Article I of the United States Constitution lists "grant[ing] Letters of Marque and Reprisal" as an explicit power of the Congress. Are these still being issued? If not, when was the last one of these issued?
-
3Welcome to History:Stack Exchange. Thank you for your question; please consider revising it to be more in line with our community expectations. Like many other stacks, we expect questions to provide evidence of prior research. That helps us to understand the question, and avoids our repeating work you've already done. Our help center, and other stacks provide additional resources to assist with revisions.– MCW ♦Dec 16, 2020 at 17:15
-
4Letters of Marque covers much of this. mysticseaport has a more concise treatment. It appears that they probably were not issued after the war of 1812.– MCW ♦Dec 16, 2020 at 17:19
-
3The CSA issued letters of marque during the Civil War, and according to the Wikipedia article on Confederate privateers this is the last time they were used. Does the article I linked to answer your question?– SpencerDec 16, 2020 at 21:55
-
@costrom You did not provide evidence of prior research. This question can be searched up on google (Search: "when was the last us letter of marque") and the first result will exactly answer your question.– TardyMar 4, 2021 at 16:18
1 Answer
The last time the United States Congress issued a letter of Marque and Reprisal was during the War of 1812. The last time they considered it was during Andrew Jackson's administration. The Declaration of Paris is an international law signed onto by over fifty nations. Created in 1856, the United States abides by the provisions thereto. It prohibits the act of privateering. Thus, although Congress have the Constitutional authority to grant letters of Marque, they essentially cannot do so without violating international law.