented theUnited States from taking England's place to any significantextent. Wa r with Sweden, practically Britain's only remainingally, closed off any intercourse with that neighbor. Trade bysea with everyone and anyone else was cut off by the presenceof the Britishfleetin the Baltic. Normally, between three andfive thousand vessels entered Russia's ports every year. In 1808,the total of all entries into all of Russia's ports was 996. 6Th e traders and governments of these nations in 1808moved as best they could to remedy their discomforts. Americantraders badgered Jefferson and Congress to lift the em ­bargo. American skippers in foreign ports or on the high seaswhen the embargo was passed often decided to stay away fromhom e rather than spend the duration of the embargo frettingno