BAYONNE DECREE
\bˈe͡ɪɒn dɪkɹˈiː], \bˈeɪɒn dɪkɹˈiː], \b_ˈeɪ_ɒ_n d_ɪ_k_ɹ_ˈiː]\
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a decree issued on April 17, 1808, by the Emperor Napoleon, in the course of his attempts to reduce England to terms by destroying the commerce of neutral powers like the United States. On pretext of falling in with the embargo policy of the American government, he ordered that all American vessels which should enter the ports of France, Italy and the Hanse Towns should be seized, "because no vessels of the United States can now navigate the seas without violating the law of the said States."
By John Franklin Jameson
