USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the commonwealth period. 1775-1820 v. III > Part 38
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" Give us this little fleet, and in a quarter of the time you would operate upon her in any other way we would bring Great Britain to terms. To terms - not to your feet. No, sir. Great Britain is at present the most colossal power the world ever witnessed. True, she has an enormous national debt of seven hundred millions of pounds sterling. Her daily expenditures would in six short weeks wipe off the whole' public debt of the United States. But will these millstones sink her ? Will they subject her to the power of France ? No, sir. Burst the bubble to-morrow ; destroy the fragile basis on which her public credit stands ; sponge her national debt ; revolutionize her government ; cut the throats of her royal family ; and, dreadful as would be the process, she would rise with renovated vigor from the fall, and present to her enemy a more imposing, irresistible front than ever. No, sir : Great Britain cannot be subjected by France. The gen- ius of her institutions, the genuine game-cock, bull-dog spirit of her people, will lift her head above the waves long after the dynasty of Bonaparte, and the ill-gotten power of France, collected by plunder, perfidy, and usurpation, shall, like the unreal image of old, have crumbled into atoms.
372
WAR MOVEMENTS OF THE ADMINISTRATION.
CHAP. IX. " From this belief, I acknowledge, I derive a sentiment of gratulation. In New England, our blood is unmixed. We 1812. are the direct descendants of Englishmen. We are natives of the soil. In the legislature, now in session, of the respectable and once powerful State of Massachusetts, composed of near seven hundred members,1 to my knowledge not a single for- eigner holds a seat. As Great Britain wrongs us, I would fight her. Yet I should be worse than a barbarian did I not re joice that the sepulchres of our forefathers, which are in that country, would remain unsacked, and their coffins rest undis- turbed by the unhallowed rapacity of the Goths and Saracens of modern Europe." 2
April 1. Already had the president, influenced by political motives, consented to take the leadership in a new step towards war, by a confidential message to Congress recommending, “ under existing circumstances and prospects," an embargo for sixty days; and a bill for that purpose was introduced and passed, April 4. which prohibited the sailing of any vessel for any foreign port, except foreign vessels with such cargoes as they had on board when notified of the act.3 Josiah Quincy expressed in strong terms his abhorrence of this measure, and declared that he did not believe the proposed embargo was a preparation for war, but a refuge from the question of declaring war. "In every point of view," said he, "I look on this measure as an abandonment of our national rights ; as impolitic ; as decep- tive ; as calculated to impress on the American people an idea that it is your intention to maintain commercial rights, which its true effect, is to abandon. Its tendency must be to raise jealousy between the Southern and the Eastern and Middle
1
1 The whole number of representa- tives this year was 713. Mass. Reg. for 1812; Niles's Weekly Reg. ii. 239.
2 Annals of Congress, 12th Cong. 1st sess. vol. i. 131-147 ; Hildreth's U. S., 2d series, iii. 278-281.
3 Hist. Cong. for 1811-12; Niles's Weekly Register, ii. 92, 96-98, 105- 107, 121-123; Boston Centinel for April 4 and 11, 1812; Independent Chronicle for April 16, 1812; Hil- dreth's U. S., 2d series, iii. 290-293.
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373
WAR MOVEMENTS OF THE ADMINISTRATION.
States. The flour and produce of the Southern States have CHAP. had, during the whole winter, an open trade and free market. IX. 1812. Those of the Middle and Eastern States have been restrained by climate and winter. Is it by a course of policy of this kind that you intend to conciliate affection or excite confidence ? Will it not be said that, your own products being sold, you were indifferent what became of ours ?" 1
Other acts, however, which speedily followed, were still more decisive. For not only were arrangements made for raising an army,2 but a bill was passed denouncing all persons Apr. 14. as pirates and felons who might be engaged in impressing, on the high seas, any American citizens ; authorizing resistance to the death ; requiring the president to retaliate ; and assign- ing to every impressed seaman thirty dollars per month for the period of his detention, to be levied on any British prop- erty found in the United States, or debt due to a British sub- ject.3 It was for his concurrence in these measures, which were forced upon him,4 that those who were eager for war engaged to support Mr. Madison for the presidency at the . ensuing election, and Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, for the vice presidency ; and, after pledging themselves fully to this May 18.
