DOCSLIB.ORG

War of 1812 Primary Source Packet Madison

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
War of 1812 Primary Source Packet Madison War of 1812 Primary Source Packet Madison Becomes President Digital History ID 211 Author: John Adams Date:1809 Annotation: Distressed by the embargo's failure, Jefferson looked forward to his retirement from the presidency. "Never," he wrote, "did a prisoner, released from his chains, feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of power." The problem of American neutrality now fell to Jefferson's hand-picked successor, James Madison. A quiet and scholarly man, who secretly suffered from epilepsy, "the Father of the Constitution" brought a keen intellect and wealth of experience to the presidency. As Jefferson's Secretary of State, he had kept the United States out of the Napoleonic wars and was committed to using economic coercion to force Britain and France to respect America's neutral rights. In this letter, former President Adams notes Madison's ascension to the presidency. Document: Jefferson expired and Madison came to Life last night...I pity poor Madison. He comes to the helm in such a storm as I have seen in the Gul[f] Stream, or rather such as I had to encounter in the Government in 1797. Mine was the worst however, because he has a great Majority of the officers and Men attached to him Survival Strategies Digital History ID 662 Author: Tecumseh Date:1810 Annotation: Told by Governor Harrison to place his faith in the good intentions of the United States, Tecumseh offers a bitter retort. He calls on Native Americans to revitalize their societies so that they can regain life as a unified people and put an end to legalized land grabs. Document: You wish to prevent the Indians from doing as we wish them, to unite and let them consider their lands as the common property of the whole. You take the tribes aside and advise them not to come into this measure.... You want by your distinctions of Indian tribes, in allotting to each a particular, to make them war with each other. You never see an Indian endeavor to make the white people do this. You are continually driving the red people, when at last you will drive them onto the great lake, where they can neither stand nor work. Since my residence at Tippecanoe, we have endeavored to leave all distinctions, to destroy village chiefs, by whom all mischiefs are done. It is they who sell the land to the Americans. Brother, this land that was sold, and the goods that was given for it, was only done by a few.... In the future we are prepared to punish those who propose to sell land to the Americans. If you continue to purchase them, it will make war among the different tribes, and at last I do not know what will be the consequences among the white people. Brother, I wish you would take pity on the red people and do as I have requested. If you will not give up the land and do cross the boundary of our present settlement, it will be very hard, and produce great trouble between us. The way, the only way to stop this evil is for the red men to unite in claiming a common and equal right in the land, as it was at first, and should be now--for it was never divided, but belongs to all. No tribe has the right to sell, even to each other, much less to strangers.... Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the great sea, as well as the earth? Did not the Great Spirit make them for all the use of his children? How can we have confidence in the white people? When Jesus Christ came upon the earth you killed Him and nailed Him to the cross. You thought He was dead and you were mistaken.... Survival Strategies Digital History ID 663 Author: Tecumseh Date:1811 Annotation: Tecumseh calls on his native brethren to join together to resist white encroachments on their lands. Document: Where today are the Pequot? Where are the Narragansett, the Mohican, the Pocanet, and other powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before the avarice and oppression of the white man, as snow before the summer sun.... Will we let ourselves be destroyed in our turn, without making an effort worthy of our race? Shall we, without a struggle, give up our homes, our lands, bequeathed to us by the Great Spirit? The graves of our dead and everything that is dear and sacred to us?...I know you will say with me, Never! Never! Sleep not longer, O Choctaws and Chickasaws, in false security and delusive hopes....Will not the bones of our dead be plowed up, and their graves turned into plowed fields? Dissent Against the War of 1812 Digital History ID 260 Author: J.C. Jones Date:1812 Annotation: Although Congress voted strongly in favor of war, the country entered the conflict deeply divided. Many New Englanders