General Andrew Jackson learned that fifty British ships had sailed from Jamaica
bringing 10,000 men to New Orleans,
and he had 12,000 volunteers coming from Tennessee.
On 8 January 1815 the British at New Orleans fought against General Jackson’s army
not knowing the War of 1812 had officially ended.
In one day of fighting before retreating, the British lost 291 killed,
1,262 wounded, and 484 captured or missing;
the Americans had only 13 dead, 39 wounded, and 19 missing.
On January 13 a British fleet commanded by Captain Robert Barrie
brought troops who captured the fort on Point Peter on the Georgia coast,
and then they took over the town of St. Marys.
Benjamin Crowninshield became Secretary of the Navy on January 16.
The next day Treasury Secretary Alexander J. Dallas estimated that expenditures
in 1815 would be $56 million which included paying $15.5 million on the debt
while income with new taxes would only be $15.1 million.
The United States Government needed to borrow $40.9 million,
and the effective interest rate went up to 8.6%.
Congress authorized the President to call up 40,000 militiamen for twelve months,
but they limited their use to their home state unless the state governor gave his consent.
Madison signed the bill on January 27, and three days later he vetoed a bank bill.
On 30 January 1815 President Madison wrote this letter to the United States Senate:
Having bestowed on the Bill, entitled, “An Act to
incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United States
of America,” that full consideration which is due to the great
importance of the subject, and dictated by the respect which
I feel for the two Houses of Congress, I am constrained by
a deep and solemn conviction that the Bill ought not to
become a law, to return it to the Senate in which it
originated with my objections to the same.
Waving the question of the Constitutional authority of
the Legislature to establish an incorporated Bank as being
precluded in my judgement by repeated recognitions under
varied circumstances of the validity of such an Institution
in acts of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches
of the Government accompanied by indications in different
modes of a concurrence of the general will of the nation;
the proposed Bank does not appear to be calculated to
answer the purposes of reviving the public credit, of
providing a national medium of circulation, and of aiding the
Treasury by facilitating the indispensable anticipations of the
revenue, and by affording to the public more durable loans.
1. The Capital of the Bank is to be compounded
of specie, of public stock, and of Treasury Notes
convertible into stock with a certain proportion of
each of which every subscriber is to furnish himself.
The amount of the stock to be subscribed will not,
it is believed, be sufficient to produce in favor of the public
credit any considerable or lasting elevation of the market
price, while this may be occasionally depressed by the
Bank itself, if it should carry into the market the allowed
proportion of its capital consisting of public stock in order
to procure specie, which it may find its account in
procuring with some sacrifice on that part of its Capital.
Nor will any adequate advantage arise to the
public credit from the subscription of Treasury notes.
The actual issue of these notes nearly equals
at present and will soon exceed the amount
to be subscribed to the Bank.
The direct effect of this operation is simply to
convert fifteen millions of Treasury notes into
fifteen millions of six percent stock with the collateral
effect of promoting an additional demand for Treasury
notes beyond what might otherwise be negotiable.
Public credit might indeed be expected to derive
advantage from the establishment of a national Bank,
without regard to the formation of its Capital, if the
full aid and co-operation of the Institution were
secured to the Government during the war and
during the period of its fiscal embarrassments.
But the Bank proposed will be free from all legal
obligation to co-operate with the public measures,
and whatever might be the patriotic disposition of
its Directors to contribute to the removal of those
embarrassments and to invigorate the prosecution
of the war, fidelity to the pecuniary and general
interest of the Institution according to their estimate
of it might oblige them to decline a connection of their
operations with those of the National Treasury during the
continuance of the war and the difficulties incident to it.
Temporary sacrifices of interest, though overbalanced
by the future and permanent profits of the charter,
not being requirable of right in behalf of the public,
might not be gratuitously made; and the Bank
would reap the full benefit of the grant while the
public would lose the equivalent expected from it.
For it must be kept in view, that the sole inducement
to such a Grant on the part of the public would be
the prospect of substantial aids to its pecuniary means
at the present crisis and during the sequel of the war.
It is evident that the stock of the Bank will,
on the return of peace if not sooner, rise in the
market to a value which, if the bank were established
in a period of peace, would authorize and obtain
for the public a Bonus to a very large amount.
In lieu of such a Bonus the Government is fairly entitled
to and ought not to relinquish or risk the needful services
of the Bank under the pressing circumstances of war.
2. The Bank, as proposed to be constituted, cannot be
relied on during the war to provide a circulating medium,
nor to furnish loans or anticipations of the public revenue.
Without a medium the Taxes cannot be collected; and in
the absence of specie the medium understood to be the
best substitute is that of notes issued by a national Bank.
The proposed Bank will commence and conduct its
operations under an obligation to pay its notes in
specie or be subject to the loss of its charter.
Without such an obligation the notes of the Bank, though
not exchangeable for specie, yet resting on good pledges,
and performing the uses of specie in the payment of taxes
and in other public transactions would, as experience has
ascertained, qualify the Bank to supply at once a circulating
medium and pecuniary aids to the Government.
Under the fetters imposed by the Bill it is manifest that,
during the actual state of things, and probably during the
war the period particularly requiring such a medium and
such a resource for loans and advances to the Government
notes for which the Bank would be compellable to give
specie in exchange, could not be kept in circulation.
The most the Bank could effect, and the most it could be
expected to aim at would be to keep the Institution alive by
limited and local transactions, which with the interest on the
public stock in the Bank might yield a dividend sufficient
for the purpose until a change from war to peace should
enable it by a flow of specie into its vaults and a removal
of the external demand for it to derive its contemplated
emoluments from a safe and full extension of its operations.
On the whole, when it is considered that the proposed
Establishment will enjoy a monopoly of the profits of a
national Bank for a period of twenty years; that the
monopolized profits will be continually growing with the
progress of the national population and wealth;
that the nation will during the same period be dependent
on the notes of the Bank for that species of circulating
medium, whenever the precious metals may be wanted,
and at all times for so much thereof as may be an eligible
substitute for a specie medium; and that the extensive
employment of the notes in the collection of the augmented
taxes will moreover enable the Bank greatly to extend its
profitable issues of them without the expense of specie
capital to support their circulation; it is as reasonable,
as it is requisite that the Government in return for these
extraordinary concessions to the Bank should have a
greater security for attaining the public objects of
the Institution, than is presented in the Bill, and
particularly for every practicable accommodation,
both in the temporary advances necessary to anticipate
the taxes, and in those more durable loans which are
equally necessary to diminish the resort to taxes.
In discharging this painful duty of stating objections
to a measure which has undergone the deliberations
and received the sanction of the two Houses of the
National Legislature, I console myself with the reflection,
that, if they have not the weight which I attach to them,
they can be constitutionally overruled, and, with a
confidence that in a contrary event, the wisdom of
congress will hasten to substitute a more commensurate
and certain provision for the public exigencies.1
British and American delegates at Ghent had signed a peace treaty
on 24 December 1814, and the official dispatches
did not reach the President until 14 February 1815.
The Americans had compromised on neutral rights to gain concessions in the West.
Thus the British abandoned the Indians to the land-hungry Americans.
The report of the Hartford Convention did not become public until January 12,
and the news of Jackson’s victory at New Orleans reached Washington on February 5.
On February 4 Madison issued this Presidential Proclamation:
Among the many evils produced by the wars, which with
little intermission have afflicted Europe and extended their
ravages into other quarters of the globe for a period
exceeding twenty years, the dispersion of a considerable
portion of the inhabitants of different countries in sorrow
and in want has not been the least injurious to human
happiness nor the least severe in the trial of human virtue.
It had been long ascertained, that many foreigners
flying from the dangers of their own home, and that
some Citizens, forgetful of their duty, had co-operated
in forming an establishment on the Island of Barrataria,
near the mouth of the river Mississippi for the
purposes of a clandestine and lawless trade.
The Government of the United States caused
the establishment to be broken up and destroyed:
and having obtained the means of designating
the offenders of every description, it only
remained to answer the demands of justice,
by inflicting an exemplary punishment.
But it has since been represented that the
offenders have manifested a sincere penitence;
that they have abandoned the prosecution of the
worse cause for the support of the best; and,
particularly, that they have exhibited in the defense
of New Orleans unequivocal traits of courage and fidelity.
Offenders, who have refused to become the associates
of the Enemy in the war upon the most seducing terms
of invitation; and who have aided to repel his hostile
invasion of the territory of the United States;
can no longer be considered as objects of punishment,
but as objects of a generous forgiveness.
It has, therefore, been seen with great satisfaction that
the General Assembly of the state of Louisiana earnestly
recommend those offenders to the benefit of a full pardon:
And in compliance with that recommendation, as well as in
consideration of all the other extraordinary circumstances
of the case, I James Madison, President of the United States
of America do issue this Proclamation, hereby granting,
publishing and declaring a free and full pardon of all
offenses committed in violation of any Act or Acts of the
Congress of the said United States touching the revenue,
trade, and navigation thereof; or touching the intercourse
and commerce of the United States with foreign nations
at any time before the eighth day of January in the present
year one thousand eight hundred and fifteen by any person
or persons whomsoever being inhabitants of New Orleans
and the adjacent country or being inhabitants of the
said Island of Barrataria and the places adjacent.
Provided that every person claiming the benefit of
this full pardon in order to entitle himself thereto
shall produce a certificate in writing from the Governor
of the state of Louisiana, stating that such person has
aided in the defense of New Orleans and the adjacent
Country during the invasion thereof as aforesaid.
And I do hereby further authorize and direct all suits,
indictments, and prosecutions for fines, penalties, and
forfeitures against any person or persons, who shall
be entitled to the benefit of this full Pardon, forthwith
to be stayed, discontinued, and released:
And all civil officers are hereby required according
to the duties of their respective stations to carry this
Proclamation into immediate and faithful execution.2
A British force from New Orleans accepted
the surrender of Fort Bowyer on February 8.
After a British ship arrived with news that a peace treaty had ended the war,
the British left St. Mary’s and Fort Bowyer on February 13.
When people found out about the peace agreement on February 14,
public opinion turned against the New Englanders of the Hartford Convention.
The US Senate unanimously ratified the treaty on February 16,
and the next day Madison proclaimed that the war was over.
Gallatin had been the key negotiator, and he observed that the successful end
to this war
renewed the national feelings created by the Revolution and restored American pride.
He hoped that the permanency of the Union had been secured.
On 16 February 1815 President James Madison issued
a Presidential Proclamation that included these words:
To all and singular to whom these
presents shall come greeting.
Whereas certain articles of agreement and capitulation
were made and concluded on the ninth day of August, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fourteen,
between Major General Andrew Jackson, in the name of the
President of the United States of America, for and in behalf
of the said United States, and the chiefs, deputies, and
warriors of the Creek Nation; and whereas the President
having seen and considered the same, and by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, duly
ratified and confirmed the said articles of agreement and
capitulation, which are in the words following, to wit:Articles of Agreement and Capitulation,
Made and concluded this ninth day of August,
one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, between
Major General Andrew Jackson on behalf of the
President of the United States of America, and the
Chiefs, Deputies and Warriors of the Creek Nation.
Whereas an unprovoked, inhuman and sanguinary war,
waged by the hostile Creeks against the United States,
has been repelled, prosecuted and determined, successfully
on the part of the said States in conformity with principles
of national justice and honorable warfare—
And whereas consideration is due to the rectitude of
proceeding dictated by instructions relating to the
re-establishment of peace:
Be it remembered that prior to the conquest of that
part of the Creek nation hostile to the United States,
numberless aggressions had been committed against
the peace, the property and the lives of citizens of the
United States, and those of the Creek nation in amity
with her at the mouth of Duck river, Fort Mimms and
elsewhere, contrary to national faith, and the regard
due to an article of the Treaty concluded at New York
in the year 1790 between the two nations:
That the United States, previously to the perpetration
of such outrages, did in order to ensure future amity
and concord between the Creek Nation and the said
states, in conformity with the stipulations of former
treaties, fulfil, with punctuality and good faith, her
engagements to the said nation: that more than two-thirds
of the whole number of chiefs and warriors of the Creek
Nation, disregarding the genuine spirit of existing treaties,
suffered themselves to be instigated to violations of their
national honor and the respect due to a part of their own
nation faithful to the United States and the principles of
humanity by impostors denominating themselves
Prophets, and by the duplicity and misrepresentation
of foreign emissaries, whose governments are at war,
open or understood, with the United States.
