What was impressment? how did it cause the war of 1812?

Impressment was just one of several causes of the War of 1812. Because of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, our commercial rights as a neutral on the high seas were being infringed upon by France and England. Great Britain also practiced the policy of impressment, stopping American ships and claiming that some sailors were British deserters from the British navy and forcing them to serve on British war ships. Impressment had been a policy of Great Britain for a long timeImpressment, colloquially, "the press" or the "press gang", refers to the act of taking men into a navy by force and with or without notice. Navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means.