1 Niles's Weekly Register, ii. 107, law, as would enable those having 121; Hist. Cong. for 1811-12; Hil- property in foreign ports to bring the same home, was presented in the House by Mr. Reed, and in the Sen- ate by Mr. Lloyd, April 30, 1812. Boston Centinel for May 9, 1812. dreth's U. S., 2d series, iii. 293. The speech of Mr. Quincy, delivered Jan- uary 25, 1812, on Maritime Protec- tion, was printed in pamphlet form, at Alexandria, by S. Snowden.
2 Niles's Weekly Register, ii. 103, 118; Hist. Cong. for 1811-12; Hil- dreth's U. S., 2d series, iii. 295, 296. 3 Niles's Weekly Register, ii. 147, 148; Hist. Cong. for 1811-12; Hil- dreth's U. S., 2d series, iii. 296. This bill was passed in the House by a vote of 53 to 28. See, further, Pick- ering's Letters, in Boston Repertory for 1812, and in Niles's Weekly Reg. ii. 155, 185, 201. The Boston peti- tion, signed by 535 merchants and others, praying for the repeal, or such modification of the non-importation
4 " President Madison was, with much difficulty, brought to acquiesce in warlike measures of a decisive character. He still hoped that war might be avoided, either by a negoti- ation, or a continuance of restrictive measures on commerce with Great Britain. But he was soon made to understand that a more decided and energetic action on the part of the federal government was determined on by the ardent democrats, whose influence now predominated in Con- gress." Statesman's Manual, i. 348.
374
POSITION OF THE BRITISH MINISTRY.
CHAP. course, they felt assured of the cooperation of Madison in IX. carrying out their views.1
1812. Apr. 21.
In the mean time, in England, the British ministers issued a declaration, in which they gave a concise statement of events which preceded their orders in council, and mentioned the terms for their revocation. In this document it was again declared that "if, at any time hereafter, the Berlin and Milan decrees shall, by some authentic act of the French government, publicly promulgated, be absolutely and unconditionally re- pealed, then, and from thenceforth, the orders in council of January 7, 1807, and April 26, 1809, shall, without any further order, be, and the same are declared from thence- forth to be, wholly and absolutely revoked." 2 This, certainly, did not look like a positive intention on the part of Great Britain to act unjustly towards the United States ; nor, while the French decrees remained unrepealed, does there seem to have been just cause to complain of the conduct of her rulers, though there might be good reason to object to her orders as injurious to neutrals, especially to this country.3 It so hap-
1 Nilcs's Weekly Register, ii. 192, 196, 276, 321; iv. 21; Statesman's Manual, i. 348, 356 ; Hildreth's U. S., 2d series, iii. 298, 333. " Had not threats to oppose his reelection driven Madison to take the lead, no decla- ration of war could have been carried in either House of Congress." At the caucus referred to in the text, Madi- son received 82 votes -the whole number cast; and for the office of vice president, John Langdon, of New Hampshire, received 64 votes, and Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, 16; but the latter vote was afterwards changed, and Mr. Gerry was clected. He died, however, soon after entering upon his duties.
2 European Mag. for July, 1812, 63; Niles's Weekly Reg. ii. 229; Bradford's Hist. Fed. Gov't. 180; Statesman's Manual, i. 355.
3 The following extract from a let-
ter of H. G. Otis, Esq., to a friend in London, though severely censured in the papers at the time, will probably be viewed at the present day in a more favorable light. " It is too true," says he, "that the repeal of the Ber- lin and Milan decrecs has been less formal than it should have been, and that our administration have become willing dupes to the insidious policy of Napoleon. But why should your government mind that ? Why should they not embrace any pretence for restoring harmony between our coun- trics, especially as it will of conse- quence be followed by hostility on the part of France ? Napoleon will renew his outrages the moment we are friends, and the natural ties which cement Great Britain and America will be drawn closer. On the con- trary, the scrupulous adherence of your cabinet to an empty punctilio,
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375
WAR DECLARED.
pened, however, that, at that very time, an old decree was CHAP. produced by the French government consenting to the repeal IX. of its decrees in regard to American vessels ; and this was 1812. May 20. communicated to Lord Viscount Castlereagh, one of his majesty's principal secretaries of state, by the American min- ister, in the following month. The repeal of the orders in Jun. 23. council followed ; but, before the intelligence reached the United States, war had been declared by Congress against Jun. 18. Great Britain, and the door to reconciliation was unhappily closed.1
Of the policy of this step different opinions were then, and have since been, entertained. The reasons publicly given for the declaration of war were substantially as follows : "the impressment of American seamen by the commanders of Brit- ish ships of war ; their doctrine and system of blockade ; and
will too probably unite the whole country in opposition to your nation, and sever for generations, perhaps forever, interests which have the most natural affinity, and men who ought to feel and love like brethren." Comp. Boston Centinel for April 25, 1812, and Independent Chronicle for April 27, 1812.