Wherefore, 1st. The United States demand an equivalent
for all expenses incurred in prosecuting the war to its
termination by a cession of all the territory belonging to the
Creek nation within the territories of the United States, lying
west, south and south-eastwardly of a line to be run and
described by persons duly authorized and appointed by the
President of the United States—Beginning at a point on the
eastern bank of the Coosa River, where the south boundary
line of the Cherokee Nation crosses the same; running from
thence down the said Coosa river with its eastern bank
according to its various meanders to a point one mile above
the mouth of Cedar creek at Fort Williams, thence east two
miles, thence south two miles, thence west to the eastern
bank of the said Coosa river, thence down the eastern bank
thereof according to its various meanders to a point
opposite the upper end of the great falls (called by the
natives Woetumka) thence east from a true meridian line to
a point due north of the mouth of the Ofuskee, thence south
by a like meridian line to the mouth of Ofuskee on the south
side of the Tallapoosa river, thence up the same according
to its various meanders to a point where a direct course will
cross the same at the distance of ten miles from the mouth
thereof, thence a direct line to the mouth of Summochico
creek, which empties into the Chattahoochee river on the
east side thereof below the Eufaulau Town, thence east
from a true meridian line to a point which shall intersect the
line now dividing the lands claimed by the said Creek nation
from those claimed and owned by the state of Georgia:
Provided, nevertheless, that where any possession of any
Chief or Warrior of the Creek nation, who shall have been
friendly to the United States during the war, and taken an
active part therein, shall be within the territory ceded by
these articles to the United States; every such person shall
be entitled to a reservation of land within the said territory
of one mile square to include his improvements as near the
center thereof as may be, which shall enure to the said
Chief or Warrior and his descendants so long as he or they
shall continue to occupy the same, who shall be protected
by and subject to the laws of the United States; but upon
the voluntary abandonment thereof by such possessor or his
descendants, the right of occupancy or possession of said
lands shall devolve to the United States and be identified
with the right of property ceded hereby.
2nd. The United States will guarantee to the Creek
nation, the integrity of all their territory eastwardly
and northwardly of the said line to be run and
described as mentioned in the first article.
3rd. The United States demand, that the Creek nation
abandon all communication and cease to hold any
intercourse with any British or Spanish post, garrison,
or town; and that they shall not admit among them any
agent or trader, who shall not derive authority to hold
commercial or other intercourse with them by license from
the President or authorized agent of the United States.
4th. The United States demand an acknowledgement
of the right to establish military posts and trading
houses, and to open roads within the territory,
guaranteed to the Creek nation by the second article,
and a right to the free navigation of all its waters.
5th. The United States demand that a surrender be
immediately made of all the persons and property, taken
from the citizens of the United States, the friendly part of
the Creek nation, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw
nations to the respective owners; and the United States
will cause to be immediately restored to the formerly
hostile Creeks all the property taken from them since
their submission, either by the United States or by any
Indian nation in amity with the United States, together
with all the prisoners taken from them during the war.
6th. The United States demand the caption and surrender
of all the Prophets and instigators of the war, whether
foreigners or natives, who have not submitted to the arms
of the United States and become parties to these articles of
capitulation, if ever they shall be found within the territory,
guaranteed to the Creek nation by the second article.
7th. The Creek nation being reduced to extreme want,
and not at present having the means of subsistence, the
United States from motives of humanity will continue to
furnish gratuitously the necessaries of life until the crops
of corn can be considered competent to yield the nation
a supply and will establish trading houses in the nation
at the discretion of the President of the United States
and at such places as he shall direct to enable the
nation by industry and economy to procure clothing.
8th. A permanent peace shall ensue from the date of
these presents forever between the Creek nation and
the United States and between the Creek nation and
the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations.
9th. If in running east from the mouth of Summochico
Creek, it shall so happen that the settlement of the
Kinnaids, fall within the lines of the territory hereby
ceded, then and in that case the line shall be run east
in a true meridian to Kitchofoonee Creek, thence down
the middle of said creek to its junction with Flint River,
immediately below the Oakmulgee Town, thence up the
middle of Flint River to a point due east of that at which
the above line struck the Kitchofoonee Creek, thence
east to the old line herein before mentioned: to wit,
the line dividing the lands claimed by the Creek nation,
those claimed and owned by the State of Georgia.
The parties to these presents, after due consideration
for themselves and their constituents agree to ratify and
confirm the preceding articles and constitute them the
basis of a permanent peace between the two nations;
and they do hereby solemnly bind themselves, and all
the parties concerned and interested, to a faithful
performance of every stipulation contained therein:
In testimony whereof, they have hereunto
interchangeably set their hands and affixed
their seals the day and date above written.
Done at Fort Jackson, in presence of
Charles Cassedy, Acting Secretary,
Benjamin Hawkins, Agent for Indian Affairs,
Return J. Meigs,
A. C. Waltion,
Robert Butler, Adjutant General United States Army,
J. C. Warren, Assistant Agent for Indian Affairs,
Andrew Jackson,
Major General Commanding, 7th Military District….
Now, therefore, to the end that the said articles of
agreement and capitulation may be observed and
performed with good faith on the part of the United States,
I, James Madison, President of the United States of America
aforesaid, have caused the premises to be made public,
and do hereby enjoin and require all persons bearing office,
civil or military within the said United States, and all others
citizens or inhabitants thereof or being within the same;
faithfully to observe and fulfil the said articles of agreement
and capitulation and every clause and provision thereof.
In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the
United States (seal) to be affixed to these presents,
and signed the same with my hand.
Done at the City of Washington, the sixteenth day of
February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and fifteen and of the sovereignty and
independence of the United States the thirty-ninth.
James Madison
By the President,
James Monroe,
Acting Secretary of State.3
On 18 February 1815 Madison sent this letter
to the United States Congress:
I lay before Congress, copies of the Treaty of Peace
and Amity between the United States and His Britannic
Majesty, which was signed by the commissioners of both
parties at Ghent on the 24th of December 1814, and the
ratifications of which have been duly exchanged.
While performing this act, I congratulate you and our
constituents upon an event which is highly honorable to
the nation and terminates with peculiar felicity a
campaign signalized by the most brilliant successes.
The late war, although reluctantly declared
by congress, had become a necessary resort to
assert the rights and independence of the nation.
It has been waged with a success, which is the
natural result of the wisdom of the Legislative
Councils of the patriotism of the people, of the
public spirit of the militia, and of the valor of
the military and Naval forces of the country.
Peace, at all times a blessing, is peculiarly welcome,
therefore at a period when the causes for the war
have ceased to operate; when the Government
has demonstrated the efficiency of its powers of
defense; and when the nation can review its
conduct without regret and without reproach.
I recommend to your care and beneficence the
gallant men whose achievements in every department
of military service on the land and on the water have
so essentially contributed to the honor of the
American name and to the restoration of peace.
The feelings of conscious patriotism and worth will animate
such men under every change of fortune and pursuit;
but their country performs a duty to itself when it bestows
those testimonials of approbation and applause, which
are at once the reward and the incentive to great actions.
The reduction of the public expenditures to the
demands of a peace establishment will doubtless
engage the immediate attention of Congress.
There are however important considerations
which forbid a sudden and general revocation of
the measures that have been produced by the war.
Experience has taught us, that neither the pacific
dispositions of the American people, nor the pacific
character of their political Institutions can altogether
exempt them from that strife which appears, beyond the
ordinary lot of nations to be incident to the actual period
of the world; and the same faithful monitor demonstrates
that a certain degree of preparation for war, is not only
indispensable to avert disaster in the onset but affords
also the best security for the continuance of peace.
The wisdom of congress will therefore, I am confident,
provide for the maintenance of an adequate regular force;
for the gradual advance of the naval establishment;
for improving all the means of Harbor defense;
for adding discipline to the distinguished bravery of the
militia; and for cultivating the military art, in its essential
branches under the liberal patronage of the Government.
The resources of our Country were at all times competent
to the attainment of every national object; but they will now
be enriched & invigorated by the activity which peace will
introduce into all the scenes of domestic enterprise & labor.
The provision that has been made for the public
creditors during the present session of Congress
must have a decisive effect in the establishment
of the public credit, both at home & abroad.
The reviving interests of commerce will claim the
Legislative attention at the earliest opportunity;
and such regulations will, I trust, be seasonably
devised, as shall secure to the United States
their just proportion of the navigation of the world.
The most liberal policy towards other nations,
if met by corresponding dispositions, will in this respect,
be found the most beneficial policy towards ourselves.
But there is no subject that can enter with greater force
& merit into the deliberations of congress, than a
consideration of the means to preserve and promote
the manufactures which have sprung into existence,
and attained an unparalleled maturity throughout the
United States during the period of the European wars.
This source of national independence
& wealth, I anxiously recommend to the
prompt & constant guardianship of Congress.
The termination of the Legislative Sessions will
soon separate you, Fellow Citizens, from each
other and restore you to your Constituents.
I pray you to bear with you the expressions of my
sanguine hope that the peace, which has been just
declared, will not only be the foundation of the most
friendly intercourse between the United States and
Great Britain, but that it will also be productive of happiness
& harmony in every section of our beloved Country.
The influence of your precepts & example must be
everywhere powerful: And while we accord in grateful
acknowledgments for the protection which Providence has
bestowed upon us, let us never cease to inculcate obedience
to the laws and fidelity to the Union, as constituting the
Palladium of the national independence & prosperity.4
In the War of 1812 the Americans suffered 2,260 military killed
and 4,505 wounded out of the 60,000 regulars in the Army,
20,000 in the Navy and Marines, 10,000 volunteers, and 458,000 militia.
British forces lost 1,160 killed and 3,679 wounded,
and their military had 3,321 who died from disease.
The United States spent $105 million on the war,
and the government borrowed $80 million.
American privateers took 1,700 merchant ships, and US ships
won two-thirds of their battles against the Royal Navy.
During the war manufacturing expanded greatly in the United States.
By 1815 Connecticut had 25 woolen factories.
After the war Madison called for an adequate regular Army,
a permanent Navy, and a national bank.
In a Presidential Proclamation on 18 February 1815 Madison included this Treaty
of Peace and Amity between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America:
His Britannic Majesty and the United States
of America, desirous of terminating the war which
has unhappily subsisted between the two countries,
and of restoring upon principles of perfect reciprocity,
peace, friendship, and good understanding between
them have for that purpose appointed their
respective plenipotentiaries, that is to say:
His Britannic Majesty on his part has appointed the right
honorable James Lord Gambier, late admiral of the white,
now admiral of the red squadron of His Majesty’s Fleet,
Henry Goulburn, Esquire, a member of the Imperial
Parliament and Under Secretary of State, and
William Adams, Esquire, Doctor of Civil Laws:
And the President of the United States by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate thereof, has appointed
John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan
Russell and Albert Gallatin, citizens of the United States,
who after a reciprocal communication of their respective
full powers, have agreed upon the following articles:
Article the First.
There shall be a firm and universal Peace between
His Britannic Majesty and the United States and
between their respective countries, territories,
cities, towns, and people of every degree
without exception of places or persons.
All hostilities both by sea and land shall cease
as soon as this Treaty shall have been ratified
by both parties as hereinafter mentioned.
All territory, places, and possessions whatsoever taken
from either party by the other during the war, or which
may be taken after the signing of this Treaty, excepting
only the islands hereinafter mentioned, shall be restored
without delay and without causing any destruction or
carrying away any of the artillery or other public property
originally captured in the said forts or places and which
shall remain therein upon the exchange of the ratifications
of this Treaty or any slaves or other private property.
And all archives, records, deeds, and papers, either of a
public nature or belonging to private persons, which in
the course of the war, may have fallen into the hands
of the officers of either party, shall be, as far as may be
practicable, forthwith restored and delivered to the proper
authorities and persons to whom they respectively belong.
Such of the islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy
as are claimed by both parties, shall remain in
the possession of the party in whose occupation
they may be at the time of the exchange of the
ratifications of this Treaty, until the decision
respecting the title to the said islands shall have been
made in conformity with the fourth article of this Treaty.
No disposition made by this Treaty, as to
such possession of the islands and territories
claimed by both parties shall in any manner
whatever be construed to affect the right of either.
Article the Second.
Immediately after the ratifications of this treaty
by both parties, as hereinafter mentioned, orders shall
be sent to the armies, squadrons, officers, subjects and
citizens of the two powers to cease from all hostilities:
And to prevent all causes of complaint which might arise
on account of the prizes which may be taken at sea after
the said ratifications of this treaty, it is reciprocally agreed,
that all vessels and effects which may be taken after the
space of twelve days from the said ratifications upon all
parts of the coast of North America from the latitude of
twenty-three degrees north to the latitude of fifty degrees
north, and as far eastward in the Atlantic ocean as the
thirty-sixth degree of west longitude from the meridian
of Greenwich, shall be restored on each side:
That the time shall be thirty days in all other parts of the
Atlantic ocean, north of the equinoctial line or equator,
and the same time for the British and Irish channels
for the Gulf of Mexico and all parts of the West Indies:
Forty days for the North Seas, for the Baltic,
and for all parts of the Mediterranean:
Sixty days for the Atlantic ocean south of the equator
as far as the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope:
Ninety days for every part of
the world south of the equator:
And one hundred and twenty days for all
other parts of the world without exception.
