In President James Madison's 1812 annual address, he wanted to make it clear to Congress that war with Great Britain was declared as a last resort, and was "neither of ambition nor of vain glory". America had been patient under "wrongs accumulating without end". Madison did not take the time to list those wrongs and and "every hope of averting" them, but here are a few of the events on the road to war that had been addressed in former State of the Union addresses by James Madison and his predecessor Thomas Jefferson.
- 1807 Chesapeke-Leopard Incident. American sovereignty was violated by the British when four American sailors were taken off the ship, three were killed and eight seriously injured.
- 1807 Great Britain invokes Orders In Council. Great Britain creates a blockade of all trade with France and her allies. Refuses to recognize America's neutrality.
- 1807 Jefferson refuses to sign the Monroe-Pinkney Treaty with Great Britain to Congress because it did not adequately address the impressment of soldiers.
- 1807 Embargo Act. Jefferson attempts to force the acceptance of American neutrality. He declares an embargo act prohibiting all ships and vessels under U.S. jurisdiction from landing in any foreign port unless specifically authorized by the President himself.
- 1809 Erskine's Arrangement. British Government rejects their minister Erskine's negotiation to revoke embargoes, and recalls the minister leading to a diplomatic disaster between the two countries.
- 1810 Congress introduces Macon's Bill Number 2. Act gives Great Britain or France approximately 11 months to revoke her edicts. If not, the president was authorized within three months to put the non-intercourse regulations into effect against that country.
- 1810 British announce a new Orders In Council. Great Britain promises to remove the orders, but leave the blockades in place. Madison rejects their promise.
- 1811 Non-Intercourse Act. When France repeals the Berlin and Milan Decrees, Great Britain refuses to follow orders, James Madison invokes the Non-Intercourse Act against Great Britain.
- 1812 Madison rejects the Repeal of the Orders In Council. Great Britain repealed the Orders just 3 days before the American defeat at Detroit, but word was slow to travel. Madison defended his decision to continue with the war.
"The situation of our country, fellow citizens, is not without its difficulties, though it abounds in animating considerations, of which the view here presented of our pecuniary resources is an example. With more than one nation we have serious and unsettled controversies, and with one, powerful in the means and habits of war, we are at war. The spirit and strength of the nation are nevertheless equal to the support of all its rights, and to carry it through all its trials. They can be met in that confidence.
Above all, we have the inestimable consolation of knowing that the war in which we are actually engaged is a war neither of ambition nor of vain glory; that it is waged not in violation of the rights of others, but in the maintenance of our own; that it was preceded by a patience without example under wrongs accumulating without end, and that it was finally not declared until every hope of averting it was extinguished by the transfer of the British scepter into new hands clinging to former councils, and until declarations were reiterated to the last hour, through the British envoy here, that the hostile edicts against our commercial rights and our maritime independence would not be revoked; nay, that they could not be revoked without violating the obligations of Great Britain to other powers, as well as to her own interests."
President Madison finished his address that year with words telling Congress that now, was a moment of truth for America. War had been declared. She can not shrink from it. For more, please visit http://www.stateoftheunionhistory.com/2015/07/1812-james-madison-declaration-of-war.html
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29454
http://www.pbs.org/video/2089393539/ (source of image)
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