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Historical Background

The Formative Years—Visions and Prospects of Nationhood (continued)

DRIFTING TOWARD WAR

James Madison, "Father of the Constitution" and cofounder with Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican Party, conceived his role as President to be that of a manager. By and large he left policymaking to Congress. Inevitably, for the British Orders in Council and French decrees were still in effect, foreign affairs dominated Madison's first term, as they had Jefferson's second. Madison's Cabinet was weak and for the most part its members had been forced upon him by political necessity. Congress was strong and growing stronger. Vigorous young men, a new generation, were beginning to assert themselves in the House.

Madison was of the older generation; he struggled to maintain peace through diplomacy. The Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 replaced the embargo. The new act permitted trade with all nations except Great Britain and France. U.S. shippers quickly took advantage of the act, and prosperity temporarily replaced the depression of the embargo period. The British, who had felt the loss of both the Continental and American trade during the embargo, offered trade concessions to the United States. During the negotiations, however, British representative David Erskine yielded too much, and the British Foreign Office repudiated the Erskine Rufus King agreement. Anglo-American relations worsened.

The U.S. Frigate Constitution defeats the British Java, off the coast of Brazil, during the War of 1812. From an aquatint by Coquerel, after Gameray. Courtesy, Library of Congress.

Napoleon exploited the situation by taking advantage of a new U.S. policy. Expounded in Macon's Bill Number Two of 1810, it offered trade with France or Great Britain if either repealed their commercial restrictions. In a highly ambiguous diplomatic note, Napoleon apparently convinced Madison that the decrees were no longer in effect toward the United States. The President announced that trade with France would resume in March 1811 but not with Britain until she repealed the Orders in Council. Doubting that Napoleon had really rescinded the restrictions, the British hesitated to repeal the orders. Still, Great Britain did not want another enemy at this time. Finally, on June 23, 1812, the British did repeal the orders. But it was too late. Five days earlier the United States, by a vote of 79-49 in the House and 19-13 in the Senate, had declared war on Great Britain.