Article the Third.
All prisoners of war taken on either side,
as well by land as by sea, shall be restored as
soon as practicable after the ratifications of this treaty,
as hereinafter mentioned, on their paying the debts
which they may have contracted during their captivity.
The two contracting parties respectively
engage to discharge in specie the advances
which may have been made by the other for
the sustenance and maintenance of such prisoners.
Article the fourth.
Whereas it was stipulated by the second article in the
treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and
eighty-three between his Britannic Majesty and the
United States of America, that the boundary of the
United States should comprehend all islands within twenty
leagues of any part of the shores of the United States,
and lying between lines to be drawn due east from the
points where the aforesaid boundaries between Nova
Scotia on the one part and East Florida on the other,
shall respectively touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic
ocean, excepting such islands as now are, or heretofore
have been within the limits of Nova Scotia; and whereas
the several islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy, which is
part of the Bay of Fundy and the island of Grand Menan in
the said Bay of Fundy are claimed by the United States
as being comprehended within their aforesaid boundaries,
which said islands are claimed as belonging to his Britannic
Majesty, as having been at the time of and previous to the
aforesaid treaty of one thousand seven hundred and
eighty-three within the limits of the province of Nova Scotia.
In order therefore finally to decide upon these claims, it is
agreed that they shall be referred to two Commissioners
to be appointed in the following manner, viz: one
Commissioner shall be appointed by his Britannic Majesty,
and one by the President of the United States, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and the said
two Commissioners so appointed shall be sworn impartially
to examine and decide upon the said claims according to
such evidence as shall be laid before them on the part of
his Britannic Majesty and of the United States respectively.
The said Commissioners shall meet at St. Andrews in the
province of New Brunswick and shall have power to
adjourn to such other place or places as they shall think fit.
The said Commissioners shall by a declaration or report
under their hands and seals decide to which of the two
contracting parties the several islands aforesaid do
respectively belong in conformity with the true intent
of the said Treaty of Peace of one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-three.
And if the said commissioners shall agree
in their decision, both parties shall consider
such decision as final and conclusive.
It is further agreed that in the event of the two
Commissioners differing upon all or any of the matters
so referred to them, or in the event of both or either
of the said Commissioners refusing or declining or
willfully omitting to act as such, they shall make jointly
or separately a report or reports as well to the government
of his Britannic Majesty as to that of the United States,
stating in detail the points on which they differ and the
grounds upon which their respective opinions have
been formed, or the grounds upon which they or either
of them have so refused, declined, or omitted to act.
And his Britannic Majesty and the government of the United
States hereby agree to refer the report or reports of the
said Commissioners to some friendly sovereign or state
to be then named for that purpose, and who shall be
requested to decide on the differences which may be
stated in the said report or reports or upon the report
of one Commissioner, together with the grounds upon
which the other Commissioner shall have refused,
declined, or omitted to act, as the case may be.
And if the Commissioner so refusing, declining,
or omitting to act, shall also willfully omit to state
the grounds upon which he has so done, in such
manner that the said statement may be referred to
such friendly sovereign or state, together with the
report of such other Commissioner, then such sovereign
or state shall decide ex parte upon the said report alone.
And his Britannic Majesty and the government of
the United States engage to consider the decision
of some friendly sovereign or state to be such
and conclusive on all the matters so referred.
Article the Fifth.
Whereas neither that point of the highlands lying
due north from the source of the river St. Croix, and
designated in the former treaty of peace between the two
powers as the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, now the
northwesternmost head of Connecticut river, has yet
been ascertained; and whereas that part of the boundary
line between the dominion of the two powers which
extends from the source of the river St. Croix directly
north to the above-mentioned northwest angle of Nova
Scotia, thence along the said highlands which divide those
rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence
from those which fall into the Atlantic ocean to the
northwesternmost head of Connecticut river, thence down
along the middle of that river to the forty-fifth degree of
north latitude; thence by a line due west on said latitude
until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraguy, has not
yet been surveyed: it is agreed, that for these several
purposes two Commissioners shall be appointed sworn,
and authorized, to act exactly in the manner directed with
respect to those mentioned in the next preceding article,
unless otherwise specified in the present article.
The said Commissioners shall meet at St. Andrews in the
province of New Brunswick and shall have power to
adjourn to such other place or places as they shall think fit.
The said Commissioners shall have power to ascertain
and determine the points above-mentioned, in conformity
with the provisions of the said treaty of peace of one
thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, and shall
cause the boundary aforesaid from the source of the
river St. Croix to the river Iroquois or Cataraguy to be
surveyed and marked according to the said provisions.
The said Commissioners shall make a map of the said
boundary and annex to it a declaration under their
hands and seals certifying it to be the true map of
the said boundary and particularizing the latitude and
longitude of the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, of the
northwesternmost head of Connecticut river and of such
other points of the said boundary as they may deem proper.
And both parties agree to consider
such map and declaration as finally and
conclusively fixing the said boundary.
And in the event of the said two Commissioners
differing, or both or either of them, refusing or
declining, or willfully omitting to act, such reports,
declarations or statements shall be made by them
or either of them, and such reference to a friendly
sovereign or state shall be made in all respects as
in the latter part of the fourth article is contained and
in as full a manner as if the same was herein repeated.
Article the Sixth.
Whereas, by the former treaty of peace that portion of
the boundary of the United States from the point where
the forty-fifth degree of north latitude strikes the river
Iroquois or Cataraguy to the lake Superior, was declared
to be “along the middle of said river into lake Ontario,
through the middle of said lake until it strikes the
communication by water between that lake and lake Erie,
thence along the middle of said communication into lake
Erie through the middle of said lake until it arrives at
the water communication into the lake Huron, thence
through the middle of said lake to the water
communication between that lake and lake Superior:”
And whereas doubts have arisen what was the middle of
said river, lakes and water communications, and whether
certain islands lying in the same were within the dominions
of his Britannic Majesty or of the United States.
In order therefore finally to decide these doubts they shall
be referred to two Commissioners to be appointed, sworn,
and authorized to act exactly in the manner directed with
respect to those mentioned in the next preceding article,
unless otherwise specified in this present article.
The said Commissioners shall meet in the first instance at
Albany in the state of New York, and shall have power to
adjourn to such other place or places as they shall think fit.
The said Commissioners shall by a report or declaration
under their hands and seals designate the boundary
through the said river, lakes, and water communications
and decide to which of the two contracting parties the
several islands lying within the said river, lakes, and
water communications do respectively belong in
conformity with the true intent of the said treaty of
one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three.
And both parties agree to consider such designation
and decision as final and conclusive.
And in the event of the said two Commissioners differing,
or both or either of them refusing, declining, or willfully
omitting to act, such reports, declarations or statements
shall be made by them or either of them, and such
reference to a friendly sovereign or state shall be
made in all respects as in the latter part of the
fourth article is contained, and in as full a manner
as if the same was herein repeated.
Article the Seventh.
It is further agreed that the said two last mentioned
commissioners, after they shall have executed the duties
assigned to them in the preceding article, shall be, and
they are hereby authorized upon their oaths impartially
to fix and determine according to the true intent of the
said Treaty of Peace of one thousand seven hundred
and eighty-three, that part of the boundary between
the dominions of the two powers, which extends from
the water communication between lake Huron, and
lake Superior to the most northwestern point of the
Lake of the Woods, to decide to which of the two
parties the several islands lying in the lakes, water
communications and rivers forming the said boundary,
do respectively belong in conformity with the true intent
of the said Treaty of Peace of one thousand seven hundred
and eighty-three; and to cause such parts of the said
boundary as require it to be surveyed and marked.
The said Commissioners shall by a report or
declaration under their hands and seals, designate
the boundary aforesaid, state their decision on the
points thus referred to them, and particularize the
latitude and longitude of the most northwestern point
of the lake of the woods, and of such other parts
of the said boundary as they may deem proper.
And both parties agree to consider such
designation and decision as final and conclusive.
And in the event of the said two Commissioners
differing, or both or either of them refusing, declining,
or willfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations,
or statements shall be made by them or either of them,
and such reference to a friendly sovereign or state
shall be made in all respects, as in the latter part
of the fourth article is contained and in as full a
manner as if the same was herein repeated.
Article the Eighth.
The several boards of two Commissioners mentioned
in the four preceding articles, shall respectively have
power to appoint a Secretary and to employ such
surveyors or other persons as they shall judge necessary.
Duplicates of all their respective reports, declarations,
statements and decisions, and of their accounts, and
of the journal of their proceedings shall be delivered
by them to the agents of his Britannic Majesty, and
to the agents of the United States, who may be
respectively appointed and authorized to manage the
business on behalf of their respective Governments.
The said Commissioners shall be respectively paid in
such manner as shall be agreed between the two
contracting parties, such agreement being to be settled at
the time of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty.
And all other expenses attending the said Commissioners
shall be defrayed equally by the two parties.
And in the case of death, sickness, resignation, or necessary
absence, the place of every such Commissioner respectively
shall be supplied in the same manner as such Commissioner
was first appointed, and the new Commissioner shall take
the same oath or affirmation and do the same duties.
It is further agreed between the two contracting parties,
that in case any of the islands mentioned in any of the
preceding articles, which were in the possession of one of
the parties prior to the commencement of the present war
between the two countries should by the decision of any of
the boards of Commissioners aforesaid, or of the sovereign
or state so referred to, as in the four next preceding
articles contained, fall within the dominions of the
other party, all grants of land made previous to the
commencement of the war by the party having had such
possession shall be as valid as if such island or islands had
by such decision or decisions been adjudged to be within
the dominions of the party having had such possession.
Article the Ninth.
The United States of America engage to put an end
immediately after the ratification of the present Treaty
to hostilities with all the tribes or nations of Indians with
whom they may be at war at the time of such ratification;
and forthwith to restore to such tribes or nations,
respectively all the possessions, rights, and privileges,
which they may have enjoyed or been entitled to in
one thousand eight hundred and eleven, previous to
such hostilities: Provided always, that such tribes or
nations shall agree to desist from all hostilities against
the United States of America, their citizens and subjects,
upon the ratification of the present treaty being notified
to such tribes or nations and shall so desist accordingly.
And His Britannic Majesty engages, on his part, to put an
end immediately after the ratification of the present treaty,
to hostilities with all the tribes or nations of Indians with
whom he may be at war at the time of such ratification, and
forthwith to restore to such tribes or nations, respectively,
all the possessions, rights, and privileges, which they may
have enjoyed or been entitled to in one thousand eight
hundred and eleven, previous to such hostilities:
Provided always, that such tribes or nations
shall agree to desist from all hostilities against
His Britannic Majesty and his subjects upon the
ratification of the present treaty being notified to
such tribes or nations and shall so desist accordingly.
Article the Tenth.
Whereas the traffic in slaves is irreconcilable with the
principles of humanity and justice, and whereas both His
Majesty and the United States are desirous of continuing
their efforts to promote its entire abolition, it is hereby
agreed that both the contracting parties shall use their
best endeavors to accomplish so desirable an object.
Article the Eleventh.
This Treaty, when the same shall have been ratified on
both sides without alteration by either of the contracting
parties, and the ratifications mutually exchanged, shall
be binding on both parties, and the ratifications shall
be exchanged at Washington in the space of four
months from this day or sooner if practicable.
In faith whereof we the respective Plenipotentiaries have
signed this treaty and have thereunto affixed our seals.
Done in triplicate at Ghent, the twenty fourth day of
December, one thousand eight hundred and fourteen.
(l. s.) Gambier,
(l. s.) Henry Goulburn,
(l. s.) William Adams,
(l. s.) John Quincy Adams,
(l. s.) J. A. Bayard,
(l. s.) H. Clay,
(l. s.) Jona. Russell,
(l. s.) Albert Gallatin.
Now, therefore, to the end that the said Treaty of Peace &
Amity may be observed with good faith on the part of the
United States, I, James Madison, President as aforesaid,
have caused the premises to be made public; & I do hereby
enjoin all persons bearing office, civil or military, within the
United States, and all others, citizens or inhabitants thereof,
or being within the same, faithfully to observe and fulfil the
said Treaty and every clause and article thereof.5
On February 18 President Madison sent a special message to Congress
asking for a regular Army, a stronger Navy, and other defensive measures.
He proposed keeping 20,000 troops,
but the House and Senate agreed on a standing army of 10,000 men.
Congress provided pensions for the families of those killed and wounded in the war.
On February 22 Madison discussed with Secretary of War
James Monroe reducing the US Army.
Yet the British still had 35,000 troops in America,
and all together the British Empire had 260,000 armed men.
Madison suggested retaining 20,000 of the 35,000 US forces.