were appalled by the thought of becoming allies of Napoleon and of the nation that had indulged in the Reign of Terror. Not only would many New Englanders refuse to subscribe to war loans, but some merchants actually shipped provisions that Britain needed to support its army. In the following selection, a committee of citizens in Boston denounces the drift toward war. Document: THE Committee appointed by the Town of Boston to take into consideration the present alarming state of our public affairs, and report what measures in their opinion it is proper for the Town to adopt, at this momentous crisis, RESPECTFULLY REPORT, THAT...while the temper and views of the national administration are intent upon war, an expression of the sense of this Town, will, of itself, be quite ineffectual, either to avert this deplorable calamity, or to accelerate a return of peace. But believing, as we do, that an immense majority of the people are invincibly averse from a conflict equally unnecessary, and menacing ruin to themselves and their posterity; convinced, as we are, that the event will overwhelm them with astonishment and dismay; we cannot but trust that a general expression of the voice of the people would satisfy Congress that those of their Representatives who have voted in favor of war, have not truly represented the wishes of their constituents; and thus arrest the tendency of their measures to this extremity. But should this be hopeless, it will enable the people to combine their operations in order to produce, by constitutional means, a change of men and measures, and rescue the Nation from ruin. From the commencement of the system of commercial restrictions, the Inhabitants of this Town (inferior we trust to none in ardent patriotism and attachment to the Union) have appeared to render themselves obnoxious to the national administration, and its partisans in this State, by their foresight and predictions of the utter inefficacy, destructive operation, and ultimate tendency of this unprecedented and visionary scheme. They could discern in it nothing but a deliberate sacrifice of their best interests, and a conformity to the views of France, with whose system it cooperates, and whose approbation it receives; and hostility to Britain, whose interests it wounds, and whose resentment it was calculated to excite. It was for the national government to determine, whether the decrees and aggressions of the belligerent powers (which commenced with the European war) would probably demand of the national honor, retaliation and resistance; or whether the peculiar character of the war, and relative situation of our country, would justify a suspension of our resentment, and an adherence to our pacific policy. In the one case, the years which have elapsed should have been occupied in warlike preparations, which now have been imposing and formidable. In the other event, it was the dictate of sound policy, to protest against the predatory systems which have annoyed our commerce, and still to have pursued it by all practicable means. But government has adopted neither of these courses. It has not prepared to vindicate our commercial rights upon the Ocean, where alone they are assailed; nor has it permitted the merchant to indemnify himself in any measure for the loss of that commerce which is interrupted, by a participation in that which is left. But by a strange and infatuated policy, under the pretense of resisting the invasion of maritime rights, it has debarred its own Citizens from the use of the Ocean; and professing to avenge the injuries sustained from France and England, it has aggravated them by its own measures. The Decrees of France, the Edicts of England, and the Acts of Congress, though intended to counteract each other, constitute in effect, a triple league for the annihilation of American commerce; and our own government, as if weary of waiting for a lingering dissolution, hastens to dispatch the sufferer, by the finishing stroke of a British war. Had the policy of government been inclined towards resistance to the pretensions of the belligerents, by open war, there could be neither policy, reason, or justice in singling out Great Britain as the exclusive object of hostility. If the object of war is merely to vindicate our honor, why is it not declared against the first aggressor? If the object is defence and success, why is it to be waged against the adversary most able to annoy, and least likely to yield? Why, at the moment when England explicitly declares her Orders in Council repealed whenever France shall rescind her Decrees, is the one selected for an enemy, and the other courted as a conqueror? These inquiries lead us into contemplations too painful to indulge, and too serious to express...
