blackaeronaut Wrote:You see, after the American Revolution, we had a problem: the British were still pretty damn sore about the whole affair. Sore enough that they began to raid American ships and press gang their crews. And thus the War of 1812 began. (Sure, that wasn't the only reason, but it sure as hell was one of the prime motivators.) And then we had no choice but to maintain not only a standing army, but a standing navy as well.Well, there weren't any "American" ships to take deserters from before the Revolution...
As I understand history, the RN did that to everyone else's ships, military and civilian, but only took deserters from the RN. Was I misinformed?
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Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012