Why were American frigates and privateers so important to the war effort in the war of 1812

The privateer America earned quite a reputation for the number of British ships she plundered and the value of the cargo seized. the marauding work of the America was so devastating to the British merchant marine that the British government built a frigate, the Dublin, for the express purpose of chasing the America from the seas.

Long after the war ended, the captain of America and the captain of the Dublin met in Valparaiso. Neither knew the other's identity. In the course of a conversation the Briton remarked:

"I was once almost within gun-shot of that infernal Yankee skimming-dish, just as night came on. By daylight she had outsailed the Dublin so devilish fast that she was no more than a speck on the horizon. By the way, I wonder if you happen to know. the name of the beggar that was master of her."

"I'm the beggar," smiled the American master and they drank a toast to each other's health