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Junaluska, the Cherokee Who Saved Andrew Jackson's Life and Made Him a National Hero, Lived to Regret It
    Junaluska, the Cherokee who saved Andrew Jackson’s life and made him a national hero, lived to regret it. Born in the North Carolina mountains around 1776, he made his name and his fame among his own people in the War of 1812 when the mighty tribe of Creek Indians allied themselves with the British against the United States. At the start of the Creek War, Junaluska recruited some 800 Cherokee warriors to go to the aid of Andrew Jackson in northern Alabama. Joined by reinforcements from Tennessee, including more Cherokee, the Cherokee spent the early months of 1814 performing duties in the rear, while Jackson and his Tennessee militia moved like a scythe through the Creek towns. However, that March word came that the Creek Indians were massed behind fortifications at Horseshoe Bend. Jackson, with an army of 2,000 men, including 500 Cherokee led by Junaluska, set out for the Bend, 70 miles away. There, the Tallapoosa River made a bend that enclosed 100 acres in a narrow peninsula opening to the north. On the lower side was an island in the river. Across the neck of the peninsula the Creek had built a strong breastwork of logs and hidden dozens of canoes for use if retreat became necessary. Storming The Fort: The fort was defended by 1,000 warriors. There also were 300 women and children. As cannon fire bombarded the fort, the Cherokee crossed the river three miles below and surrounded the bend to block the Creek escape route. They took position where the Creek fort was separated from them by water.
    [Show full text]
  • P.S.: You Had Better Remove the Records: Early Federal Archives
    “P.S.: You had better remove the records” Early Federal Archives and the Burning of Washington during the War of 1812 By Jessie Kratz hen British troops began to advance toward And so clerks packed Wthe United States’ new capital of Wash­ such things as the books and ington in the summer of 1814, it was clear that papers of the State Department; government leaders had not prepared an adequate unpublished secret journals of defense for the city and its government buildings. Congress; George Washington’s The British navy already had control of nearby Chesa­ commission and correspondence; peake Bay and some 4,500 troops in the port town of the Articles of Confederation; papers Benedict, Maryland—poised for an attack on the capital. of the Continental Congress; and all the Despite the show of force, the secretary of war, treaties, laws, and correspondence dating John Armstrong, was convinced the British were back to 1789. more interested in the port of Baltimore than in Along with these early records, the clerks Washington, which then had only 8,200 residents. also bagged up the Charters of Freedom—the Secretary of State James Monroe felt differently collective term for the Declaration of Indepen­ and met with President James Madison to discuss dence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. the enemy’s intentions. Then Monroe himself rode And so these three documents began a long jour­ by horse, accompanied by cavalry, into southern ney as the War of 1812 raged. Maryland to scout the situation. The journey would not end until 1952, when Upon seeing the British advancing toward all three were placed together, side by side, in special Washington, Monroe dispatched a note to Presi­ encasements in the Rotunda of the National Archives dent Madison.
    [Show full text]
  • WEB Warof1812booklet.Pdf
    1. Blount Mansion War of 1812 in Tennessee: 200 W. Hill Avenue, Knoxville A Driving Tour Governor Willie Blount, who served from 1809 to 1815, led Tennessee during the War of 1812. He lived in this sponsored and developed by the Center for Historic historic structure, originally the home of U.S. territorial Preservation, Middle Tennessee State University, Mur- freesboro Two hundred years ago, an international war raged across the United States of America. Thousands of American soldiers died in the conflict; the nation’s capital city was invaded, leaving both the White House and the U.S. Capitol in near ruins. An American invasion of Canada ended in failure. Defeat appeared to be certain—leaving the nation’s future in doubt—but down on the southern frontier Tennesseans fought and won major battles that turned the tide and made the reputation of a future U.S. president, Andrew Jackson. This conflict between the United States, Great Britain, governor William Blount (Willie’s older half-brother), Canada, and a score of sovereign Indian nations was called throughout the war. In 1813, Governor Blount raised the War of 1812 because the United States declared war over $37,000 and 2,000 volunteer soldiers to fight the on England in June of that year. Thousands of Tennesseans Creeks. Blount Mansion, built between 1792 and c.1830, fought with distinction in three southern campaigns: the is Knoxville’s only National Historic Landmark. 1813 Natchez campaign, the 1813–14 Creek War, and the campaign against the British in New Orleans in 1814–15. There were additional companies of Tennesseans and others 2.