The House of Representatives approved only 6,000 men,
though the Senate increased that to 10,000.
Madison learned that the Dey of Algiers was still detaining American citizens
in severe captivity since 1812, and on 23 February 1815
the President sent this message to the United States Congress:Congress will have seen by the communication from
the Consul General of the United States at Algiers,
laid before them on the 17th of November 1812, the
hostile proceedings of the Dey against that Functionary.
These have been followed by acts of more overt and
direct warfare against the Citizens of the United States
trading in the Mediterranean, some of whom are still
detained in captivity, notwithstanding the attempts
which have been made to ransom them, and are
treated with the rigor usual on the coast of Barbary.
The considerations which rendered it unnecessary and
unimportant to commence hostile operations on the part of
the United States, being now terminated by the peace with
Great Britain, which opens the prospect of an active and
valuable trade of their Citizens within the range of the
Algerine Cruisers, I recommend to Congress the
expediency of an Act Declaring the existence of a state of
war between the United States and the Dey and Regency
of Algiers; and of such provisions as may be requisite for
a vigorous prosecution of it to a successful issue.6
Congress chose not to declare war, though they accepted the act.
On 7 March 1815 Madison sent this letter to Benjamin Austin and others
in the Massachusetts Legislature to heal the conflicts
in New England that arose during the British War:
I have received, fellow-citizens, the address
transmitted by you on the 23rd of February with the
attention due to the occasion which gave rise to it,
and to the view which it takes of past scenes & events.
Whatever difference of opinion may have existed
among good citizens, all will rejoice in the happy
result of the contest in which we have been engaged.
If this has been attended with difficulties and with sacrifices,
with anxieties and with apprehensions, we have a reward
in the reflection that the rights of our Country have been
successfully maintained under peculiar disadvantages,
against a nation powerful at all times in armaments
and resources, and wielding them against us under
circumstances the most favorable to her; that the arduous
trial has unfolded the energies of the American people,
the extent of their public spirit, the stability of their political
Institutions, and their capacities for war, as well as for
the improvements and enjoyments of honorable peace.
The firm and persevering resistance which has
been made to violations of our national rights,
and of our essential interests, and the signal valor and
patriotism displayed by every variety of our arms,
both on the water and on the land, while they cannot
fail to do justice to the American name, will be among
the best Guardians of our future peace and safety.
It remains for us to strengthen these titles to the respect
and esteem of other nations by an adherence to the policy
which has cultivated peace, friendship, and useful
intercourse with all; and to provide still further for our
external security, as well as for our internal prosperity and
happiness by fidelity to the Union, by reverence for the
laws, by discountenancing all local and other prejudices;
and by promoting everywhere the concord and brotherly
affection becoming members of one great Political family.
I thank you, fellow-citizens, for the kind partiality with
which you have regarded the discharge of my duty,
throughout the period which called for the best efforts of us
all in our respective situations, and I pray you to accept for
yourselves and for those in whose behalf you have spoken,
assurances of my friendly respects and my best wishes.7
On March 12 Madison wrote this letter to Thomas Jefferson:
It was long desirable that an Exposé of the causes
and character of the War between the United States
and Great Britain should remedy the mischief
produced by the Declaration of the Prince Regent,
and other misstatements which had poisoned
the opinion of the World on the subject.
Since the pacification in Europe and the effect of that
and other occurrences in turning the attention of that
quarter of the World towards the U. S. the antidote
became at once more necessary and more hopeful.
It was accordingly determined soon after the meeting of
Congress that a correct and full view of the War should be
prepared and made public in the usual demi official form.
The commencement of it was however somewhat delayed
by the probability of an early termination of the negotiations
at Ghent, either in a peace or in a new epoch particularly
inviting a new appeal to the neutral public.
The long suspension of intelligence from our Envoys,
and the critical state of our affairs at home,
as well as abroad, finally overruled this delay,
and the execution of the task was committed to Mr. Dallas.
Although he hastened it as much as the nature of it, and his
other laborious attentions admitted, it was not finished in
time for publication before the news of peace arrived.
The latter pages had not even been struck off at the press.
Under these circumstances it became a question whether
it should be published with a prefatory notice that it was
written before the cessation of hostilities, and thence
derived its spirit and language; or should be suppressed,
or written over with a view to preserve the substantial
vindication of our Country against prevailing calumnies,
and avoid asperities of every sort unbecoming the
change in the relations of the two Countries.
This last course, though not a little difficult,
might have been best in itself, but it required
a time & labor not to be spared for it.
And the suppression was preferred to the
first course, which would have been liable to
misconstructions of an injurious tendency.
The printed copies however amounting to
several hundred are not destroyed, and will
hereafter contribute materials for a historical
review of the period which the document embraces.
I have thought a perusal of it might amuse an hour of your
leisure; requesting only that as it is to be guarded against
publication, you will be so good as either to return the Copy,
or to place it where it will be in no danger of escaping.
You will observe from the plan and cast of the work,
that it was meant for the eye of the British people,
and of our own, as well as for that of the Neutral world.
This threefold object increased the labor
not a little and gives the composition some
features not otherwise to be explained.
The dispatch vessel with the peace
via France has just arrived.
It brings little more than duplicates
of what was received via England.
The Affairs at Vienna remain in a fog,
which rather thickens than disperses.
The situation of France also, has yet it would
seem to pass some clearing-up shower.
The peace between this Country and Great Britain
gives sincere pleasure there, as relieving the
Government and the nation from the dilemma of
humiliating submissions to the anti-neutral measures
of Great Britain, or of a premature contest with her.
In Spain everything suffers under the frenzy
of the Throne and the fanaticism of the people.
But for our peace with England, it is not impossible,
that a new war from that quarter
would have been opened upon us.
The affair at New Orleans will perhaps be
a still better Guarantee against such an event.
Mr. Smith will have communicated to you the result
of our consultation on the transportation of the Library.
We are indulging hopes of paying a trip soon to our farm;
and shall not fail, if it be practicable, to add to it
the pleasure of a visit to Monticello.8
Thomas Jefferson wrote on 23 March 1815
this letter to President Madison:
I duly received your favor of the 12th
and with it the pamphlet on the causes
and conduct of the war, which I now return.
I have read it with great pleasure, but with
irresistible desire that it should be published.
The reasons in favor of this are so strong,
and those against it are so easily gotten over,
that there appears to me no balance between them.
1. We need it in Europe.
They have totally mistaken our character.
Accustomed to rise at a feather themselves, and to be
always fighting, they will see in our conduct, fairly stated,
that acquiescence under wrong, to a certain degree, is
wisdom & not pusillanimity, and that peace and happiness
are preferable to that false honor which by eternal wars
keeps their people in eternal labor, want and wretchedness.
2. It is necessary for the people of England, who have been
deceived as to the causes and conduct of the war,
and do not entertain a doubt that it was entirely wanton
& wicked on our part and under the order of Bonaparte.
By rectifying their ideas, it will tend to that
conciliation which is absolutely necessary
to the peace and prosperity of both nations.
3. It is necessary for our own people, who,
although they have known the details as they
went along, yet have been so plied with false
facts and false views by the federalists, that some
impression has been left that all has not been right.
It may be said that it will be thought unfriendly.
But truths necessary for our own character must not
be suppressed out of tenderness to its calumniators.
Although written generally with great moderation,
there may be some things in the pamphlet
which may perhaps irritate.
The characterizing every act, for example,
by it’s appropriate epithet is not necessary
to show its deformity to an intelligent reader.
The naked narrative will present it truly to his mind,
and the more strongly from its moderation, as he will
perceive that no exaggeration is aimed at.
Rubbing down this roughness, and they are
neither many nor prominent, and preserving
the original date might I think remove all the
offensiveness and give more effect to the publication.
Indeed I think that a soothing Postscript,
addressed to the interests, the prospects & the sober
reason of both nations would make it acceptable to both.
The trifling expense of reprinting it
ought not to be considered a moment.
Mr. Gallatin could have it translated into French,
and suffer it to get abroad in Europe
without either avowal or disavowal.
But it would be useful to print some copies of
an Appendix containing all the documents referred to,
to be preserved in libraries and to facilitate to the
present and future writers of history the acquisition
of the materials which test the truths it contains.
I sincerely congratulate you on the peace; and more
especially on the eclat with which the war was closed.
The affair of New Orleans was fraught with useful lessons to
ourselves, our enemies, and our friends, and will powerfully
influence our future relations with the nations of Europe.
It will show them we mean to take no part in their wars,
and count no odds when engaged in our own.
I presume that, having spared to the pride
of England her formal acknowledgement of
the atrocity of impressment in an article of the treaty,
she will concur in a convention for relinquishing it.
Without this she must understand that the present is
but a truce, determinable on the first act of impressment
of an American citizen committed by any officer of hers.
Would it not be better that this Convention should be a
separate act, unconnected with any treaty of commerce,
and made an indispensable preliminary to all other treaty?
If blended with a treaty of commerce,
she will make it the price of injurious concessions.
Indeed we are infinitely better without
such treaties with any nation.
We cannot too distinctly detach ourselves from the
European system, which is essentially belligerent, nor too
sedulously cultivate an American system, essentially pacific.
But if we go into commercial treaties at all,
they should be with all at the same time with
whom we have important commercial relations.
France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Denmark,
Sweden, Russia, all should proceed pari passu.
Our ministers marching in phalanx on the same line,
and intercommunicating freely, each will be supported
by the weight of the whole mass, and the facility with
which the other nations will agree to equal terms of
intercourse, will discountenance the selfish higglings
of England, or justify our rejection of them.
Perhaps with all of them it would be best to have but
the single article gentis amicissimae, leaving everything
else to the usages & courtesies of civilized nations.
But all these things will occur to yourself,
with their counter-considerations.
Mr. Smith wrote to me on the transportation of the library,
and particularly that it is submitted to your direction.
He mentioned also that Dougherty
would be engaged to superintend it.
No one will more carefully & faithfully execute all
those duties which would belong to a wagon master.
But it requires a character acquainted
with books to receive the library.
I am now employing as many hours of every day
as my strength will permit in arranging the books
and putting everyone in its place on the shelves
corresponding with its order in the Catalogue
and shall have them numbered correspondently.
This operation will employ me a considerable time yet.
Then I should wish a competent agent to attend,
and with the catalogue in his hand see that
every book is on the shelves and have their
lids nailed on one by one, as he proceeds.
This would take such a person about two days,
after which Dougherty’s business would be
the mere mechanical removal at convenience.
I enclose you a letter from Mr. Millegan
offering his service, which would not cost
more than 8 or 10 days reasonable compensation.
This is necessary for my safety and your
satisfaction as a just caution for the public.
You know there are persons both in and out of the public
councils, who will seize every occasion of imputation
on either of us, the more difficult to be repelled in
this case in which a negative could not be proved.
If you approve of it therefore, as soon as I am through
the review, I will give notice to Mr. Millegan, or any other
person whom you will name to come on immediately.
Indeed it would be well worth while to add to his duty
that of covering the books with a little paper (the good
bindings at least) and filling the vacancies of the presses
with paper parings, to be brought from Washington.
This would add little more to the time,
as he could carry on both operations at once.9
The current Treasury Secretary Alexander J. Dallas became the Secretary of War
on 2 March 1815, and on April 9 President Madison sent Dallas this letter:
After a very unpleasant excursion as far as New York,
I returned to Washington on Thursday evening.
It is some consolation, however, that I have been able
to put all my objects of business in a good train; and
I shall be much mistaken if the machinery of the Treasury
be not restored to its regular movements with the aid
of the Banks in the course of two or three months.
I enclose a copy of the plan which I proposed to the Banks.
It has been accepted promptly by the Banks to the South,
and those in Baltimore and New York.
It will also be accepted by the Banks in Philadelphia
as soon as some difficulty between the creditor
and debtor Banks of that city shall be settled.
The Banks of Boston have for the present declined
accepting the plan, as I expected would be the case.
Their Charters compel them to pay their notes
in gold or silver; and a connection with Banks,
which pay only in paper, would be fatal to them.
The course of trade has hitherto been much in
favor of Boston, and of course the difference of
exchange makes a material obstacle to a general
arrangement, connecting the money institutions
of the East with those of the South and west.
But I think all the New England States
will concur except Massachusetts.
There is no immediate prospect of a change in
the course of trade, so as to restore the balance.
The vessels which have been sent from the East to the
South went in ballast to remove goods purchased before,
or during the war, and not to make new purchases.
The importations from Europe, however, will give
life to the markets of New York, Philadelphia &c
and probably equalize the exchange throughout
the Atlantic line of commercial cities.
There is less commercial activity in Baltimore,
Philadelphia, and New York, than I expected to see;
but I think the reserve is a very good symptom,
considering the new state of the world.
The Merchants do not know what cargoes to ship,
nor to what markets they can beneficially resort.
