efforts of President Madison to keep American produce from the markets of the enemy. 35 of war The declaration of war against Great Britain was passed Declaration by Congress June 18, 1812. On the first the President had laid before that body a full statement of grievances against England. They included the impressment of American seamen, the hovering of British cruisers within our territorial waters, and the insolent conduct of officers in searching American vessels, the illegal blockades and restrictions upon American commerce established by the orders in council, the attempt to dismember the Union [referring to the Henry mission to New England in 1809], and finally the intrigues with the Indians of the Northwest. The President made no recommendation. He left the decision as to peace or war with Congress. Five days after the declaration of war the British government, acting under pressure of the manufacturing and commercial interests, withdrew the orders in council, but this was before the days of ocean cables, and the news came too late. The impressment controversy was, moreover, the main cause of the popular feeling against England, and on this question the British government showed no disposition to recede from its position. This issue alone was sufficient to justify war. Mahan, I, 263–266, 409–411, II, 170-176; Galpin, "The American Grain Trade to the Spanish Peninsula, 1810-1814," in Am. Hist. Rev., XXVIII, 24–44. An in conclusive war CHAPTER VII AN UNSATISFACTORY BUT DURABLE PEACE The United States fought the War of 1812 without allies, though most of the time England was engaged in a gigantic struggle with Napoleon. No effort was made, however, to form an alliance or even to coöperate with him. While the Americans gained a number of single-ship actions and notable victories on Lake Erie and Lake Champlain, they failed utterly in two campaigns to occupy Canada, and when England, after the first overthrow of Napoleon, was able to put forth her full strength the city of Washington was captured, the capitol and other public buildings burned, and American commerce swept from the seas. Jackson's remarkable victory over Wellington's seasoned troops at New Orleans, while gratifying to the national pride, took place two weeks after the Treaty of Ghent had been signed and had, consequently, no effect on the outcome of the war. An inconclusive contest was followed by an unsatisfactory peace, a peace which was destined to last, however, a hundred years and even to the present day. It was also the beginning of a long era of peaceable relations with the powers of Europe generally, uninterrupted, save by the Spanish War, until the Great War that began just as England and the United States were preparing to celebrate the centennial of the Treaty of Ghent. A peculiar feature of the War of 1812 was that diplomatic negotiations were carried on while the war was in progress. President Madison had signed the declaration of war with during war great reluctance and he hoped that Great Britain would Diplomatic remove the main grievances rather than go to war. Eight negotiations days after the declaration Secretary Monroe wrote to Jonathan Russell, who had been chargé d'affaires in London since the withdrawal of Pinkney, expressing the desire of the President to terminate the war on conditions honorable to both parties, and laying down the conditions that would be satisfactory: If the orders in council are repealed, and no illegal blockades are substituted for them, and orders are given to discontinue the impressment of seamen from our vessels and to restore those already impressed, there is no reason why hostilities should not immediately cease. As an inducement to the British government to discontinue the practice of impressments from our vessels, you may give assurance that a law will be passed (to be reciprocal) to prohibit the employment of British seamen in the public or commercial service of the United States.1 If these terms were acceded to, Russell was authorized to sign an armistice. The American proposal was transmitted to Lord Castlereagh on August 24, 1812. Five days later he replied that Admiral Warren had already sailed for America with a proposition based on the repeal of the orders in council of June 23, and that as this fact was not known when the American note was dispatched he must decline to enter into a discussion of it. He added: I cannot, however, refrain on one single point from expressing my surprise, namely, that as a condition preliminary even to a suspension of hostilities, the government of the United States should have thought fit to demand that the British government should desist from its ancient and accustomed practice of impressing British seamen from the merchant ships of a foreign state, simply on the assurance that a law shall hereafter be passed, to prohibit the employment of British seamen in the public or commercial service of that state.2 1Am. State Papers, Foreign Relations, III, 585. 2Ibid., p. 589. Great Britain insists on impressment Peace overtures rejected by Madison Russian offer of mediation Accepted by United States Admiral Warren's communication was forwarded from Halifax September 30, and Monroe replied October 27, stating that, in view of the withdrawal of the orders in council, the President would agree to an armistice on condition that the British claim to impressment be suspended during the period of the armistice. As Admiral Warren had no authority to bind his government on this question the negotiations came to an end. The Federalists criticized the administration for not acceding to the British ✓ proposal, but as impressment had been the chief cause of the war the attitude of the President was correct. The Russian government, which had recently become the ally of England and was therefore interested in putting an end to a conflict which lessened England's ability to contend against Napoleon, now came forward with an offer of mediation. On September 20, 1812, the chancellor sent for John Quincy Adams, the American minister at St. Petersburg, and inquired whether his government would accept the mediation of the Czar. Adams replied that he had not up to that time received any official notification that war had been declared, but knowing the reluctance with which his government had gone to war, he was sure they would favorably consider such an offer and he knew of no obstacle in the way of accepting it.4 Communication was slow in those days and the Russian offer did not reach Washington until March 8, 1813, when it was transmitted through the Russian minister to Secretary Monroe. President Madison decided to accept the offer of mediation and appointed without delay John Quincy Adams, Albert Gallatin, and James A. Bayard as envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty of peace with representatives of Great Britain at St. Petersburg. The appointments were made during the recess of the 'Ibid., p. 625. hesitates to confirm peace commissioners Senate, and when that body was convened in special Senate session two months later the right of the President to make the appointments was challenged on the ground that he had the constitutional right only to fill vacancies that happened during the recess of the Senate and that in this case he had created offices that did not exist, and hence no vacancies had occurred. The appointments of Adams and Bayard were finally confirmed, but objection was raised to Gallatin on the ground that the position of Secretary of the Treasury and that of envoy extraordinary were "so incompatible that they ought not to be and remain united in the same person," and he failed of confirmation by one vote. As he had already sailed for Russia, the refusal of the Senate to confirm him created an embarrassing situation. Profiting by Madison's experience his successors in the presidency have refrained from submitting the names of peace commissioners to the Senate for confirmation, but have proceeded under the general powers of the executive to negotiate treaties.7 Great declines Russian President Madison had, however, acted with undue haste, for the British government rejected the Russian offer on the ground that "the differences with the United States were of a nature involving principles of the internal mediation government of the British nation, and which it was thought were not susceptible of being committed to the discussion of any mediation."s Fortunately Lord Castlereagh, who was Foreign Secretary, while not disposed to surrender any of the rights claimed by Great Britain, was sincerely desirous of restoring friendly relations with the United States. As his latest biographer says: "Corwin, The President's Control of Foreign Relations, 49–56. "Updyke, The Diplomacy of the War of 1812, 147. "The treaties of peace at the close of the Mexican War, the Spanish War, and the World War were negotiated by commissioners whose names were not submitted to the Senate. A. S. P., F. R., III, 627. |