1 Report of the Com. of the Sen- ate of Mass. 22, 23; European Mag. for July, 1812, 63, 64 ; Niles's Reg. ii. 267-272, 279-281, 392; Suppt. to London Gaz. for June 23, 1812 ; Bradford's Hist. Fed. Gov't. 180 ; Hildreth's U. S., 2d series, iii. 303- 306, 344-347. This declaration was drawn by William Pinkney, the at- torney general. Ingersoll's Hist. of the War, i. 14. The message of the president, which was confidential, was sent to Congress on the 1st of June, and was debated with closed doors; and the declaration of war was adopted in the House, June 4, by a vote of 79 to 49, and in the Senate, June 17, by a vote of 19 to 13. Of the seventy- nine members of the House, who voted for the war, sixty-two resided
south, and seventeen north of the Delaware; of the nineteen senators who voted on the same side, four- teen resided south, and five north of that river. The whole number of members in both branches north of the Delaware, was sixty-eight, of. whom only twenty-one voted for the war. "Thus the war may be said to have been a measure of the South and West, to take care of the interests of the North, much against the will of the latter." Niles's Reg. ; States- man's Manual; Journals of Cong., &c. The revocation of the British orders, it should be observed, was not abso- lute, but conditional; and the condition annexed was, that the government of the United States should revoke their recent acts, excluding British armed vessels from their harbors and waters, and interdicting commerce between the two countries. For the proceed- ings in England, on this subject, see Liverpool Mercury of April 10, 1812 ; European Mag. for 1812; Niles's Weekly Reg. ii. 189; Independent Chronicle for May 21 and 25, 1812.
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376
POLICY OF THIS STEP.
CHAP. the adoption and continuance of the orders in council, which IX. operated extensively to the interruption and injury of the 1812. American commerce." The two latter, it was said, were "not to be tolerated by civilized communities, being founded, not in right or justice, but in force ; " and the former was declared to be "utterly inconsistent with the honor and attributes of an independent nation." To these was also added "a long and unsatisfied demand for remuneration on account of depredations committed by the subjects of that government on the lawful commerce of the United States." 1
Of the validity of this reasoning many were not satisfied ; and, though war with England had evidently been contem- plated by the administration for some time previously to its formal declaration, and no patriotic citizen justified in all re- spects the conduct of the British government, it was equally apparent, when all the facts were known, that the cabinet had highly colored the British acts of aggression, and had kept out of sight, or cast into the shade, the still more arbitrary meas- ures of the French government.2 True, there were not wanting
1 Address of the House of Reps. of Mass. in Mass. Resolves; Brad- ford's Hist. Fed. Gov't. 181. Mr. Ingersoll is of opinion, Hist. of the War, i. 15, that "the war of 1812, like the revolution, was inevitable, and defensive ; undertaken for vindi- cation, not for aggrandizement, al- though Canadian conquest was to be one of its means. The cause was just ; the preparation greater ; also the for- bearance; and the consequences as beneficial." See, however, on the other side, the N. Am. Review for July 1816, 234.
Bradford's Hist. Fed. Gov't. 181. 2 " Confidently believing," says Niles's Weekly Reg. ii. 207, " that the United States will soon be placed in an atti- tude to defend their rights and redress their grievances, and assured that the momentous question of war will, in a few days, be laid before Congress, and adopted, without delay or much idle
debate, it is time to pause, ' to stiffen the sinews, to summon up the blood,' and take our stand on the side of our country. The proposition has long been looked for. Every man has ex- pected, or hoped, or feared it might come. The people, as well as their representatives have deeply and ear- nestly reflected upon it. It is univer- sally agreed that the present state of things cannot, must not, last. Seeing, then, no prospect of the continuance of peace, - and, in truth, not desiring it on the terms wc now have it, if peace it can be called, -it becomes us to enter the contest like men who have 'counted the cost of it,' and rec- onciled their minds to the endurance of an evil they cannot avoid." For Randolph's Speech of May 29, in view of the rumor of an "intended decla- ration of war," and for the debate which ensued, sce Niles's Reg. ii. 259-266.
