The Continental System - Bibliography
Bonnel, Ulane. La France, les États-Unis, et la guerre de course, 1797–1815. Paris, 1961. Describes in lucid fashion the effects of the continental system upon the United States.
Clauder, Anna C. American Commerce as Affected by the Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon, 1793–1812. Philadelphia, 1932. An old but useful analysis of trade statistics and maritime regulations.
Crosby, Alfred W. America, Russia, Hemp, and Napoleon: American Trade with Russia and the Baltics, 1783–1812. Columbus, Ohio, 1965. An important study for understanding why the continental system never effectively excluded neutral and British commerce from Europe.
Heckscher, Eli F. The Continental System: An Economic Interpretation. Oxford and New York, 1922. Especially useful in understanding the historical background to the continental system and provides a detailed analysis of the continental response to the blockade.
Hickey, Donald R. The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict. Urbana and Chicago, 1990. The account of the Hartford Convention of 1814–1815 emphasizes that the twenty-six New England delegates, led by Harrison Gray Otis, were never secession-minded.
McCoy, Drew R. The Elusive Republic: Political Economy in Jeffersonian America. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1980. Places Republican foreign policy within the goals they sought for establishing a domestic society, emphasizing land and trade expansion, creation of virtuous individual citizens, and a better, more humane world.
Mahan, Alfred Thayer. The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793–1812. 2 vols. London, 1892. Demonstrates the difficulties Napoleon experienced in effectively countering the naval power of Britain.
Perkins, Bradford. Prologue to War: England and the United States, 1805–1812. Berkeley; Calif., 1961. Critical of Jeffersonian policies, the book is especially strong on the domestic political factors both in America and England that shaped policies leading to war.
Schon, Alan. Napoleon Bonaparte. New York, 1997. This single-volume biography, covering all of Napoleon's major activities, places his economic policies in the context of his larger ambitions.
Sears, Louis Martin. Jefferson and the Embargo. Durham, N.C., 1927. Supports Jefferson's positions on several disputed issues.
Spivak, Burton. Jefferson's English Crisis: Commerce, Embargo, and the Republican Revolution. Charlottesville, Va., 1979. Tells how English countermeasures to French policies brought both political and ideological crises upon Jefferson.
Tucker, Robert W., and David C. Hendrickson. Empire of Liberty: The Statecraft of Thomas Jefferson. New York, 1990. The authors are critical of Jefferson's failure to understand that America's future, and the creation of a better world, remained closely tied to the survival of England. They believe Jefferson virtually sided with Napoleon and the continental system.
Varg, Paul A. Foreign Policies of the Founding Fathers. East Lansing, Mich., 1963. Provides an astute analysis of the practical and ideological components in the thinking of Jefferson and Madison concerning foreign affairs.