There are few adventures preparing for China and India;
but those have the effect of postponing the resumption
of specie payments at the Banks; or at least of
furnishing an excuse for not resuming them.
I do not believe that the exports of specie
will be considerable; as the India trade is
now managed through the medium of credits opened
by English Houses for American merchants at Calcutta
and Bengal; and I am told that there are similar
accommodations for the trade to Canton.
As to specie payments, it is obvious that the Banks,
which have taken great sums of Stock and Treasury notes,
cannot be so soon prepared for that operation, as the
Banks which kept aloof from the Treasury during the war.
The Banks of the latter description are, therefore, urging
those of the former description to commence the business;
and I am afraid of some premature exertion.
I have recommended a confidential correspondence
between the Banks on the subject; so that whatever
may be done, should be done by common consent,
and with a determination of mutual support.
With some difficulty I provided for the payment of the
April dividend on the Public debt at Philadelphia, New York,
and Boston; and Bills of Exchange for about £27,000 sterling
have been purchased and remitted towards reimbursing
the advances of Messrs. Barings Brothers & Co.
This debt being of peculiar urgency, the Bills
have been purchased by a sale of Stock at
the market price, but the discount upon the
exchange will render the bargain a good one.
I have received offers for the Loan of 12 millions
of dollars payable in Treasury Notes for stock at 89,
at 90, and at 92 per cent; but I have rejected them all.
There has evidently been a combination to
depress the market price of the Stocks; and a few
necessitous speculators have been obliged to sell.
There was not, however, a sum of half a million for sale;
and the purchasers of the little that has been actually sold,
are real purchasers to hold, and not to speculate.
I did not hesitate under these circumstances to represent
to the Treasury Note holders, that I was willing to accept
their subscriptions upon just and reasonable terms;
but that I could not allow a few Brokers and small sales
to make a price for 12 millions of dollars.
If therefore they would subscribe at 95, I would attend to
the proposals; but if they declined that proposition, which
gave them an advantage of 5 per cent, besides the
difference of interest, I must postpone paying their demands
upon the Treasury until the revenue enabled me to pay.
I think the offer, which I have made, will be accepted;
and it will be fortunate to be so relieved from the
discredit of the Notes, which are due and unpaid, and
from the daily clog of the Notes, which are becoming due.
My attention is now bent upon providing for
the payment of the Army on the 1st of May.
The Paymaster General reports that he
shall want for that object 4,300,000 Dollars.
Of this amount he has in hand 2,000,000 of dollars
in Treasury Notes and a Warrant for 700,000 Dollars,
which I am endeavoring to satisfy out of Bank credits.
The balance of 1,600,000 dollars will be
furnished in Treasury notes or Bank notes.
I have hitherto restrained the issue of the
Small Treasury Notes, which are fundable at 7 percent,
to providing for the dividends on the public debt
in Boston &c. and to providing for the pay of the
Army at places where I had no Bank credits.
It is probable, that this must be my resource to complete
the payments to the Army on the 1st of May, as I cannot
hope to see the Bank Plan in operation at so early a day.
The business of the War Department
becomes urgent and distressing.
I am preparing a general construction of the
Act of Congress with an outline for executing it,
which I hope to send to you by Tuesday’s mail.
If you approve of it, I propose addressing the General
Officers, who are retained in service, and who will
attend at Washington, requesting their aid,
1st in organizing the Army:
2nd in selecting the Officers:
and 3rd in designating the military stations.
General Scott is now here, and General Brown and General
Macomb may be expected early in the ensuing week.
I wish you to complete your selection of the Brigadiers,
and that you will permit me at once to announce the
arrangement, as it will be advisable to relieve the
non-selected officers from all unnecessary suspense.
I saw General Ripley in New York and was agreeably
disappointed in his manner and conversation.
He is evidently a man of talents,
and by all accounts a Soldier.
He still urges a revival of the Court of Inquiry,
but disclaims all intention to injure General Brown.
I have stated to him the impropriety of the
proceeding at this time, and he seems willing
to conform to your ultimate views of the subject.
He asked permission for his health, to pass to the south,
and told me that he would see me
in Washington soon after my arrival.
If you decide upon General Ripley as the fourth Brigadier,
I would suggest the expediency of giving him a brevet
rank of Major General to obviate a difficulty, which is
likely to occur, in case another suggestion should be
deemed practicable and proper; that is, to offer to
some of the Brigadiers the command of Regiments.
General Smith of Tennessee stated that he and
General Bissell, and he believed others, would
cheerfully accept Regiments provided no Brigadier
General, whom they ranked, was retained in service.
The proviso would not operate, as to Generals Scott,
Gaines, and Macomb, who are breveted Major Generals,
but it would operate as to General Ripley.
There are considerations, however, to be weighed,
before the course of assigning Brigadiers
to Regiments can be adopted.
A similar assignment of Majors
to Companies may be proposed.
But in both cases it would appear that new Commissions
must issue, subject to the approbation of the Senate;
and the Act of Congress may be thought to contemplate
such an organization, as can be completed according
to the existing commissions of the Officers.
If the course could be pursued, you could provide for
Generals Cushing, Smith, Bissel &c without injury
to the service, as the rank of Colonel presents
fewer cases of merit than any other in the Army.
General Winder has just declined being considered
as a Candidate to be retained in service.
General Boyd is solicitous in the extreme to be retained.
General McArthur would merit employment,
if a vacancy existed.
But of all cases General Wilkinson’s is the most touching,
simply on the score of humanity.
He has written and spoken the most lamentable
accounts of the consequences of his dismission.
Yesterday, however, he intimated, that if it were
determined not to retain him, he would be willing to resign;
and he spoke of some civil office
as an asylum to preserve him from want.
I answered nothing to his representations, but that the
arrangements were not so completed as to enable me to
speak to him definitively on the subject; but I assured him,
that whatever might be the issue of the present question,
you felt a kind disposition towards him.
General Jackson’s acceptance of the offer
to retain him has not been received;
and doubts are expressed, whether he will accept it.
I think, however, that his controversy with the Louisiana
Government will decide him to accept, as the appointment
of the President will be probably used as a testimonial
of approbation, covering the whole of his conduct.
General Scott’s acceptance is received and General
Brown’s; but we have no answer from General Macomb.
The Act of Congress provides for “ten thousand men.”
Are they enlisted men, or are they
commissioned Officers, as well as enlisted men?
The 5 section seems to require the latter construction,
although I wish to adopt the former.
The Act provides for Engineers, Artillery, Infantry, and
Riflemen; but what is to be done with the General Staff?
The Ordinance Department &c &c.
These enquiries are now suggested for the benefit
of your instructions; but I mean to dwell upon them
more particularly in the outline,
which I am preparing to submit to you.
Mr. Monroe was so good as to show to me
Mr. Jefferson’s letter, relative to the Exposé.
I feel much gratified at his approbation.
My own opinion, however, is that
if you publish it, the publication should be
just as it stands with all its imperfections.
Coming from the Government, it should
retain its war spirit and expression.
If it is to be changed, I am sure it might
throughout be changed for the better.
Its only merit with me is the satisfaction
which you have received from it.10
President Madison on 15 April 1815 wrote
to Secretary of State James Monroe:
I have received your several letters of the 10th, 11th &
12th instant, with the several papers covered by them.
The letter, provisionally for the Dey of Algiers, is very
properly drawn & is returned with my signature.
The instructions to the Commissioners
are also returned, without alterations.
I think it would be as well however, instead of specifying
a limit to the sum for ransom, to let the Commissioners
judge of the “reasonable” one; apprizing them of the
importance of a liberation of the captives without ransom
if possible, and of the expediency of disguising it if not
to be avoided under some gratuitous equivalent.
If any captives should be made by the Squadron,
before the negotiation be over, the difficulty may
be got over on a principle of reciprocity:
If that should not happen, some other opportunity
may present itself for inducing the surrender of
our Citizens without a formal purchase of them.
On one hand a ransom is odious, and on the other,
a continuance of the war, on that account alone,
when a peace otherwise satisfactory may be had
is not to be justified, on the score of humanity,
or of the sober opinion of the public.
If a substantial & durable security for the future, can
be obtained by the impression made on the Barbarians,
a point of honor is of less regard in a Treaty with them.
I do not see that the rule which fixes the commencement
of foreign salaries, can be varied in the case of Shaler.
The rule, I believe, is that they commence
at the time of leaving home, on the service.
If he be entitled to recommence for other services
previous to that date, it is another question.
In the case of other foreign missions, where the
functionary has a passage on a public ship,
the rule has been, if I mistake not to let him make
his own arrangement with the officer commanding.
The precedents may be consulted.
As the Consuls on the Barbary Coast are deprived of outfit,
and of the privilege of trading, it may be the more
reasonable to be liberal in arrangements for them, but it is
best to adhere as much as we can to established rules,
departures from which become embarrassing precedents.
I enclose the original letter of Baker, and that from
Changuion, and yours to General Pinkney the only one sent.
The last is a very proper one.
The letters of Baker are such as were to be expected.
If he means, as I understand him, to give up all the
negroes, (with other private property) except those
received on board of British Ships, it is rather more
than was expected from his caution though less than
may be due from the contract of his Government.
I hope this business will end in the voluntary
return of the negroes who have been forced away,
and in a liberal compensation for the rest.
Changuion’s letter has rather a singular complexion.
I shall be a better judge when I see the whole
correspondence, but he presses his overtures and
expectations in a manner which seems to imply
a want of discernment or of address on such occasions.
If he perseveres, it may not be amiss to let him understand
that we do not attach any peculiar importance to a Treaty
with his Government which like ours, adopts spontaneously,
the material regulations which would enter into one.
Two of his propositions are inadmissible: and the third is
already sufficiently provided for by the act of Congress.
Nor will it be amiss to bring into view the defect of
reciprocity which characterizes Treaties between
Nations which open all their ports indiscriminately,
and such as except a part, sometimes the most
valuable part of theirs by calling them Colonial.
The distinction when analyzed is nominal only;
a Colony being as much a part of a nation,
as a County or any other local division.
I do not wish to open a source of controversy
much less of quarrel with any nation on this subject.
But it may be proper to keep in view what is right in itself,
and not to retard the accomplishment of it,
by unnecessary concessions having that tendency.
I should be very averse to enter into a permanent Treaty
of Commerce with any nation in which we bound the
whole of our Country, & the other party, a part only,
and that perhaps the part inferior in a commercial view.
I see by the Packet from Mr. Adams now returned,
that an effort is to be made by his correspondent
& the party to which he belongs, to make the
Coasting fishery a subject of political excitement.
I cannot believe that it has all the value ascribed to it.
If it has, what are we to think of the Boston leaders
who were so ready to surrender it when the first dispatches
from Ghent were published; and whose turbulent
disaffection to the war; prevented better terms of peace.
Mr. Crowninshield must know more
of the fisheries than Mr. Lloyd.
What the latter means by not giving up our right,
or what the mode in which he requires the
Government to assert it, is to be seen.
With a letter from Mr. Duval, offering his services as
Secretary of the Mississippi Territory, I enclose one from
Mr. Nelson introducing the name of your brother with a
reference to that & the office heretofore associated with it.
Whether the single one would be acceptable to your brother
or a reunion become practicable I cannot decide.
Knowing the delicacy you feel in all such cases,
I shall say only, that if there be no room to doubt,
as I presume to be the fact, that your brother would
be very agreeable to Governor Holmes, I wish a
Commission to be sent to him; and that on obtaining
your assent, I will order one directly from the Office,
without any unnecessary participation from you.11
Madison wrote to Monroe again on April 18:
I received yesterday yours of the 14th.
The confidential letters in it were returned by the
same mail addressed to you as you suggested.
The case of General Ripley is in
several respects a delicate one.
If he is not satisfied with being breveted and
insists on a Court of Enquiry as a matter of right,
ought he not still to have one?
A refusal may subject the administration,
to a suspicion of motives, which however unjust,
may be turned to injurious purposes.
I leave the question with you & Mr. Dallas,
who understand all the circumstances better than I do.
You have been already authorized to decide the other
question of retaining him as the 4th Brigadier General
which I presume will be deemed eligible.
I learn however that it will create new difficulties with some
very respectable officers such as Bissel, who will not,
in that case remain in the Army, and for whom
other satisfactory provision may be impossible.
The case of Bissel & Smith particularly are hard ones,
on account of their active merits; as that of Cushing &
others is for long services, & a want of other resources.
Have you been able to find any
provision yet for General Wilkinson?
I have not yet got through his voluminous trial,
amidst the interruptions which occur.
In a day or two more I hope to
return it to the War Department.
I return the communications from Governor Claiborne.
I wonder at the delay of General Jackson in
reporting the proceedings to which they relate.
Mr. Dallas’s letter to him, will I hope, answer the desired
purpose: but it may happen otherwise, notwithstanding
the advantageous shape given to the experiment.
