- British naval dominance: The Royal Navy was the most powerful navy in the world at the time, and the British government believed that it was essential to maintain this dominance in order to protect British trade and sea routes. Impressment was seen as a necessary means of ensuring that the Royal Navy had enough manpower to do this.
- The size of the British merchant fleet: The British merchant fleet was also the largest in the world, and it relied heavily on American seamen to man its ships. The British government argued that it was therefore necessary to impress American seamen in order to keep the merchant fleet operating.
- The War of 1812: The War of 1812 between Britain and the United States further strained relations between the two countries, and the British government increased its use of impressment as a way of weakening the American economy and military.
The British government's policy of impressment was highly unpopular in the United States, and it was one of the main causes of the War of 1812. The British government eventually agreed to stop impressing American seamen as part of the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war in 1814.