    [Show full text]
  • War of 1812 Booklist Be Informed • Be Entertained 2013
    War of 1812 Booklist Be Informed • Be Entertained 2013 The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and Great Britain from June 18, 1812 through February 18, 1815, in Virginia, Maryland, along the Canadian border, the western frontier, the Gulf Coast, and through naval engagements in the Great Lakes and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In the United States frustrations mounted over British maritime policies, the impressments of Americans into British naval service, the failure of the British to withdraw from American territory along the Great Lakes, their backing of Indians on the frontiers, and their unwillingness to sign commercial agreements favorable to the United States. Thus the United States declared war with Great Britain on June 18, 1812. It ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814, although word of the treaty did not reach America until after the January 8, 1815 Battle of New Orleans. An estimated 70,000 Virginians served during the war. There were some 73 armed encounters with the British that took place in Virginia during the war, and Virginians actively fought in Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio and in naval engagements. The nation’s capitol, strategically located off the Chesapeake Bay, was a prime target for the British, and the coast of Virginia figured prominently in the Atlantic theatre of operations. The War of 1812 helped forge a national identity among the American states and laid the groundwork for a national system of homeland defense and a professional military. For Canadians it also forged a national identity, but as proud British subjects defending their homes against southern invaders.
    [Show full text]
  • Soldier Illness and Environment in the War of 1812
    The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fogler Library Spring 5-8-2020 "The Men Were Sick of the Place" : Soldier Illness and Environment in the War of 1812 Joseph R. Miller University of Maine, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd Part of the Canadian History Commons, Military History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Miller, Joseph R., ""The Men Were Sick of the Place" : Soldier Illness and Environment in the War of 1812" (2020). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3208. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/3208 This Open-Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “THE MEN WERE SICK OF THE PLACE”: SOLDIER ILLNESS AND ENVIRONMENT IN THE WAR OF 1812 By Joseph R. Miller B.A. North Georgia University, 2003 M.A. University of Maine, 2012 A DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in History) The Graduate School The University of Maine May 2020 Advisory Committee: Scott W. See, Professor Emeritus of History, Co-advisor Jacques Ferland, Associate Professor of History, Co-advisor Liam Riordan, Professor of History Kathryn Shively, Associate Professor of History, Virginia Commonwealth University James Campbell, Professor of Joint, Air War College, Brigadier General (ret) Michael Robbins, Associate Research Professor of Psychology Copyright 2020 Joseph R.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to the War of 1812 Sources
    Source Guide to the War of 1812 Table of Contents I. Military Journals, Letters and Personal Accounts 2 Service Records 5 Maritime 6 Histories 10 II. Civilian Personal and Family Papers 12 Political Affairs 14 Business Papers 15 Histories 16 III. Other Broadsides 17 Maps 18 Newspapers 18 Periodicals 19 Photos and Illustrations 19 Genealogy 21 Histories of the War of 1812 23 Maryland in the War of 1812 25 This document serves as a guide to the Maryland Center for History and Culture’s library items and archival collections related to the War of 1812. It includes manuscript collections (MS), vertical files (VF), published works, maps, prints, and photographs that may support research on the military, political, civilian, social, and economic dimensions of the war, including the United States’ relations with France and Great Britain in the decade preceding the conflict. The bulk of the manuscript material relates to military operations in the Chesapeake Bay region, Maryland politics, Baltimore- based privateers, and the impact of economic sanctions and the British blockade of the Bay (1813-1814) on Maryland merchants. Many manuscript collections, however, may support research on other theaters of the war and include correspondence between Marylanders and military and political leaders from other regions. Although this inventory includes the most significant manuscript collections and published works related to the War of 1812, it is not comprehensive. Library and archival staff are continually identifying relevant sources in MCHC’s holdings and acquiring new sources that will be added to this inventory. Accordingly, researchers should use this guide as a starting point in their research and a supplement to thorough searches in MCHC’s online library catalog.