Mr. Graham sent me the letter from Onis,
of which a translation was kept for you.
He seems now to require not only a reception of him,
but an acknowledgment of his commission dated
in 1809 with an apology for so long delaying it.
It is remarkable that while the King is denouncing &
persecuting the Cortes, as an illegitimate body, and
annulling the proceedings during his absence, he should
consider the appointment of Onis as so peculiarly &
obviously valid, as to forbid even a new edition of it.
It is a fair suspicion, that the whole affair is
an intrigue of Onis & his patron Cevallos;
and is little, if at all a point, with the Court.
If you think it worthy of consideration whether
any and what answer should be given, and whether
on a view of all the facts known to the Department of State,
it might not be best to receive him, I wish you to bring
your associates into a consultation on the subject,
and to act upon it, if delay be thought inexpedient.
If there be ground to believe that Spain &
Great Britain are on a footing, which makes it
advisable to overlook the objections which have
thus far prevailed to Onis, & that the acknowledgment
of him will have any important effect on the Councils
of Spain in that or any other respect, which concerns
the U.S; such a step ought not to be longer withheld.
But is there any evidence as yet of any such connection
between those powers, or that it would be affected
by our receiving Onis, or asking the substitution
of one not personally objectionable or that the
question relating to him, is essentially mingled
with the general policy of Spain towards us.
With the knowledge we have of his indecorous & criminal
conduct towards the U.S. and the knowledge the Spanish
Government have both of that conduct, and of our
knowledge of it, the case of his reception under such
circumstances, & after so long objecting to it, would I fear,
whenever made public, not make an impression in our
favor, unless great considerations of national interest
called for a disregard of all minor ones.
I repeat however that I wish you in concert
with the other members of the Cabinet to
take up the subject under all its aspects and prospects,
and I shall be governed by the result.12
On April 25 President Madison sent Dallas this letter:
The Mail due yesterday having failed I did not receive till
this morning your communications dated on the 22nd inst.
As it appears that no legal consideration is opposed to
the appointment of Bissel & Smith to Regiments, their
just claims to that arrangement cannot be doubted.
The brevets to them may be issued when you choose.
It has been mentioned that Smith would gladly
accept the Creek agency, which it is supposed
Hawkins does not mean longer to hold.
Should it be vacated, Smith’s wishes may be taken
into view, and if his qualifications be of the right sort,
of which you have better means of judging than I have,
he may be commissioned, unless indeed other
Candidates appear with even superior pretensions.
It will be proper however not to accept the
resignation of Hawkins without knowing that
it is the effect of inclination and not of some
cause which ought to be explained & removed.
I recollect that he manifested long ago an
impression that the Executive was not satisfied
with him, and on that account proposed to
withdraw himself at the end of the war, if not sooner.
I desired the late Secretary of War to drop him a line,
expressing my confidence & a continuance of the friendly
dispositions I have for many years entertained for him.
It is possible that such a communication
may never have reached him, and that he
may still be under his original misconception.
One of your Clerks or Brigadier General Parker can
collect for you all the circumstances which merit attention.
I am thus particular because I have always regarded
Col. Hawkins as a benevolent and honorable man,
and singularly useful & meritorious in the agency
committed to him; & because an old & intimate
acquaintance with him makes me feel an interest, in
whatever may concern his welfare or touch his sensibility.
The business of O’Connor & Izard
seems to be on a fair footing.
The former can the less complain of the delay or uncertainty
attending it, as his own delay has contributed to it.
It may be well to recur to a former communication
from him to the War Department in which he recited
the same or other allegations against General Izard.
It was shown to me by Mr. Monroe while acting Secretary;
but I do not recollect the precise scope of it.
I return signed the power for the Yazoo cases;
and an approbation of the proposed allowances
to the Collectors of the direct tax.
The silence of General Jackson on the proceedings
which were the subject of your letter to him, cannot
be explained but by a failure on the road, or by a
difference between the real & reported facts, or some
uncommon view which his mind has taken of them.
The importance & novelty of the proceedings
could not fail, one would suppose, to suggest
an official explanation of them.
If he should not fill the post in the army allotted to him, it
will be necessary to put other pretensions into the scales.
Before Mr. Monroe leaves Washington, be so good
as to make the proper selection a subject of
conversation with him & the other gentlemen.
Mr. McIlvaine’s letter may be shown
to the Secretary of State.
I shall be absent for a few days on a visit to Mr. Jefferson;
but I shall keep hold of the thread of
daily communication with Washington.13
President Madison wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Monroe on May 2:
The event in France is so abrupt, & pregnant
with so many consequences probable & possible,
that no precise estimate of them can be formed,
without further lights from Europe.
In the meantime prudence marks out the
course for us, which has been recommended
from your Counsels at Washington.
By suspending the expedition against Algiers, and
limiting the immediate discharge of the Army to the troops
enlisted for the war, we cannot sacrifice much, and may
be enabled by intelligence daily to be expected to take
our measures with safety and advantage to the nation.
Whether the triumphant return of Napoleon will preclude
internal convulsions and external combinations,
whether if war ensue, it will involve Europe as
heretofore, or some or others only of the
Continental Powers, or Great Britain only, are questions
which we are not yet prepared to decide.
Yet on these hang other questions vitally
bearing on the interests of this country.
The event will also materially affect
Spain & Spanish America, and be highly
interesting to us in that point of view.
Our general policy seems clearly to lie, for the moment in
preserving a posture, which will leave us free to choose
the course recommended by further information, and best
according with our neutral rights and national interests.
The pause in the public movements will admit
of a due consideration of the hint of Shaler as to
the Ottoman Porte and the mode of giving it effect.
I am willing to do the best we can for Wilkinson
and hope he will not frustrate our dispositions,
by insinuations or threats which must be defied.
Whether he would suit the employment
at which you hint, I am at some loss to say.
The provision also though handsome, will be but temporary,
and every year added to his age may increase
the difficulty of making a durable provision for him.
Izard, if satisfactory to New York would, I suppose,
do well enough for the other appointment
on which no decision is yet made.
He is however under charges, which he
would wish himself to dissipate before
receiving such a mark of public confidence.
I unluckily missed the expected
opportunity of seeing Mr. Nelson.
With every disposition to befriend the gentleman whom
he recommends as successor to Mr. Daingerfield,
and without doubting his merits, an enlarged and
deliberate view of the subject, suggests caution in
preferring a Virginian with his connections to such
Candidates as are recommended by high characters
from other States; and at a moment when so many
jealousies & misconstructions are propagated.
I have not however made up any final
decision in my mind on the subject.14
Based on foreign intelligence Madison wrote this letter to Monroe on May 9:
From the aspect of the latest intelligence from Europe,
we are to infer that war is to be renewed.
If the Coalition against France be also renewed,
and a Civil war then should aid it, the Bourbons
& peace may soon be restored.
Should Napoleon have the united support
of the French and be able to disunite the allies,
the war may be soon terminated in his favor.
On other suppositions the war may be
protracted and the issue be doubtful.
As war however is so presumable, and with
England & France adverse parties in it, it is our duty to
contemplate a recurrence of embarrassments to the U.S.
Should Napoleon Yield less, than he may be expected
to do, to the lessons of experience, a difference in his
own situation, in that of France, in that of the Continent
of Europe, and in that of the U.S. will probably divert
him from the anti-commercial & anti-neutral policy
which marked his former career.
He may even take the opposite course of
inviting the commerce of neutral America,
for the double purpose of nourishing his own resources,
and of laying snares for his maritime adversary.
On the other hand it is possible, that his old prejudices
may not have forsaken him, and that he may relapse
into collisions with our rights national or neutral.
But whatever may be the system embraced
in that Quarter, we cannot turn to another without
serious apprehensions, that in some form or other,
our commerce & navigation will encounter
vexations dangerous to our peace.
The full enjoyment of the American Market,
and an involuntary respect for the military & naval
faculties of which such monitory demonstrations
have been given, must indeed not be without
effect on the Counsels of Great Britain.
It must occur also, that with the use of the French Ports,
the pressure of our marine would be
more than doubled on her Commerce.
Nor can she be unaware of the dilemma which
a war with the U. S. must impose, of either
leaving Canada open to our attacks or defending it
by forces, not to be well spared from Europe.
But strong as these motives are, to a just and
conciliatory conduct on the part of that nation,
it does not follow that they will prevail.
It is more probable, especially if the administration
continue in the present or similar hands, that a spirit
of revenge, a hope of retrieving lost reputation,
a wish to retard our maritime growth,
a pride in showing to the world that neither the war
nor the peace with this Country has impaired her
maritime claims, or her determination to exert them,
will all unite with the object of distressing France &
destroying her ruler, in stimulating her
into her former violence on the ocean.
Should she even cover a discontinuance of her
impressments under arrangements with us
saving her pride, she will be unwilling to forego
a general blockade of the ports of France,
as at once crippling her Enemy, and
checking the prosperity of her rival.
She will be the less apt to decline a resort to this measure,
as her Continental allies will be reconciled to it when
directed against a common enemy, as well as by the
plea already prepared, that such an Enemy, has no
claim to the benefits of public Law; while the measure
will have the aspect of asserting the British Doctrine
of Blockades against the pretensions of the U.S.
We may expect vexations also from a fresh
application of the rule of ’56, in case the French Colonies
should abandon the Bourbons in favor of Bonaparte.
With these sources of collision before us,
the questions to be decided are
I. What is the armor in which the U.S. ought
to present themselves, and particularly whether
the law reducing the Military establishment
ought to be carried into immediate execution,
2. whether any and what diplomatic experiments
ought to be made for the purpose of obviating
threatened collisions by a conciliatory adjustment
of differences which may produce them.
With respect to the reduction of the Army, I am induced to
think that it will be the better course on the whole to carry
the law into execution; and if the members of the Cabinet
at Washington concur in this opinion, the Secretary of War
will take his measures accordingly, on the return of the
Documents sent me, which will be by the mail of tomorrow.
If preference be given to a delay of the reduction,
I wish to have an opportunity of reconsidering the subject
with the aid of the views leading to that preference.
On the 2nd question, I wish to have the result of a
consultation, as it relates to Great Britain, to France,
and even to Spain; but more particularly as it relates
to Great Britain; and as it relates to the number composing
the missions, and the subjects committed to them.
It is not impossible that something may have
passed from the British Government after the
receipt of our ratification of the peace, & the
prospect of a new war in Europe in reply to
the last communication from our ministers at Ghent,
that may affect the question of an Extraordinary mission.
When you are all together, take up also the expediency
of prolonging or rescinding the suspension of the
orders for the sailing of Commodore Decatur.
If the danger be not serious, the delay may be Complained
of by the Mediterranean Commerce, the more so as vessels
may have gone thither with an understanding
that a protecting force would be hastened.
It merits consideration whether the Squadron
might not proceed in such force only as would
overmatch that of Algiers, and suffice for a blockade;
diminishing thus the stake exposed, without
an entire disappointment of the original objects.
The Reinforcing squadron, or squadrons, might follow as
soon as better estimates of the prospect should justify it.
I return you the communications by the Fingal with a couple
of letters from Mr. Crawford to me, for your perusal.
I have read the whole but slightly.
But you may want them in your consultations.15
On May 17 Madison from his home at Montpelier
sent Secretary of War Dallas this letter:
The arrangement proposed in yours of the 14th just
received with respect to Majors Butler & Hayne, appear
to be eligible, though the latter may not find it convenient,
being, I understand, an inhabitant of South Carolina,
to be allotted to the North Division of the Army.
It is desirable to gratify General Jackson, and it is
fortunate that in this case it can be done, with an
accommodation at the same time to the public service.
I know not how to account, unless by faults of
the mail, for his long silence on the subject of
Martial law, and the events growing out of it.
His printed defense shows the ground on which
his explanation will be made; and shows also
that He will not be prepared for the view of
the subject presented in your letter to him.
It is to be regretted that his defense was forbidden
by the Judge, and that it assumed the form it did.
The ground on which martial law takes place is
that it results from a given military situation;
not that it can be introduced or extended in time
or place by the authority of a military commander.
When the public safety calls for its introduction
or extension, the exertion of it rests, on the
patriotic assumption of an extraordinary responsibility.
If this distinction be just, a better course might have
been taken than that which the General was led to adopt.
All his reasons & views ought however to be seen
before any final opinion be formed, and if not
altogether satisfactory when seen, ought to be judged
with a liberality proportioned to the greatness of his
services, the purity of his intentions, and the peculiarity
of the circumstances in which he found himself.16
On May 20 Commodore Stephen Decatur sailed with the frigates
USS Guerriere and the USS Constitution for the
Mediterranean Sea with some smaller warships.
Their objective was peace without tribute, though they could ransom captive Americans.
