the latter's well-known ill-humor on account of the treatment which he and Hamet Caramanly had received. As noted above, the claims of Hamet had been disregarded when a peace was arranged between the United States and the usurping bashaw. Burr had come, however, to the wrong man. Satisfied that Burr was a dangerous person, Eaton went to the President and suggested the appointment of the conspirator to some foreign mission, giving as a reason that if he were not so disposed of there would be an insurrection, if not a revolution, in the West. The President did not think that such a danger was imminent; and as Eaton's relations with the government were not friendly, he did not press the matter further, but related Burr's conversations with him to several congressmen, who regarded Burr's projects as too chimerical and his circumstances as too desperate to furnish any ground for alarm. Burr was arrested at Fort Stoddart, on the Tombigbee River, in the present State of Alabama (Feb., 1807), when it was discovered that Eaton's warning had been dictated by fears which were only too well grounded. During the year 1806 the ex-Vice-President had been endeavoring to attract to his cause all who were discontented, for any reason whatever, with the government; and though he was acquitted at his trial on account of the lack of proper legal evidence, there is little doubt that he contemplated the establishment of an independent government, either in the south-western part of the United States or in one of the rich provinces of Mexico.

In 1806 the struggle between England and France caused serious trouble to the commercial interests of this country. The British government, by an "order in council," declared the whole coast of Europe, from the Elbe River in Germany to the port of Brest in France, to be in a state of blockade. Napoleon retaliated by issuing (Nov. 21) the "Berlin decree," declaring a blockade of all the ports of the British islands. Another British order in council prohibited all coast trade with France. American vessels were, therefore, seized by both French and English cruisers-by the French for trading with England, and by the English for trading with France. Our commerce, which had been remarkably prosperous on account of the neutral position of the country, was nearly destroyed. Great Britain also claimed the right to stop and search American vessels on the high seas, ostensibly in order to recover men who had deserted from the British naval service; but if a British war vessel was short of men, its commander had no scruples against the practice of seizing and impressing American seamen. On the 22d of June, 1807, the American frigate Chesapeake was chased and attacked by the British frigate Leopard. Barron, the American commander, was unprepared for an attack, and after losing three men killed and eighteen wounded, he was brought to, and four men were carried away by the Leopard, three of whom, as was subsequently discovered, were native Americans. This outrage caused the issue by the President of a

proclamation prohibiting all British vessels from continuing in or entering the harbors of the United States until reparation was made. In November, 1807, another order in council was issued, forbidding neutral vessels to enter French ports until they had previously stopped at a British port and paid a duty. In December came Napoleon's "Milan decree," confiscating every vessel which should submit to British search or had paid the exacted tribute. Then Congress decreed an embargo which detained in our ports all vessels (Dec. 22, 1807).

The election of 1808 resulted in the choice of James Madison, the Republican candidate, as President, and in the re-election of George Clinton as Vice-President. Madison received 122 electoral votes and Clinton 113. Pinckney and King, the Federalist candidates, received only 47 votes apiece. Before Jefferson went out of office the embargo was raised (Mar. 1, 1809). It had caused great distress in commercial circles, and it rendered Jefferson's administration unpopular with some people who were members of his own party; but his friends claimed that his administration had accomplished much good, dwelling especially upon his foreign policy, and upon the acquisition of Louisiana, which had been purchased from France in 1803 for $15,000,000.

Madison's cabinet consisted of James Monroe, Secretary of State; Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury; William Eustis, Secretary of War; and Cæsar Rodney, Secretary of the Navy. Troublesome complications with foreign nations gave this administration abundance of work to perform, which required the most skilful of management. The irritation between this country and Great Britain continually increased; and Napoleon issued another decree (Mar. 23, 1810), which declared that all American vessels which had entered French ports since the 1st of March, or which might thereafter enter, were and should be forfeited, together with their cargoes. American merchant vessels were still captured by British cruisers, which were continually hanging around our coasts. By the census of 1810 the population of the United States was found to be 7,239,881, an increase of 36 per cent. since 1800. A free people, increasing so rapidly in population and resources, could no longer endure the insults and injuries of a nation which modestly claimed to "rule the waves,” and which attempted to make good that claim by repeatedly transgressing the plainest precepts of international law. The British cruisers did not always escape. The Little Belt, a sloop-of-war, was overhauled and hailed by the American frigate President, and replied with a shot which struck the mainmast of the latter. The fire was returned, the guns of the sloop were silenced, and her captain was obliged to give a civil answer to the inquiry which had been made by Commodore Rodgers, the American commander (May 16, 1811).

