1807. gada embargo likumu pieņēma 10. Savienoto Valstu (ASV) Kongress, un likumu parakstīja Tomass Džefersons, valsts trešais prezidents. Aktu izraisīja vēlme parādīt pilnīgu ekonomisko un militāro neitralitāti Napoleona karu laikā. Tā piedzīvoja daudzus notikumus, kas līdzinājās pilnīgai jebkuras starptautiskās tirdzniecības aizliegumam. Džefersons mudināja Kongresu pieņemt aktu daļēji kā atbildi uz uzbrukumu. Britu karakuģis uzbruka amerikāņu fregatei, ievainojot 18 un nogalinot trīs, kā arī atstājot iespaidu uz trim amerikāņu jūrniekiem vai piespiežot viņus pievienoties un kalpot Lielbritānijas Karaliskajai flotei. Tomēr likuma ietekme bija kaut kas savādāks nekā Džefersona nolūks: Lielbritānija joprojām saņēma Amerikas eksportu — daudzas ASV ostas ignorēja likumu, lai gūtu ekonomisku labumu, un šis akts radīja neparedzētu kaitējumu Amerikas ekonomikai, samazinot ienākumus, no kuriem bija atkarīgas kuģniecības ostas. Rezultātā 1807. gada Embargo likums beidzot tika atcelts Džefersona prezidentūras beigās.
At the outset of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803, the U.S. had maintained a position of neutrality that still permitted trading between countries fighting in the war. The thinking was that as long as the U.S. was militarily neutral, it could also remain economically neutral by trading to all warring nations and not showing sides by favoring one country over another. This notion changed, however, with an incident in which the USS Chesapeake, a neutral American frigate carrying goods, was hostilely boarded by the HMS Leopard, a British warship, on June 21, 1807. Americans were killed, injured and captured as a result of the attack. The event was one of the catalysts in persuading Jefferson and Congress toward enacting a full-fledged ban of British imports, and ultimately, American exports to Britain.
Interesanti, ka pirms incidenta, kurā bija iesaistīts USS Chesapeake, Kongress bija pieņēmis 1806. gada likumu par neievešanu, likumu, kas aizliedz importu no Lielbritānijas. Likums tika pieņemts 18. gada 1806. aprīlī, bet ne uzreiz stājās spēkā; Amerika vispirms vēlējās redzēt, vai Lielbritānija, uzklausot jauno likumu, pārtrauks iekāpšanu un iespaidošanu uz neitrālu valstu kuģiem. Kā parādīja USS Chesapeake, vēstījums netika ņemts vērā. Tā rezultātā prezidents Džefersons un Kongress ne tikai sāka īstenot likumu par neievešanu, bet arī pievienoja jaunus likumus sākotnējam tiesību aktam, lai panāktu vēl drosmīgāku neitralitātes nostāju. Tas vainagojās ar 1807. gada Embargo likuma pieņemšanu 22. gada 1807. decembrī. Likums tika oficiāli nosaukts par “embargo, kas noteikts kuģiem un kuģiem Amerikas Savienoto Valstu ostās un ostās”.
By December 1807, Jefferson had gone in less than a year from merely banning British imports to making any trade between America and any other nation illegal. His — and Congress’ — hasty decisions weren’t exactly met with public approval. The Embargo Act of 1807 was immediately met with ridicule and resistance by cities with U.S. shipping ports that economically depended on trade. Prominent ports such as New England were not too willing to give up their primary means of making money. Although the U.S. government attempted to crack down on illegal shipping, ports continued to flout the law by exporting bootlegged goods. Instances in which the government did prevent bootleggers only served to harm the U.S. economy, which began to suffer as a result of losing profits from trade routes.
Jefferson and Congress attempted to undo some of the economic damage by making alterations that eased restrictions on trading. On March 1, 1809, the Non-Intercourse Act was signed into law. This act allowed U.S. ports to once again ship exports and receive imports from other nations, excluding Britain and France. Ultimately, this did little to stop U.S. shippers from providing goods to Britain and France, and Congress had to go back to the drawing board. Macon’s Bill Number 2 followed, which effectively opened the gates for completely repealing the Embargo Act of 1807 as well as the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809. Overall, U.S. citizens and the press were relieved to see the Embargo Act gone, which had been ridiculed in several publications with clever spins and anagrams on the word embargo, including “dambargo”,”ograbme”, “Go-bar-’em” and “mob-rage.”