    [Show full text]
  • Tennessee State Library and Archives WINCHESTER, JAMES
    State of Tennessee Department of State Tennessee State Library and Archives 403 Seventh Avenue North Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0312 WINCHESTER, JAMES (1752-1856) PAPERS, 1787-1953 Processed by: Manuscript Division Archival Technical Services Accession Number: THS 27 Date Completed: October 11, 1967 Location: I-D-3 Microfilm Accession Number: 794 MICROFILMED INTRODUCTION These papers for the years 1787-1953, relating primarily to the career and activities of General James Winchester, U.S. Army, were given to the Tennessee Historical Society by Mr. George Wynne, Castalian Springs, Tennessee. The materials in this collection measure 1.68 linear feet. There are no restrictions on the materials. Single photocopies of unpublished writings in the James Winchester Papers may be made for purposes of scholarly research. SCOPE AND CONTENT The papers of General James Winchester, numbering approximately 1,100 items and two volumes, contain accounts (bills, notes, receipts), personal and military; correspondence; land records including claims, records, deeds, grants, papers dealing with Memphis land surveys and commissions, court minutes, summonses, etc. Correspondence, mainly James Winchester’s incoming (1793-1825) and outgoing (1796-1826), comprises about half the collection. In addition to the military correspondence, a great portion deals with land speculation. The largest number of letters from any one man to Winchester is that of Judge John Overton, who, apart from being Winchester’s confidant and friend, was his partner in land dealings. There are 116 pieces of correspondence with Overton, and these are primarily on the subject of Memphis lands as Winchester, Overton, and Andrew Jackson were extensively involved in the establishment and early growth of the community.
    [Show full text]
  • THE WAR of 1812 in CLAY COUNTY, ALABAMA by Don C. East
    THE WAR OF 1812 IN CLAY COUNTY, ALABAMA By Don C. East BACKGROUND The War of 1812 is often referred to as the “Forgotten War.” This conflict was overshadowed by the grand scale of the American Revolutionary War before it and the American Civil War afterwards. We Americans fought two wars with England: the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Put simply, the first of these was a war for our political freedom, while the second was a war for our economic freedom. However, it was a bit more complex than that. In 1812, the British were still smarting from the defeat of their forces and the loss of their colonies to the upstart Americans. Beyond that, the major causes of the war of 1812 were the illegal impressments of our ships’ crewmen on the high seas by the British Navy, Great Britain’s interference with our trade and other trade issues, and the British incitement of the Native Americans to hostilities against the Americans along the western and southeast American frontiers. Another, often overlooked cause of this war was it provided America a timely excuse to eliminate American Indian tribes on their frontiers so that further westward expansion could occur. This was especially true in the case of the Creek Nation in Alabama so that expansion of the American colonies/states could move westward into the Mississippi Territories in the wake of the elimination of the French influence there with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, and the Spanish influence, with the Pinckney Treaty of 1796. Now the British and the Creek Nation were the only ones standing in the way of America’s destiny of moving the country westward into the Mississippi Territories.
    [Show full text]
  • The Creek War of 1813-1814
    The Creek War of 1813-1814 Moderator’s Guide “In classrooms where teachers use deliberation, students learn to think critically, work through differences, and interact with people who may or may not share their point of view. Teaching through deliberation provides students with the skills and abilities to work with others as citizens to claim a better future for their communities.” - Stacie Molnar-Main, Deliberation in the Classroom This issue guide is designed for classroom deliberation on a period of Alabama history that deserves more of our attention: the Creek Indian Civil War of 1813-14. Deliberation is a form of discussion where participants weigh the pros and cons of different approaches to solving a complex problem. Participants work through various tradeoffs or consequences of actions with respect and passion, and, over time, they develop skills required for living in a democratic society: critical thinking, communication, judgment, and empathy. This classroom deliberation invites students to consider the difficult choices that faced Creek Indians in 1813. About the Project This issue guide was developed in collaboration with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation as part of a research project on integrating historical and civic education. Partners include the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University; Clarke County Historical Museum; and the David Mathews Center for Civic Life. Special thanks to colleagues at the Alabama Department of Archives and History and the Alabama Bicentennial Commission, as well as Dr. Kathryn Holland Braund, History Department, Auburn University. This issue guide is dedicated to Robert Thrower (1961-2017), Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Poarch Creek Indians.
