Jefferson, and was familiar with every event which had contributed to produce the existing hostile relations between the United States and Great Britain. His cabinet was composed of able men,' and in the eleventh Congress, which convened on the 22d of May, 1809, in consequence of the critical state of affairs, there was a majority of his political friends. Yet there was a powerful party in the country (the Federalists) hostile to his political creed, and opposed to a war with England, which now seemed probable.

2

At the very beginning of Madison's administration, light beamed upon the future. Mr. Erskine, the British minister, assured the President, that such portions of the orders in council' as affected the United States, should be repealed by the 10th of June. He also assured him that a special envoy would soon arrive, to settle all matters in dispute between the two governments. Supposing the minister to be authorized by his government to make these assurances, the President, as empowered by Congress, issued a proclamation [April 19, 1809], permitting a renewal of commercial intercourse with Great Britain, on that day. But the government disavowed Erskine's act, and the President again [August 10] proclaimed non-intercourse. The light had proved deceitful. This event caused great excitement in the public mind; and had the President then declared war against Great Britain, it would doubtless have been very popular.

Causes for irritation between the two governments continually increased, and, for a time, political intercourse was suspended. France, too, continued its aggressions. On the 23d of March, 1810, Bonaparte issued a decree at Rambouillet, more destructive in its operations to American commerce, than any measures hitherto employed. It declared forfeit every American vessel which had entered French ports since March, 1810, or that might thereafter enter; and authorized the sale of the same, together with the cargoes-the money to be placed in the French treasury. Under this decree, many American vessels were lost, for which only partial remuneration has since been obtained. Bonaparte justified this decree by the plea, that it was made in retaliation for the American decree of non-intercourse. Three months later [May, 1810]. Congress offered to resume commercial intercourse with either France or England, or both, on condition that they should repeal their obnoxious orders and decrees, before the 3d of March, 1811. The French emperor, who was always governed by expediency, in defiance of right and justice, feigned compliance, and by giving assurance [August] that such repeal should take effect in Novem

was one of the wisest and ablest; and his voluminous writings, purchased by Congress, display the most sagacious statesmanship. As a Republican, he was conservative. For eight years he was President of the United States, when he retired to private life. He died in June, 1836, at the age of eighty-five years.

1 Robert Smith, Secretary of State; Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury; William Eustis, Secretary of War; Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy; Cæsar Rodney, Attorney-General. 2 Its session lasted only about five weeks, because peace seemed probable.

3 Note 1, page 400.

4 Page 468.

• Page 402.

The act provided, that if either government should repeal its obnoxious acts, and if the other government should not do the same within three months thereafter, then the first should enjoy commercial intercourse with the United States, but the other should not.

ber, caused the President to proclaim such resumption of intercourse. It was a promise intended to be broken at any moment when policy should dictate. American vessels continued to be seized by French cruisers, as usual, and confiscated; and in March, 1811, Napoleon declared the decrees of Berlin' and Milan' to be the fundamental laws of the empire. A new envoy from France, who arrived in the United States at about this time, gave official notice to the government, that no remuneration would be made for property seized and confiscated.

The government of Great Britain acted more honorably, though wickedly. She continued her hostile orders, and sent ships of war to cruise near the principal ports of the United States, to intercept American merchant vessels and send them to England as lawful prizes. While engaged in this nefarious business, the British sloop of war Little Belt, Captain Bingham, was met [April 16, 1811], off the coast of Virginia, by the American frigate President, Commodore Rogers. That officer hailed the commander of the sloop, and received a cannon shot in reply. A brief action ensued, when Captain Bingham, after having eleven men killed and twenty-one wounded, gave a satisfactory answer to Rogers. The conduct of both officers was approved by their respective governments. That of the United States condemned the act of Bingham as an outrage without palliation; and the government and people felt willing to take up arms in defense of right, justice, and honor. Powerful as was the navy of Great Britain, and weak as was that of the United States, the people of the latter were willing to accept of war as an alternative for submission, and to measure strength on the ocean. The British navy consisted of almost nine hundred vessels, with an aggregate of one hundred and forty-four thousand

men.

The American vessels of war, of large size, numbered only twelve, with an aggregate of about three hundred guns. Besides these, there were a great number of gun-boats, but these were hardly sufficient for a coast-guard. Here was a great disparity; and for a navy so weak to defy a navy so strong, seemed madness. It must be remembered, however, that the British navy was necessarily very much scattered, for that government had interests to protect in various parts of the globe.