During the summer of 1811 it was discovered that the famous Indian

chief Tecumseh was confederating the tribes of the North-west in a war against the people of the United States, having been incited thereto by British emissaries. General Harrison, who was then the governor of Indiana Territory, marched against him, and defeated him in the bloody battle of Tippecanoe (Nov. 7, 1811). As the British orders in council were still rigorously enforced, as more than nine hundred American vessels had been seized and confiscated since 1803, as insult after insult was being offered to the American flag, while the British press insolently boasted that the United States "could not be kicked into a war," forbearance was no longer a virtue, and on the 18th of June, 1812, an act of Congress was passed declaring war against Great Britain, by a vote of 79 to 49 in the House of Representatives, and of 19 to 13 in the Senate. Thus began what has been appropriately called "the second war for independence," though it is usually known as "the war of 1812." Congress authorized the President to enlist 25,000 regulars, to accept 50,000 volunteers, and to call out, if necessary, 100,000 volunteers for the defence of the coast. The American navy consisted of 8 frigates, 2 sloops, and 5 brigs, while the British navy numbered 1060 vessels, with 144,000 men. Henry Dearborn, an officer of the Revolution, was appointed commander-in-chief of the army, with James Wilkinson, Wade Hampton, William Hull and Joseph Bloomfield as his principal brigadiers. As these officers were all veterans, much was expected of them, but the results of the military operations of the first year of the war were not in accordance with these expectations. General Hull, who was also governor of Michigan Territory, crossed, with 2000 men, the river dividing the United States and Canada (July 12, 1812), issued a pompous proclamation, tendering to the Canadians the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and wasted a month in ruinous delay. In the mean time a large force of British and Indians captured Fort Mackinac, and Hull was forced to retire to Detroit, where he surrendered his whole army (Aug. 16) without standing an assault. Though he was subsequently found guilty of cowardice when tried by a court-martial, his memory has been successfully vindicated. His force had dwindled down to 800 men; and as the British commander had 700 whites and 600 Indians, he wished to avoid the terrible bloodshed which would have ensued from a conflict with a superior detachment containing so many savages. An attempt to invade Canada on the Niagara frontier was equally unsuccessful.

The British government declared all of the American coast except that of the New England States in a state of blockade (Dec. 12, 1812); but no large naval force appeared on our coasts until February, 1813. A naval battle had been fought, however, which retrieved the national honor, and which had a powerful effect upon the public mind in both countries. On the 19th of August the United States frigate Constitution, of 44 guns, Captain Isaac Hull, met the British frigate Guerriere, of 38 guns, Captain

Dacres, which was cruising around in search of an American frigate, with a flag at her masthead bearing the taunting inscription "No Little Belt." The Little Belt had carried only 18 guns, while the President was a 44 gun frigate, and the taunt implied that an American frigate might disable a small vessel, but that the Guerriere was not likely to be beaten. Within forty minutes after the beginning of the fight the Guerriere was surrendered, being so shattered that the victor burned her. The Constitution was so little damaged that she was ready for action on the following day. Her loss in killed and wounded was 14, while her opponent lost at least 79 in killed and wounded; but according to one account the correct number is 114. Several other British vessels were soon afterward captured. The United States sloop-of-war Wasp, of 18 guns, met the Frolic, of 22 guns, and forced her to surrender (Oct. 18, 1812) after a battle of 45 minutes, with a loss of 80 killed and wounded, while that of the victor was only 8. The frigate United States, Captain Decatur, with a loss of only 11 men killed and wounded, captured (Oct. 25) the British frigate Macedonian, the latter losing 104 killed and wounded. These results showed that the American vessels were better handled and that their guns were better served than those of the enemy.

