Why did the British consider it okay to kidnap American citizens?

It may seem hard to believe, but there was a time when the British Royal Navy asserted the right simply to capture American sailors and press them into service in the British Navy. Even though the American Revolution was over and American commerce ships regularly traveled to European ports, including British ports, the British Empire was determined to assert what control it could over its former colonies. After the Revolution, British ships would from time-to-time board American ships and take some of their sailors to press into service for the Royal Navy. Thanks to Britain’s famed dominance of the high seas, what was the United States going to do about it?