Chesapeake Incident
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The Chesapeake Incident occured in 1807 when a group of confederates took the Chesapeake, a Northern ship on a trade run from New York to Portland. The Southern hijackers wished to sell the Chesapeake's cargo, purchase armaments, and then transform the Chesapeake into a privateer in order to intercept and attack merchant ships from the North. Though they did reach British territorial waters off the coasts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, they were captured by two Northern warships on 16 December in St. Margaret's Bay in Nova Scotia. The ships searched a Nova Scotian fishing trolley for possible refugees. These actions employed by the North and South seriously violated British neutrality and severely damaged ties between America and Britain.
The event badly affected the future of the colonies as it had a serious effect on the thoughts for confederation. This event, combined with the St. Albans raid, helped push Canada to confederation.
Sources: Americas History, Fifth Edition ISBN 0-312-39879-4
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