The protracted interruption of commercial operations was attended with very serious effect upon the trade and revenue of the United States, and all parties longed for a change, even if it must be brought about by war with European governments. The Congressional elections in 1810 and 1811, proved that the policy of Mr. Madison's administration was sustained by a large majority of the American people, the preponderance of the Democratic party being kept up in both branches of the Federal Legislature. The opposition, who, as a party, were unfavorable to hostilities, were in a decided minority, and the government had more strength in its councils than at any time during Jefferson's administration.

For several years war with England had seemed inevitable, and now [1811]

many causes were accelerating the progress of events toward such a result. Among these, the hostile position of the Indian tribes on the north-western frontier of the United States, was one of the most powerful. They, too, had felt the pressure of Bonaparte's commercial system. In consequence of the exclusion of their furs from the continental markets, the Indian hunters found their traffic reduced to the lowest point. The rapid extension of settlements north of the Ohio was narrowing their hunting-grounds, and producing a rapid diminution of game; and the introduction of whiskey, by the white people, was spreading demoralization, disease, and death among the Indians. These evils, combined with the known influence of British emissaries, finally led to open hostilities.

6

In the spring of 1811, it became certain that Tecumseh, a Shawnee1 chief, who was crafty, intrepid, unscrupulous, and cruel, and who possessed the qualities of a great leader, almost equal to those of Pontiac,' was endeavoring to emulate that great Ottawa by confederating the tribes of the north-west in a war against the people of the United States. Those over whom himself and twin-brother, the Prophet,' exercised the greatest control, were the Delawares, Shawnees, Wyandots, Miamies, Kickapoos, Winnebagoes, and Chippewas.* During the summer, the frontier settlers became so alarmed by the continual military and religious exercises of the savages, that General Harrison,* then governor of the Indiana Territory, marched, with a considerable force, toward the town of the Prophet, situated at the junction of the Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers, in the upper part of Tippecanoe county, Indiana. The Prophet appeared and proposed a conference, but Harrison, suspecting treachery, caused his soldiers to sleep on their arms [Nov. 6, 1811] that night. At four o'clock the next morning [Nov. 7] the savages fell upon the American camp, but after a bloody battle until dawn, the Indians were repulsed. The battle of Tippecanoe was one of the most desperate ever fought with the Indians, and the loss was heavy on both sides.' Tecumseh was not present on this occasion, and it is said the Prophet took no part in the engagement.

These events, so evidently the work of British interference, aroused the spirit of the nation, and throughout the entire West, and in the Middle and Southern States, there was a desire for war. Yet the administration fully appreciated the deep responsibility involved in such a step; and having almost the entire body of the New England people in opposition, the President and his friends hesitated. The British orders in councils continued to be rigorously enforced; insult after insult was offered to the American flag; and the British press insolently boasted that the United States "could not be kicked into a

1 Page 19.

2

Page 204.

3 In 1809, Governor Harrison had negotiated a treaty with the Miamies [page 19] and other tribes, by which they sold to the United States a large tract of land on both sides of the Wabash. The Prophet was present and made no objection; but Tecumseh, who was absent, was greatly dissatisfied. The British emissaries took advantage of this dissatisfaction, to inflame him and his people against the Americans.

• Page 17.

5 Page 474.

Harrison had upward of sixty killed, and more than a hundred wounded.
Note 1, page 400.

Note 4, page 390.

war."

On

Forbearance became no longer a virtue; and on the 4th of April, 1812, Congress laid another embargo' upon vessels in American waters, for ninety days. On the 1st of June, the President transmitted a special message to Congress, in which he reviewed the difficulties with Great Britain, strongly portrayed the aggressions inflicted upon us by that nation, and intimated the necessity of war. The message was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, in the House of Representatives, a majority of whom' agreed upon, and reported a manifesto [June 3], as the basis of a declaration of war. the following day [June 4, 1812], a bill, drawn up by Mr. Pinckney, the Attorney-General of the United States,' declaring war to exist between the United States and Great Britain, was presented by Mr. Calhoun. During the proceedings on this subject, Congress sat with closed doors. The measure was finally agreed to, by both Houses, by fair majorities. It passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 79 to 49. On the 17th it passed the Senate by a vote of 19 to 13, and on that day it received the signature of the President.* Two days afterward [June 19]. the President issued a proclamation which formally declared war against Great Britain. This is known in history as THE WAR OF 1812; or

5

THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE."