The presidential election of 1812 resulted in the re-election of Madison, with Elbridge Gerry as Vice-President. The electoral vote was 217, it having been reallotted in accordance with the census of 1810. Madison received 128 and Gerry 131 electoral votes, while their opponents, De Witt Clinton and Jared Ingersoll, received, respectively, 89 and 86 votes. This result was regarded as an approval of the war by a majority of the people of the United States, and had a perceptible effect upon the vigor with which military operations were conducted. Harrison, who deservedly possessed the confidence of the Western people, was appointed to the command of the army of the West; Dearborn, with the army of the Centre, was on the bank of the Niagara River; Hampton had the army of the North on the shore of Lake Champlain. The result of the first action of this year was not very encouraging to the Americans. Frenchtown, on the Raisin River, in Michigan, was captured by the Americans under Colonels Allen and Lewis (Jan. 18, 1813), and the arrival of General Winchester, with 300 troops, brought the number of the party up to 800. 1500 British and Indians, under General Proctor, defeated this force, and the greater part of the prisoners were massacred by the Indians, though General Proctor had promised them his protection. "Remember the river Raisin!" became the war-cry of the Kentuckians, who had lost many friends and relatives. In April, General Pike, with 1700 men, captured Toronto, but was himself killed by the explosion of a mine. In May, General Harrison, having 1200 men, was besieged in Fort Meigs, on the Maumee River, in Ohio, for nearly two weeks, by 2000 British and Indians, under General

Proctor and Tecumseh. Colonel Dudley, with 800 men, attempted to relieve the fort, and his attack was at first successful; but while pressing on rashly in the pursuit, he fell into an ambush, and the greater part of his troops were cut off. A sallying-party of 300 men from the fort did somewhat better, spiking the cannon of the principal British batteries and returning with 42 prisoners. The Indians saw that it would be slow work, so they deserted with Tecumseh, their leader, and the siege was soon afterward raised; but on the 21st of July, Proctor and Tecumseh returned with 4000 British and Indians. General Clay, who was in command, gave them a warm reception; and Proctor, leaving Tecumseh to watch the fort, started to take Fort Stephenson, on the Lower Sandusky, in Ohio, which was garrisoned by 150 young men, under Major Croghan, who successfully defended it against the attack of the 500 regulars and 800 Indians under Proctor. The enemy then gave up all hope of taking the American forts until they could gain the ascendency on the lakes. On the 1st of June the American frigate Chesapeake was captured by the British frigate Shannon, after a desperate battle of only fifteen minutes. It was then that Lawrence, the commander of the Chesapeake, who was mortally wounded, uttered those memorable words, "Don't give up the ship!" which served as a motto for Commodore Perry at the battle of Lake Erie, fought on the 10th of September following. The Americans had on this occasion two 20-gun vessels, and seven the combined armament of which amounted to only 14 guns, making in all 9 vessels and 54 guns. The British had six vessels, with 63 guns. After a battle of three hours, during which the Lawrence, Commodore Perry's flag-ship, was so disabled that he was obliged to shift his quarters to the Niagara, the victory of the Americans was complete, and Perry could say, in a despatch to General Harrison, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours." On the 5th of October, General Harrison defeated Proctor in the battle of the Thames, fought in Canada West, at a Moravian town about 80 miles from Detroit. Tecumseh was killed, his Indians were scattered, and nearly all of the British were killed or captured, Proctor himself narrowly escaping. This ended the war in the North-west. A plan to invade Canada with the armies of the Centre and of the North, the former numbering 7000 men and the latter 4000, was defeated by a lack of concert between their respective generals (Wilkinson and Wade Hampton), and the military operations of the year were ended by the abandonment of Fort George, in Canada, and the burning of Newark (Dec. 10) by the American general McClure, which latter severity was retaliated by the massacre of the garrison of Fort Niagara, which the British surprised on the 19th of December, and the burning of Lewistown, Manchester, Youngstown, Black Rock and Buffalo.

In March, 1814, General Wilkinson, with 4000 men, attacked La Colle