Britain had 260,000 men under arms.
The British refused to transport 4,700 American seamen
in the Dartmoor prison after the war ended.
When some tried to escape in March, British soldiers shot at them,
killing seven and wounding sixty.
Soon after this “massacre” the Americans were officially released.
The Treaty of Ghent required Canada to return captured slaves or pay for them;
but this was not resolved until 1827 when England agreed to pay
£250,000 ($1,204,960) to settle all claims on private property;
this legally freed about 3,600 former slaves.
Madison informed Congress on February 25 that the Dey of Algiers
had cut down an American flag and was demanding his annual tribute
while American sailors were still in his dungeons.
The President asked Congress for a declaration of war against Algiers,
and Congress authorized naval deployment on March 3.
In the spring he sent a squadron of ten ships commanded by Stephen Decatur.
They captured two ships, and the Dey promised to stop piracy,
release all prisoners, and stop demanding annual tribute payments.
This was followed by similar treaties with Tunis and Tripoli.
Only one American died in the brief combat,
though three were killed when a deck cannon exploded.
Congress ended their happy session on March 3.
The Madisons went home to Virginia in late March
and returned to Washington in early June.
In June and July the British and American forces were evacuating the forts
that they had occupied, and prisoners of war were exchanged.
The President ordered troop strength cut back.
A new commercial treaty was negotiated in London on July 3,
and Gallatin and Clay sent the official version to Madison who was disappointed
that the British had not agreed to stop discriminating against American goods.
Although Americans were given limited trading rights in the British Isles and India,
trade with the British West Indies and Canada had not been addressed.
The Senate ratified the treaty in late December.
Madison sent the commissioners Governor William Clark of the Missouri Territory,
Governor Ninian Edwards of the Illinois Territory, and the fur-trader
Auguste Chouteau from St. Louis to meet with 2,000 Indians.
Between July 18 and September 16 they agreed to the Treaties of Portage des Sioux
that ended the wars with the Indians that had coincided with the British-American War.
Chief Black Hawk refused to come;
but eventually he was compelled and signed the last treaty.
Delegates from the Fox and Sauk tribes had left in anger,
and the Kickapoos and Winnebagos were not satisfied.
Chief Black Thunder of the Fox said he would never surrender their lands
but with his life
because they had been cheated in the previous contract with the United States.
President Madison on 12 September 1815 wrote
this letter to Secretary of State James Monroe:
Presuming on your having returned home at the time
you intended, I send you a mass of the letters &c. which
have successively reached me during your absence.
Some of them are of very inferior importance,
but it may be well to give you an opportunity
of lightening your future burden.
The convention necessarily brought up the question
whether it required an anticipated meeting of Congress.
Considering the shortness of the time that could be gained
& the season of the year, it appeared that so few arrivals
& departures would be affected by the changes made by
that Instrument, that the measure would not be advisable.
A call of Congress for the sole purpose of giving effect to it,
seemed to attach a magnified importance to its contents.
It is possible also that the Bill before the House of
Commons for regulating the trade with the U.S.
may have been absolute in equalizing the navigation
between the two Countries, or have put it on a
condition with which the Executive can comply
by a Proclamation under the late Act of Congress.
Notwithstanding this view of the subject, I stated
the question to the Secretary of the Treasury,
who is in a situation to judge best of all its bearings,
and authorized, as not a moment was to be lost,
the issuing of a Proclamation, in case he should
consider a Call of the Legislature expedient.
I find by a short letter written before he could have received
mine, that he leaned against a Call; and it is not probable
that further consideration will change his opinion.
You will have seen that Barclay is arrived as a
Commissioner of Boundaries under the Treaty of Ghent.
Holmes & Peter B. Porter should
be immediately enabled to act.
Although it is not probable that much will be done in
the way of actual Survey, during the present Season
we ought at least to keep pace with the other party;
and in the branch of the business allotted to Holmes
so far as it relates to the title to Moose Island &c.
there will be a sedentary discussion, for which the
Winter Season will be very convenient.
A letter from you to those Gentlemen may suffice,
till a more regular authority can be transmitted.
As it may happen however that nothing will be done this fall,
at least by Porter, it may be well to let the emoluments
sleep till an actual Commencement of service.
How are the Surveyors to be appointed.
If they were heretofore appointed by the Commissioners,
these should be authorized to select them.
Onis as you will see has kept up an incessant fire.
The information from New Orleans made it
proper that a Proclamation such as you see
in the National papers should be issued.
The District attorney at New Orleans is also
instructed to prosecute in clear cases such as that of Perry,
who has advertised his violations of the law.
Onis’s letters have not been answered, otherwise
than by the Proclamation which is due to & dictated
by respect to the authority of the laws.
Mr. Adams gives no hint in any of his letters
on the subject of a Secretary, leaving us
to infer that our choice will be his.
I have therefore authorized a commission
to his nephew who, has been well recommended.
Decatur has dictated a peace to Algiers.
His letter to the Secretary of the Navy refers to
a dispatch from Shaler & himself to you for particulars.
This is not yet come to hand.
It appears that we are put on the highest footing
allowed to any nation, with some additional
privileges not mentioned by the Commodore.
The Captured vessels were given back to the Dey,
being said to be of little value, and anxiously requested
by him, as necessary to conciliate his own people.
Several days ago I received information through a
confidential channel, that Joseph Bonaparte
(with several Companions) had arrived incognito
at New York and had disclosed himself to Commodore
Lewis, whose honor he inferred from his military symbols.
And yesterday I received the further information that he
was on his way, accompanied by Lewis, to report himself
to me personally, still under his disguise, which he
considered essential to prevent invigorated efforts of
British Cruisers on our Coasts, to intercept his family
and property which are following him.
Whatever motives may have produced this step,
the palpable impropriety of it, especially as its success
would involve my participation in a clandestine
transaction, determined me at once to guard against it.
I have accordingly written to Mr. Rush, to have the travelers
diverted from their purpose on their arrival at Washington.
The anxiety of Joseph Bonaparte to be incognito for the
present at least, makes it the more extraordinary that he
should undertake a journey which could not fail to
excite curiosity & multiply the chances of discovery.
Lewis has doubtless been misled into his
inconsiderate agency by a benevolent sympathy;
but he ought at least to have obtained a previous
sanction to it from some quarter or other.17
States held their elections on various dates in 1815.
The Republicans lost 3 seats while a Federalist gained one seat.
The Democratic-Republicans still had a 22 to 11 majority in the Senate.
In the House of Representatives the Democrats gained 5 seats while the Federalists lost 4.
This gave the Republicans a 118 to 64 advantage.
When the new Congress assembled,
Henry Clay was elected Speaker by the House again.
President Madison instructed John Quincy Adams to propose the mutual reduction
of armaments in the Great Lakes, though he asked Congress
to authorize three big warships on Lake Ontario.
Madison presented his Seventh Annual Message to
the United States Congress on 5 December 1815:
I have the satisfaction on our present meeting
of being able to communicate to you the successful
termination of the war, which had been commenced
against the United States by the regency of Algiers.
The Squadron in advance on that service under
Commodore Decatur lost not a moment after its
arrival in the Mediterranean in seeking the naval
force of the Enemy, then cruising in that sea;
and succeeded in capturing two of his ships, one of them
the principal ship commanded by the Algerine Admiral.
The high character of the American commander
was brilliantly sustained on the occasion, which
brought his own ship into close action with that
of his adversary; as was the accustomed gallantry
of all the officers and men actually engaged.
Having prepared the way by this demonstration of American
skill and prowess, he hastened to the port of Algiers,
where peace was promptly yielded to his victorious force.
In the terms stipulated the rights and honor of the
United States were particularly consulted by a
perpetual relinquishment on the part of the Dey
of all pretensions to tribute from them.
The impressions, which have thus been made,
strengthened as they will have been by subsequent
transactions with the regencies of Tunis and Tripoli,
by the appearance of the larger force which followed
under Commodore Bainbridge the chief in command of the
expedition, and by the judicious precautionary arrangements
left by him in that quarter, afford a reasonable prospect of
future security for the valuable portion of our commerce,
which passes within reach of the Barbary Cruisers.
It is another source of satisfaction, that the
Treaty of peace with Great Britain has been
succeeded by a convention on the subject of commerce,
concluded by the Plenipotentiaries of the two countries.
In this result a disposition is manifested on the
part of that nation corresponding with the
disposition of the United States, which it may
be hoped will be improved into liberal arrangements
on other subjects on which the parties have mutual
interests or which might endanger their future harmony.
Congress will decide on the expediency of promoting
such a Sequel by giving effect to the measure of
confining the American navigation to American Seamen;
a measure which at the Same time that it might have
that conciliatory tendency, would have the further
advantage of increasing the independence of our
navigation and the sources for our maritime defense.
In conformity with the Articles of the Treaty of
Ghent relating to the Indians, as well as with a view
to the tranquility of our Western and North Western
frontiers, measures were taken to establish an
immediate peace with the several Tribes who had
been engaged in hostilities against the United States.
Such of them as were invited to Detroit, acceded
readily to a renewal of the former Treaties of friendship.
Of the other tribes who were invited to a Station
on the Mississippi, the greater number have
also accepted the peace offered to them.
The residue, consisting of the more distant Tribes
or parts of Tribes, remain to be brought over by
further explanations, or by such other means as may
be adapted to the dispositions they may finally disclose.
The Indian tribes within & bordering on the southern
frontier, whom a cruel war on their part had compelled
us to chastise into peace, have latterly shown a
restlessness, which has called for preparatory measures
for repressing it and for protecting the Commissioners
engaged in carrying the terms of the peace into execution.
The execution of the act for fixing the military peace
establishment has been attended with difficulties, which
even now can only be overcome by legislative aid.
The Selection of Officers, the payment and discharge of
the troops enlisted for the war, the payment of the
retained Troops and their re-union from detached and
distant stations, the collection and security of the public
property in the Quarter Master, Commissary, and
Ordonnance Departments; and the constant medical
assistance required in Hospitals and Garrisons rendered
a complete execution of the act impracticable on the first
of May, the period more immediately contemplated.
As soon however, as circumstances would permit,
and as far as it has been practicable consistently with
the public interests, the reduction of the army has
been accomplished: but the appropriations for its pay,
and for other branches of the military service, having
proved inadequate, the earliest attention to that subject
will be necessary; and the expediency of continuing
upon the peace establishment the staff officers who
have hitherto been provisionally retained is also
recommended to the consideration of Congress.
In the performance of the Executive duty upon this
occasion, there has not been wanting a just sensibility
to the merits of the American army during the late war:
but the obvious policy and design in fixing an efficient
military peace establishment did not afford an
opportunity to distinguish the aged and infirm
on account of their past services; nor the wounded
and disabled on account of their present sufferings.
The extent of the reduction in deed unavoidably
involved the exclusion of many meritorious officers
of every rank from the Service of their country;
and so equal as well as so numerous were the
claims to attention that a decision by the standard
of comparative merit could seldom be attained.
Judged however, in candor by a general standard
of positive merit the Army Register will, it is believed,
do honor to the establishment; while the case of those
Officers, whose names are not included in it, devolves
with the strongest interest upon the legislative authority
for such provision, as shall be deemed the best calculated
to give support and solace to the veteran and the invalid;
to display the beneficence, as well as the justice of the
Government; and to inspire a martial zeal for the
public service upon every future emergency.
Although the embarrassments arising from the want
of a uniform national currency have not been diminished
since the adjournment of Congress, great satisfaction
has been derived in contemplating the revival of the
public credit and the efficiency of the public resources.
The receipts into the Treasury, from the various branches
of the revenue during the nine months ending on the
thirtieth of September last have been estimated at
twelve millions and a half of Dollars: the issues of Treasury
notes of every denomination during the same period
amounted to the sum of fourteen millions of Dollars:
and there was also obtained upon loan during the same
period a sum of nine millions of Dollars; of which the
sum of six millions of Dollars was subscribed in cash,
and the sum of three millions of Dollars in Treasury Notes.
With these means added to the sum of one million and a
half of Dollars, being the balance of money in the Treasury
on the first of January, there has been paid between the
first of January and the first of October on account of the
appropriations of the preceding and of the present year
(exclusively of the Amount of the Treasury notes subscribed
to the loan and of the amount redeemed in the payment of
duties and taxes) the aggregate sum of thirty three millions
and a half of Dollars; leaving a balance then in the
Treasury estimated at the Sum of three millions of Dollars.
Independent however of the arrearages due for military
services and supplies, it is presumed that a further sum
of five millions of Dollars, including the interest on the
public debt payable on the first of January next will be
demanded at the Treasury to complete the expenditures
of the present year, and for which the existing ways
and means will Sufficiently provide.
