Editing Yarmouth, Massachusetts (section)

===War of 1812===

In the early years of the Republic, Yarmouth shared with the rest of New England a strong support for the [[Federalist Party]].<ref>{{harvnb|Swift|1890|p=467}}: "Yarmouth was an intensely Federal town, and the adherents of Mr. Jefferson were regarded as Jacobins and infidels. It was fortunate for the peace of the town that there was so few of them here.... The vote of the town for governor in April 1813, was 265 for Caleb Strong, the anti-war, federal candidate, and twenty-three for Joseph B. Varnum, the war, administration candidate."</ref> The economy of Yarmouth was centered on maritime industries, and the townspeople were consequently opposed to the [[Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson]] Administration's [[Embargo Act of 1807]] and [[Non-Intercourse Act (1809)|Non-Intercourse Act of 1809]].<ref>{{harvnb|Swift|1890|p=467}}: "The position of the administration on the subject of our commercial policy was very obnoxious to our people, who felt that it was destroying their shipping interests and sapping the foundations of their prosperity. The embargo, the non-intercourse act, and all the measures adopted by the government, under the pretext of vindicating our rights as a commercial community, seemed to them to have an exactly opposite influence and tendency. The ships were rotting at their docks and the men out of employment. Individuals, and the town as a corporate body, protested against the policy adopted. A town meeting, held August 29, 1808, petitioned Congress to suspend the embargo; and the town repeated the action in February 1809."</ref>

On July 8, 1812, the Yarmouth town meeting voted to protest the recent Congressional declaration of war with Great Britain.<ref>{{harvnb|Swift|1890|p=467}}: "July 8, 1812, twenty days after the declaration of war, the town put on record a protest against the act."</ref> Along with much of the rest of coastal New England, Yarmouth was subject to blockade by the Royal Navy beginning in 1814.<ref>{{harvnb|Swift|1890|p=468}}: "In 1814, Great Britain, being freed from her continental embarrassments, sent a large fleet to the New England coast, which kept our coasting and fishing vessels within their harbors, and nearly destroyed the remaining industries of the town."</ref> Although the people of Yarmouth, including its militiamen, remained intensely opposed to the [[War of 1812]], local militia forces did participate in attempts to counter the blockade.<ref>{{harvnb|Swift|1890|p=468}}: "Alarms were frequent, and the militia were constantly liable to be called out. On one occasion the Yarmouth company was a day and night in Barnstable, which was supposed to be threatened with an attack, and bivouacked in the courthouse. It was once or twice, under the same circumstances, marched to the south side, which was threatened by a visit from the invaders. Party spirit ran high, and the people of the town refused to take any other part in the hostilities, than to repel invasion. Many of those who had fought and suffered in the revolutionary war, utterly refused to engage in the struggle then going on. The opposition to the war was at no time abated in this town, and the treaty of peace was a welcome relief to the people."</ref>