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James Madison
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It soon became clear that no
document could hold back the wave of anti-British sentiment that was sweeping
through much of the American nation. Westerners incorrectly believed that
the British were inciting Natives against American settlers; the belligerent
nationalist War Hawks were
determined to curb British maritime infringements while some Southerners
foresaw an opportunity to seize Spanish Florida. President Madison felt that he was goaded into declaring war on Britain. Ironically, on the same day that Madison sent his war message to Congress, a new British government was repealing the Orders-in-Council. The economic tactics of implement by Jefferson and Madison had finally paid off , but it was too late. Far from achieving unanimous support, the House of Representatives voted 79 to 49 in favour of war. The senate vote, resulting in 19 to 13, was even closer. This political schism haunted Madison throughout the entire course of the war. After Madison was re-elected in 1812, he appointed the New Yorker General John Armstrong as the new Secretary of War in the hope that Armstrong's appointment would help to garner support for the war effort. But Madison's concessions and rallying cries fell mostly on deaf ears. The president's opponents often referred to the conflict as "Mr. Madison's War" even though Madison had laboured for 18 years to stave off a contest with Britain. In the summer of 1814, Madison realized the British were increasing their activity around Chesapeake Bay and called a cabinet meeting to discuss the district's defense. But with cabinet infighting preventing any significant action, the British inched closer to an unprotected Washington. On August 24, 1814, Madison rode out to Bladensburg, Maryland to assess the strength of the British forces. He quickly recognized that the American militia was no match for tough veterans of the Napoleonic Wars. That evening, the British ransacked the Presidential palace, the Capitol building, and set the whole town ablaze. Yet the tide was starting to turn for the American forces. The U.S. Navy achieved a decisive victory on Lake Champlain, and the Army repulsed the British from Baltimore in September. Finally, on January 8, 1815, General Andrew Jackson trounced the British at New Orleans. American patriotism was fired up by these victories and for the first time since the war began, public perception of the war seemed to be uniformly positive. Ironically, the U.S. and British delegations signed a peace treaty in Ghent, Belgium about two weeks before Jackson's triumph. When James Monroe was elected president in 1817, Madison retired to manage his family estate in Virginia and to enjoy the relatively tranquil status of an elder statesman. He died in 1836.
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