377
STATE OF FEELING IN BOSTON.
some members, even of the federal party, who sanctioned the CHAP. course of the president, and justified his policy. And it would IX.
not be difficult to cull from their writings numerous passages 1812. which the stanchest democrat would have cordially approved,1 Nor would it be difficult to show, also, that respectable repub- licans were averse to the war. In approving or condemning the conduct of the executive, party feeling did not always rule, but each viewed the subject from the standpoint of his own interests, and decided accordingly.2
In Boston, the metropolis of Massachusetts, which had " long been the seat of discontent, complaint, and turbulence," the opposition was quite general. "Whatever difficulty or dis- tress," it is said, "arose from the extraordinary circumstances
1 Even John Adams, the former president of the United States, who " snuffed the battle like an old war horse," wrote to Elkanah Watson, July 6, 1812, "To your allusion to the war, I have nothing to say, but that it is with surprise I hear it pronounced, not only by newspapers, but by per- sons in authority, ecclesiastical and civil, political and military, an unjust and unnecessary war; that the decla- ration of it was altogether unexpected, &c. How it is possible that a rational, a social, or a moral creature can say that the war is unjust, is to me utterly incomprehensible. How it can be said to be unnecessary, is very mysterious. I have thought it both just and neces- sary for five or six years. How it can be said to be unexpected, is another wonder. I have expected it more than five and twenty years, and have had great reason to be thankful that it has been postponed so long. I saw such a spirit in the British Islands, when I resided in France, in Holland, and in England itself, that I expected another war much sooner than it has happened." See Niles's Reg. ii. 372, and comp. Hildreth's U. S., 2d series, iii. 305 ; Ingersoll's Hist. of the War, i. 47, 48. Henry Clay, afterwards distinguished as a leader of the whig party, in a debate on the embargo
question, in April, 1812, also " warmly expressed his satisfaction and full ap- probation of the president's message, and the proposition before the com- mittee." And "he approved of it, because it was to be received as a. direct precursor to war." Niles's Reg. v. 105; Statesman's Manual, i. 356.
2 Comp. Bradford's Hist. Fed. Gov't. 181; Hildreth's U. S., 2d se- ries, iii. 305. " The Eastern States," says Ingersoll, Hist. of the War, i. 66, " were mostly opposed to the war ; the West all for it; the Southern and Middle States divided. The war administration had a majority of about forty votes in the House of Repre- sentatives, and of several in the Senate. The war was opposed by most of the merchants, lawyers, and clergy, and some of the planters. It was sup- ported generally by the farmers, plant- ers, mechanics, mariners, and the mass of the people. Taking the rea- soning faculty of the country for judge, probably the declaration of war was mostly condemned; but the instinctive patriotism of the young, the laborious, and ardent, enthusiasti- cally maintained it. Few denied that there was cause enough; though the time and mode were condemned." Comp. Statesman's Manual, i. 351.
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378
CHARGES AGAINST THE PEOPLE.
CHAP. of the times, - and great difficulty and distress were inevita- IX. ble, - was aggravated and magnified to the highest degree for
1812. the purpose of inflaming the public passions. . . . From the moment when the war was declared, they clamored for peace, and reprobated the war as wicked, unjust, and unneces- sary. They made every possible effort to raise ob- structions and difficulties in the prosecution of the war, and yet reprobated the administration for their imbecility in car- rying it on. They reduced the government to bankruptcy and reproached it for its necessities and embarrassments. In a word, all their movements had but one object - to enfeeble and distract the government." 1
This charge, without doubt, is stated in terms sufficiently strong, and there may be reason to question its correctness in every particular. Yet the acknowledgment must be made, , that the party opposed to the war carried their opposition to a considerable length, though they seem never to have intend- ed wilfully to obstruct the government or thwart its action. The pressure of their grievances had exasperated them to a high degree ; and they felt that their causes of complaint were such as to justify their remonstrances and protests. Yet if the bounds of prudence were overstepped in some cases, it should not be inferred that there was an organized plan to resist the action of the government ; nor should individual cases of intemperate zeal be charged to the body of the peo- ple, as if they approved them.2
1 Carey's Olive Branch, 253. Comp. Ingersoll's Hist. of the War, i. 59. Before the declaration of war was issued, a memorial of the legis- lature of Massachusetts, passed by a vote of 406 to 240, was sent to Con- gress, setting forth the inexpediency of a war with Great Britain, and stating the dangers, calamities, and ruin that would ensue. A protest of the minority of the House against this memorial was likewise sent in, de-
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claring their confidence in the justice of their cause, and their readiness to support the measures adopted by the national government, with that energy and firmness which becomes a free people. Indep. Chronicle for June 4, 8, 11, and 15, 1812; Niles's Reg. ii. 274, 275. The memorial of the merchants and others of New York, against war, is given in Niles's Reg. ii. 278, 279.
