as I understand it, the impressment problem was a matter of interpretation... the US regarded British naval deserters who fled to the US as it's own citizens, and the Brits regarded them as British forever... so, in a way, both sides were right... the Americans thought the Brits were taking their sailors, and the Brits thought they were recovering deserters... apparently, conditions for sailors on British warships were pretty appalling... I remember reading about one man who, while serving on an American ship that was stopped by the Brits, was about to be taken back to the British ship (he was a deserter), and absolutely did not want to go... so he cut off his own left hand to make himself unsuitable for duty!