Congress, having authorized the President to declare war, took immediate measures to sustain that declaration. It passed an act which gave him authority to enlist twenty-five thousand men, to accept fifty thousand volunteers, and to call out one hundred thousand militia for the defense of the sea-coast and frontiers. Fifteen millions of dollars were appropriated for the army, and almost three millions for the navy. But at the very threshhold of the new order

1

Page 402. Four days after this [April 8] Louisiana was admitted into the Union as a State. * John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina; Felix Grundy, of Tennessee; John Smilie, of Pennsylvania; John A. Harper, of New Hampshire; Joseph Desha, of Kentucky; and Ebenezer Seaver, of Massachusetts. 3 Page 400.

The following are the words of that important bill: "Be it enacted, etc., That war be, and the same is hereby declared to exist between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America and their Territories; and that the President of the United States is hereby authorized to use the whole land and naval force of the United States to carry the same into effect, and to issue to private armed vessels of the United States, commissions, or letters of marque, and general reprisal, in such form as he shall think proper, and under the seal of the United States, against the vessels, goods, and effects of the government of the said United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the subjects thereof."

The chief causes for this act were the impressment of American seamen by the British; the blockade of French ports without an adequate force to sustain the act; and the British Orders in Council. The Federalists in Congress presented an ably-written protest, which denied the necessity or the expediency of war.

This is an appropriate title, for, until the termination of that war, the United States were only nominally free. Blessed with prosperity, the people dreaded war, and submitted to many acts of tyranny and insult from Great Britain and France, rather than become involved in another conflict. Socially and commercially, the United States were dependent upon Europe, and especially upon England; and the latter was rapidly acquiring a dangerous political interest here, when the war The war begun in 1775 was really only the first great step toward independence; the war begun in 1812, first thoroughly accomplished it. Franklin once heard a person speaking of the Revolution as the War of Independence, and reproved him, saying, "Sir, you mean the Revolu tion; the war of Independence is yet to come. It was a war for Independence, but not of Independence."

broke out.

of things, the administration was met by determined opposition. The Federal members of the House of Representatives published an address to their constituents, in which they set forth the state of the country at that time, the course of the administration and its supporters in Congress, and the reasons of the minority for opposing the war. This was fair and honorable. But outside of Congress, a party, composed chiefly of Federalists, with some disaffected Democrats, was organized under the name of the Peace party. Its object was to cast such obstructions in the way of the prosecution of the war, as to compel the government to make peace. This movement, so unpatriotic, the offspring of the lowest elements of faction, was frowned upon by the most respectable members of the Federal party, and some of them gave the government their hearty support, when it was necessary, in order to carry on the war with vigor and effect.

The first care of the government, in organizing the army, was to select efficient officers. Nearly all of the general officers of the Revolution were in their graves, or were too old for service, and even those of subordinate rank in

GENERAL DEARBORN.

that war, who yet remained, were far advanced in life. Yet upon them the chief duties of leadership were devolved. Henry Dearborn' was appointed majorgeneral and commander-in-chief; and his principal brigadiers were James Wilkinson,' Wade Hampton,' William Hull, and Joseph Bloomfield-all of them esteemed soldiers of the Revolution.

Hull was governor of the Territory of Michigan, and held the commission of a brigadier-general. When war was declared, he was marching, with a little more than two thousand troops, from Ohio, to attempt the subjugation of the hostile Indians." Congress gave him discretionary powers for invading Canada; but caution and preparation were necessary, because the British authorities, a long time in expectation of war, had taken measures accordingly. Feeling strong enough for the enemy, Hull, on the 12th of July, 1812, crossed the Detroit River with his whole force, to attack Fort Malden, a British post near the present village of Amherstburg. At Sandwich, he encamped, and by a fatal delay, lost every advantage which an immediate attack might have secured. In the mean while, Fort

anny.

Henry Dearborn was a native of New Hampshire, and a meritorious officer in the continental He accompanied Arnold to Quebec, and was distinguished in the battles which ruined Burgoyne [page 281]. He held civil offices of trust after the Revolution. He returned to private life in 1815, and died at Roxbury, near Boston, in 1829, at the age of seventy-eight years. Note 4, page 411.

Note 3, page 427.

Pages 396 and 426. Page 408. Canada then consisted of two provinces. The old French settlements on the St. Lawrence, with a population of about three hundred thousand, constituted Lower Canada; while the more recent settlements above Montreal, and chiefly upon the northern shore of Lake Ontario, including about one hundred thousand inhabitants, composed Upper Canada. These were principally the families of American loyalists, who were compelled to leave the States at the close of the Revolu tion. Then each province had its own governor and Legislature. The regular military force, which was scattered over a space of more than a thousand miles, did not exceed two thousand men; hence the British commanders were compelled to call for volunteers, and they used the Indians to good effect, in their favor.