    [Show full text]
  • The Burning of Washington by Dolly Madison
    The Burning of Washington by Dolly Madison "Dolly Madison," (Dorothea "Dolly" Payne) was born on May 20th, 1768 in Guilford County, North Carolina to John Payne and Mary Coles. On September 15, 1794 she married James Madison, Jr. He became the fourth President of the United States in 1808. The passage below is taken from a letter by First Lady Dolley Madison to her sister, Anna, written the day before Washington, D.C. was burned by British forces during the War of 1812. The letter describes the abandonment of the White House and Mrs. Madison's famous actions saving Gilbert Stuart's priceless portrait of George Washington. As Mrs. Madison fled she rendezvoused with her husband, and together, from a safe distance, they watched Washington burn. My husband left me yesterday morning to join General Winder. He inquired anxiously whether I had courage or firmness to remain in the President's house until his return on the morrow, or succeeding day, and on my assurance that I had no fear but for him, and the success of our army, he left, beseeching me to take care of myself, and of the Cabinet papers, public and private. I have since received two dispatches from him, written with a pencil. The last is alarming, because he desires I should be ready at a moment's warning to enter my carriage, and leave the city; that the enemy seemed stronger than had at first been reported, and it might happen that they would reach the city with the intention of destroying it. I am accordingly ready; I have pressed as many Cabinet papers into trunks as to fill one carriage; our private property must be sacrificed, as it is impossible to procure wagons for its transportation.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter Eleven: the Early Republic Contents
    Chapter Eleven: The Early Republic Contents 11.1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 487 11.1.1 Learning Outcomes .................................................................................. 487 11.2 JEFFERSON ................................................................................................. 488 11.2.1 Jefferson’s Values ..................................................................................... 488 11.2.2 Forging a New Indian Policy ........................................................................ 489 11.2.3 The Louisiana Purchase ............................................................................. 491 11.2.4 The Lewis and Clark Expedition ................................................................... 492 11.2.5 Judicial Issues ......................................................................................... 494 11.2.6 Jefferson’s Second Term ............................................................................ 494 11.2.7 Foreign Pressures .................................................................................... 496 11.2.8 Before You Move On... ............................................................................. 498 Key Concepts ................................................................................................ 498 Test Yourself ................................................................................................. 498 11.3 MADISON ..................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Battle of Horseshoe Bend: Collision of Cultures
    National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places U.S. Department of the Interior The Battle of Horseshoe Bend: Collision of Cultures The Battle of Horseshoe Bend: Collision of Cultures (Horseshoe Bend National Military Park) Today the Tallapoosa River quietly winds its way through east-central Alabama, its banks edged by the remnants of the forest that once covered the Southeast. About halfway down its 270-mile run to the southwest, the river curls back on itself to form a peninsula. The land defined by this "horseshoe bend" covers about 100 wooded acres; a finger of high ground points down its center, and an island stands sentinel on its west side. This tranquil setting belies the violence that cut through Horseshoe Bend on March 27, 1814. On the peninsula stood 1,000 American Indian warriors, members of the tribe European Americans knew as the Creek. These men, along with 350 women and children, had arrived over the previous six months in search of refuge. Many had been part of a series of costly battles during the past year, all fought in an attempt to regain the autonomy the Indians had held before the arrival of European Americans. Surrounding the Creek were forces led by future President Andrew Jackson, then a major general of the Tennessee Militia. The core of his force was 2,600 European American soldiers, most of whom hoped that a victory would open native land to European American settlement. Yet this fight was not simply European American versus American Indian: on Jackson's side were 600 "friendly" Indians, including 100 Creek.
    [Show full text]