MADISON 



3582 



MADISON 



lems, Madison's skill as a diplomat was of little 

 avail, for the nations of Europe were engaged 

 in a great war and were in no position to con- 

 sider legal points. While the United States was 

 endeavoring to maintain its rights the election 

 of 1808 made Madison the fourth President. He 

 was Jefferson's choice, and was easily elected, 

 receiving 122 out of 175 electoral votes. 



The Administrations of James Madison, 1809- 

 1817. The problems which Madison had left 

 unsolved as Secretary of State were now left for 

 his consideration as President. Madison was 

 well fitted to be President. From his college 

 days he had been a student of law and govern- 

 ment, and during his long career as a legislator 

 had put many theories into practice. He had, 

 moreover, received valuable training in handling 

 international questions during his eight years' 

 service as Secretary of State. From another 

 point of view, the social side, Madison had the 

 additional qualification of a charming wife. He 

 married, in 1794, Dorothy Payne Todd, who, as 

 "Dolly" Madison, became the leader of a bril- 

 liant society in Washington. 



During the whole of Madison's administra- 

 tion, however, the shadow of war hung over the 

 land. At the close of Jefferson's administration 

 the attitude of France and England toward 

 American shipping had already brought the 

 relations of those countries with the United 

 States to a critical point. Almost immediately 

 after he entered office Madison had issued a 

 proclamation forbidding all communication with 

 France and England until those countries should 

 repeal certain decrees and orders in council 

 which interfered with American rights on the 

 high seas. Practically the entire four years of 

 Madison's first term were occupied in negotia- 

 tions with those countries. The acts of both 

 countries were arrogant, but France never ad- 

 vocated the policy of impressment of Ameri- 

 can seamen. The Republican party, the party of 

 Jefferson and Madison, then in power, was tra- 

 ditionally friendly to France and hostile to Eng- 

 land. The popular feeling against England was 

 fanned by reports from the western frontier 

 that English agents were attempting to arouse 

 the Indians against the United States. Some 

 color to these reports was given by Tecumseh's 

 plan for an Indian confederacy. The resulting 

 campaigns against the Indians, the rise of a new 

 generation of Westerners who were determined 

 to force the issue with England, and the other 

 factors mentioned above all combined to push 

 Madison along the path to war, a path he was 

 reluctant to follow. 



The War of 1812. Finally, in 1812, after Eng- 

 land had steadily refused to modify its policy, 

 the United States placed an embargo for sixty 

 days on all exports. This preliminary was fol- 

 lowed on June 1, 1812, by a Presidential mes- 

 sage to Congress in which were reviewed the 

 many American grievances against England. 

 The President concluded his message by recom- 

 mending a formal declaration of war. On the 

 eighteenth of June Congress acted on the Presi- 

 dent's recommendation. On the twenty-third 

 of June, before news of the declaration of war 

 reached England, the British government with- 

 drew the orders in council to which the United 

 States had objected. Efforts were then made, 

 but in vain, to prevent the outbreak of hos- 

 tilities. 



A few months after the beginning of hostilities 

 Madison was reflected President by an electoral 

 vote of 128 to 89 for De Witt Clinton of New 

 York. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts was 

 elected Vice-President. Already, however, Madi- 

 son's reputation had suffered. There was strong 

 opposition to the war in many sections, espe- 

 cially in New England, where it was customary 

 to speak of "Mr. Madison's war." Madison 

 not only had to endure the blame for a war 

 which he had tried to avoid, but also for the 

 failure of the American armies to win victories. 

 At the outset the Americans suffered serious 

 reverses, and had it not been for a number of 

 glorious victories on the water the score would 

 have been heavily against them. As it was, the 

 treaty of peace, signed at Ghent on December 

 24, 1814, was ratified with suspicious prompt- 

 ness on the day after it was laid before the 

 Senate. For details of military and naval op- 

 erations, see WAR OF 1812. 



Death of the Federalist Party. During the 

 war there had been much economic and finan- 

 cial distress in the United States. The block- 

 ade had ruined shipping and all foreign trade, 

 the Treasury was exhausted, and the nation's 

 credit was most uncertain. The spectacle, too, 

 of the President of the United States fleeing 

 from a British army which sacked and burned 

 the nation's capital, was not a pleasing one. 

 The distress caused by the war and the conse- 

 quent opposition to Madison's policies were 

 greatest in New England, the Federalists' strong- 

 hold. The opposition reached its climax in the 

 Hartford Convention (which see). The secrecy 

 with which its proceedings were carried on led 

 to rumors of disloyalty and brought public dis- 

 approval on the leading Federalists. The Bat- 

 tle of New Orleans, followed by the ratification 



