the forcible enlistment of soldiers. This was a rude form of conscription that the British have employed for over four hundred years. At this time the London authorities claimed the right to impress only British subjects on their own soil, harbor, or merchant ships. However, many Americans were mistaken for Englishmen and between 1808 and 1811 alone some six thousand United States citizens were impressed by the "piratical man-stealers" of England. This was one of the major causes of the war of 1812.