Dismissed by many historians as a “strategical side show” to the main event being fought in Europe, the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States seems to have been declared by the unprepared and fought by the unwilling for reasons that remain unexplained. Inconclusive and futile as a military exercise, the War of 1812 merits further study from an economic viewpoint as a war against trade. Not only did the War of 1812 mark an important turning point in the mercantile relationships between Great Britain and her current and former colonies in North America, it was the last international conflict in which commerce raiding or privateering played a major role.

As an economic weapon, the legalized seizure of enemy shipping has been praised, reviled, or ignored depending on the viewpoint of the writer. A review of the literature on the subject revealed a generally positive attitude toward private armed vessels or privateers among maritime historians and, not unexpectedly, less enthusiasm for their efforts among naval historians. Even fewer historians treated prizemaking as an important aspect of naval life. The handful of legal historians concerned with prize emphasize the jurisdictional disputes surrounding the development of prize law while neglecting the wider economic and political issues. Such conflicting interests and perspectives contributed over time to a number of popular prejudices concerning privateers and prize.

For many people, privateering remained synonymous with piracy. Others recognized privateering's legal status but dismissed its effectiveness. To dispel some of these misconceptions, this study examines the economic, political, and social impact of both privateering and naval prize within the context of Atlantic Canada during the War of 1812. It relies heavily on the War of 1812 records of the Vice-Admiralty Court at Halifax that document the prizemaking activities of privateers from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and Royal Navy vessels carrying prizes into provincial ports. For this reason, the historical overview of prize law in Chapter 2 concentrates on the development of British admiralty law and its adaptation by colonial practitioners in the United States and British North America.

An obscure war fought by unlikely foes provides the setting for this study of prizemaking. The first chapter reviews the origins of the War of 1812 and the mixed feelings of those involved.