The national debt, as it was ascertained on the first of
October last, amounted in the whole to the sum of one
hundred and twenty millions of Dollars, consisting of the
unredeemed balance of the debt contracted before the
late war (thirty nine millions of Dollars) the amount of
the funded debt contracted in consequence of the war,
(sixty four millions of Dollars) and the amount of the
unfunded and floating debt (including the various
issues of Treasury notes) Seventeen millions of Dollars,
which is in a gradual course of payment.
There will probably be some addition to the public debt,
upon the liquidation of various claims, which are depending;
and a conciliatory disposition on the part of Congress, may
lead honorably and advantageously to an equitable
arrangement of the militia Expenses incurred by the Several
states without the previous sanction or authority of the
Government of the United States: but when it is considered,
that the new, as well as the old, portion of the debt has
been contracted in the assertion of the national rights and
independence; and when it is recollected that the public
expenditures, not being exclusively bestowed upon subjects
of a transient nature, will long be visible in the number and
equipment of the American navy in the military works for
the defense of our harbors and our frontiers, and in the
supplies of our arsenals and magazines; the amount will
bear a gratifying comparison with the objects which have
been attained, as well as with the resources of the country.
The arrangement of the finances with a view to
the receipts and expenditures of a permanent peace
establishment will necessarily enter into the
deliberations of Congress during the present Session.
It is true that the improved condition of the public revenue
will not only afford the means of maintaining the faith of
Government with its Creditors inviolate and of prosecuting
successfully the measures of the most liberal policy,
but will also justify an immediate alleviation of the
burdens imposed by the necessities of the war.
It is, however, essential to every modification of
the finances, that the benefits of a uniform national
currency should be restored to the community.
The absence of the precious metals will, it is believed,
be a temporary evil; but until they can again be rendered
the general medium of Exchange, it devolves on the
Wisdom of Congress to provide a substitute, which
shall equally engage the confidence and accommodate
the wants of the Citizens throughout the Union.
If the operation of the State Banks cannot produce
this result, the probable operation of a National Bank
will merit consideration; and if neither of these
expedients be deemed effectual, it may become
necessary to ascertain the terms upon which the
notes of the Government (no longer required as an
instrument of Credit) shall be issued, upon motives
of general policy as a common medium of circulation.
Notwithstanding the security for future repose which
the United States ought to find in their love of peace,
and their constant respect for the rights of other nations,
the Character of the times, particularly inculcates the
lesson, that whether to prevent or repel danger,
we ought not to be unprepared for it.
This consideration will sufficiently recommend to Congress,
a liberal provision for the immediate extension and gradual
completion of the works of defense both fixed and floating,
on our maritime frontier; and an adequate provision for
guarding our inland frontier against dangers to which
certain portions of it may continue to be exposed.
As an improvement in our military establishment;
it will deserve the Consideration of Congress whether a
Corps of Invalids might not be so organized and employed,
as at once to aid in the support of meritorious individuals
excluded by age or infirmities from the existing
establishment, and to procure to the public the benefit of
their stationary services and of their exemplary discipline.
I recommend also an enlargement of the
military Academy already established, and the
establishment of others in other sections of the union.
And I cannot press too much on the attention of Congress,
such a classification and organization of the militia as will
most effectually render it the safeguard of a free State.
If experience has shown in the recent splendid
achievements of militia, the value of this resource
for the public defense, it has shown also the importance
of that skill in the use of arms and that familiarity
with the essential rules of discipline, which cannot
be expected from the regulations now in force.
With this subject is intimately connected the necessity
of accommodating the laws in every respect to the great
object of enabling the political authority of the Union to
employ promptly and effectually the physical power of
the union in the cases designated by the Constitution.
The Signal Services which have been rendered
by our navy, and the capacities it has developed for
successful co-operation in the national defense, will
give to that portion of the public force, its full value
in the eyes of Congress at an epoch which calls for
the constant vigilance of all Governments.
To preserve the ships now in a sound state;
to complete those already contemplated;
to provide amply the imperishable materials
for prompt augmentations; and to improve the existing
arrangements into more advantageous establishments
for the construction, the repairs, and the security of
vessels of War is dictated by the soundest policy.
In adjusting the duties on imports to the object of
revenue, the influence of the tariff on manufactures
will necessarily present itself for consideration.
However wise the Theory may be, which leaves
to the sagacity and interest of individuals, the
application of their industry and resources, there are
in this, as in other cases, exceptions to the general rule.
Besides the condition which the Theory itself implies
of a reciprocal adoption by other nations, experience
teaches that so many circumstances must concur, in
introducing and maturing manufacturing establishments,
especially of the more complicated kinds, that a
country may remain long without them, although
sufficiently advanced and in some respects even
peculiarly fitted for carrying them on with success.
Under Circumstances giving a powerful impulse to
manufacturing industry, it has made among us a progress
and exhibited an efficiency which justify the belief,
that with a protection not more than is due to the
enterprising Citizens whose interests are now at stake,
it will become at an early day not only safe against
occasional competitions from abroad, but a source
of domestic wealth and even of external commerce.
In selecting the branches more especially entitled
to the public patronage, a preference is obviously
claimed by such as will relieve the United States from a
dependence on foreign supplies, ever subject to casual
failures for articles necessary for the public defense
or connected with the primary wants of individuals.
It will be an additional recommendation of
particular manufactures, where the materials
for them are extensively drawn from our agriculture,
and consequently, impart and ensure to that great
fund of national prosperity and independence, an
encouragement which cannot fail to be rewarded.
Among the means of advancing the public interest,
the occasion is a proper one for recalling the attention
of Congress to the great importance of establishing
throughout our country the roads and Canals which
can best be executed under the national Authority.
No objects within the circle of political economy,
so richly repay the expense bestowed on them;
there are none, the utility of which is more
universally ascertained & acknowledged;
none that do more honor to the Governments, whose
wise and enlarged patriotism duly appreciates them.
Nor is there any country which presents a field,
where nature invites more the art of man to complete
her own work for his accommodation and benefit.
These considerations are strengthened moreover by the
political effect of these facilities for intercommunication
in bringing and binding more closely together the
various parts of our extended confederacy.
While the states individually with a laudable enterprise &
emulation, avail themselves of their local advantages
by new roads, by navigable Canals, and by improving the
streams susceptible of navigation, the general Government
is the more urged to similar undertakings, requiring a
national jurisdiction and national means by the prospect
of thus systematically completing so inestimable a work.
And it is a happy reflection, that any defect of
constitutional authority, which may be encountered
can be supplied in a mode, which the constitution
itself has providently pointed out.
The present is a favorable season also, for bringing
again into view the establishment of a national seminary
of learning within the District of Columbia, and with
means drawn from the property therein subject to
the authority of the general Government: Such an
Institution claims the patronage of Congress, as a
monument of their solicitude for the advancement of
knowledge without which the blessings of liberty cannot
be fully enjoyed or long preserved; as a model, instructive
in the formation of other Seminaries; as a nursery of
enlightened preceptors; & as a central resort of youth
and genius from every part of their Country diffusing
on their return examples of those national feelings,
those liberal sentiments and those congenial manners,
which contribute cement to our union and strength to
the great political Fabric of which that is the foundation.
In closing this communication I ought not to repress
a sensibility in which you will unite to the happy lot of
our Country and to the goodness of a Superintending
providence to which we are indebted for it.
While other portions of mankind are laboring under
the distresses of war or struggling with adversity in
other forms the United States are in the tranquil
enjoyment of prosperous and honorable peace.
In reviewing the scenes through which it has been
attained, we can rejoice in the proofs given, that our
political institutions, founded in human rights, and framed
for their preservation are equal to the severest trials of war,
as well as adapted to the ordinary periods of repose.
As fruits of this experience and of the reputation acquired
by the American Arms on the land and on the water,
the nation finds itself possessed of a growing respect
abroad and of a just confidence in itself, which are
among the best pledges for its peaceful career.
Under other aspects of our Country the strongest features
of its flourishing condition are seen in a population rapidly
increasing on a territory as productive as it is extensive;
in a general industry and fertile ingenuity, which find
their ample rewards; and in an affluent revenue,
which admits a reduction of the public burdens
without withdrawing the means of sustaining the
public credit of gradually discharging the public
debt, of providing for the necessary defensive &
precautionary establishments and of patronizing in
every authorized mode undertakings conducive to the
aggregate wealth and individual comfort of our Citizens.
It remains for the guardians of the public welfare to
persevere in that justice & good will towards other
nations, which invite a return of these Sentiments
towards the United States; to cherish Institutions,
which guarantee their safety and their liberties Civil and
religious; and to combine with a liberal system of foreign
commerce, an improvement of the natural advantages,
and a protection and extension of the Independent
resources of our highly favored and happy Country.
In all measures having such objects my faithful
co-operation will be afforded.18
Madison reviewed American achievements and noted that the national debt
had reached $120 million, but they had asserted their
national rights and independence from the British.
The war had cost the United States $68,783,122, and
the paper money in circulation now was coincidentally $68 million.
He asked for a protective tariff to aid enterprising citizens against competition
from abroad, and he recommended consideration of a national bank.
Treasury Secretary Dallas proposed a bank with a capital of
$35 million with $7 million provided by the national government.
Bank notes had increased from $80 million in 1811 to more than $200 million.
The consumer price index, which had been 109 in 1789, reached 211 in 1814
and was 185 in 1815, and in 1816 prices continued to decline.
The President and Secretary Dallas reprimanded General Andrew Jackson
for violating freedom of the press and the courts by maintaining martial law after the war.
He had expelled the French consul and ordered 130 French sent to Baton Rouge.
A Louisiana legislator protested, and Jackson had him arrested,
defied a writ of habeas corpus, and deported the federal judge who issued the writ.
Jackson favored American settlers over the land rights of Indian tribes,
and Madison ordered federal officials to remove people who squatted on public lands
whose titles were still being negotiated.
Jackson was the Indian commissioner for the region
between New Orleans and the east coast.
Madison persuaded the Cherokees and Creeks to accept a military road
across their land to New Orleans, and he sent Jackson this order:
“The President is determined to obtain no lands from either of those nations,
upon principles inconsistent with their ideas of justice and right.”19
Indians no longer owned any land in Ohio, and the population of that state
rose from 230,000 in 1810 to 400,000 in 1815.
Settlers in the Indiana Territory wanted to become a state,
and in 1815 the territorial legislature counted 63,897 residents.
President Madison laid down the law on settlers occupying public land
with this proclamation on 12 December 1815:Whereas, it has been represented, that many uninformed
or evil-disposed persons have taken possession of, or made
a settlement on, the public lands of the United States which
have not been previously sold, ceded, or leased by the
United States, or the claim to which lands by such persons,
has not been previously recognized and confirmed by the
United States: which possession or settlement is by the Act
of Congress passed on the third day of March, one thousand
eight hundred and seven, expressly prohibited; and
Whereas, the due execution of the said Act of Congress
as well as the general interest, require that
such illegal practices should be promptly repressed.
Now Therefore, I, James Madison, President of the
United States, have thought proper to issue my
proclamation, commanding and strictly enjoining all
persons who have unlawfully taken possession of or made
any settlement on the public lands, as aforesaid, forthwith
to remove therefrom; and I do hereby further command
and enjoin the Marshal, or officer acting as Marshal in any
state or Territory where such possession shall have been
taken or settlement made to remove from and after the
tenth day of March one thousand eight hundred and sixteen,
all or any of the said unlawful occupants; and to effect the
said service, I do hereby authorize the employment of
such military force as may become necessary in pursuance
of the provisions of the act of Congress aforesaid,
warning the offenders moreover that they will be
prosecuted in all such other ways as the law directs.20
Notes
1. The Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series, Volume 8 July 1814—
18 February 1815 with a supplement December 1779-18 April 1814, p. 541-543.
2. Ibid., p. 557-558.
3. Ibid., p. 594-599.
4. Ibid., p. 599-601.
5. Ibid., p. 603-610.
6. From James Madison to Congress, 23 February 1815 (Online).
7. Letters and other Writings of James Madison, Volume II 1794-1815, p. 599-600.
8. Ibid., p. 600-602.
9. To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 23 March 1815 (Online).
10. To James Madison from Alexander J. Dallas, 9 April 1815 (Online).
11. From James Madison to James Monroe, 15 April 1815 (Online).
12. From James Madison to James Monroe, 18 April 1815 (Online).
13. From James Madison to Alexander J. Dallas, 25 April 1815 (Online).
14. From James Madison to James Monroe, 2 May 1815 (Online).
15. From James Madison to James Monroe, 9 May 1815 (Online).
16. From James Madison to Alexander J. Dallas, 17 May 1815 (Online).
17. From James Madison to James Monroe, 12 September 1815 (Online).
18. Writings by James Madison, p. 710-718.
19. James Madison: Commander in Chief 1812-1836 by Irving Brant, p. 401.
20. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1908,
Volume I by James D. Richardson, p. 572.