2 See the Boston Centinel for 1812
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379
RECEPTION OF THE NEWS OF THE WAR IN BOSTON.
Intelligence of the declaration of war reached Boston on the CHAP. twenty-third of June; and, as the General Court was then in IX. session, the governor communicated it to the representatives 1812. of the people. Immediately the House prepared an address, Jun. 26. Jun. 23. which was adopted by a vote of nearly two to one, regretting the event, and expressing their opinion of its impolicy and inexpediency.1 The action of the Senate was exactly oppo- site ; and that body adopted and published an address approv- ing of the war, and declaring it, in their opinion, just and necessary.2 The vote of the House, however, more nearly expressed the views of the people ; and three fifths, at least, if not a greater proportion, were computed to be opposed to the war, both before and after its declaration by Congress.3
The appeal of the Senate, as it fell in with the plans and breathed the spirit of those who were hostile to England and friendly to France, was applauded as a document of great power and force. "It was not sufficient" - such were its words -" that we were remote from European politics, and courted peace under every sacrifice ; acquiesced in minor inju- ries ; remonstrated against those of a deeper dye ; forbore until forbearance became pusillanimity ; and, finally, retired from the scene of controversy, with the delusive hope that a spirit of moderation might succeed that of violence and rapine. We were hunted on the ocean ; our property was seized upon
1 Boston Centinel for July 1, 1812 ; Address, &c., pub. in Boston ; Brad- ford, iii. 130. The vote in the House stood 406 to 240, which was the same as the vote on the memorial of an earlier date, forwarded to Congress, in favor of peace, and deprecating the evils of war with England.
2 The report and address were. published in a pamphlet of 28 pages, y Adams and Rhoades, of Boston. See also Bradford, iii. 129.
3 Bradford, iii. 120. Immediately after the declaration of war. was an- ounced, a party is said to have been
organized, composed principally of the federalists and some disaffected democrats, under the name of the " peace party," which endeavored to compel the government to make peace by raising every possible ob- struction to the war. This course, by the friends of the war, was considered as actuated more by feelings of party spirit than by patriotism ; and many prominent federalists gave the gov- ernment their support, so far as they found it disposed to carry on the war with vigor and effect. Statesman's Manual, i. 355.
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380
APPEAL OF THE SENATE OF MASSACHUSETTS.
CHAP. by the convulsive grasp of our now open and acknowledged IX. enemy, and our citizens forced into a cruel and ignominious
1812. vassalage. And when we retired, we were pursued to the threshold of our territory ; outrages of an enormous cast per- petrated in our bays and harbors ; the tomahawk of the savage uplifted against the parent, the wife, the infant, on our fron- tiers ; and spies and incendiaries sent into the bosom of our country, to plot with the desperate and ambitious the dismem- berment of our government, and involve us in all the horrors of a civil war.
" The constituted authorities of the United States, in Con- gress assembled, submitting the justice of their cause to the God of battles, have at length declared war against this impla- cable foe - a war for the protection of commerce ; a war for the liberties of our citizens ; a war for our national sovereignty and independence ; a war for our republican form of govern- ment against the machinations of despotism.
" The Senate affect not to disguise from their constituents that the times are times of peril. The enemies of republics are on the alert. The present is deemed the favorable time for the dismemberment of the Union - that favorite project of the British government, which has been attempted by their authorized agent, and, we have alarming proofs, is counte- nanced and cherished by citizens of this government. Yes, we say with assurance that a deep and deadly design is formed against our happy Union. We say it from conviction, forced on our minds, from declarations from responsible sources, from intrigues that have existed between the enemies of republics and an authorized British spy, and from a settled determina- tion to oppose the government in the prosecution of the war now forced upon us.
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