War with Europe & maintaining Independence Madison’s First Term War with Europe & maintaining Independence

Madison 1st needs to deal with embargo & trade issues Macon’s Bill No2: Designed to end embargo’s completely despite Madison’s push to NOT show such weakness with the European powers that be. It allowed for Britain or France to reopen trade with the US if they promised to repeal any restrictions they had on US trade BUT only if the one of them did it first. This means the other country would STILL have an embargo against them. This would end up making one side upset with the US in the end. The US made the deal with Napoleon, despite the fact that Madison didn’t trust him. GB refused to accept the conditions and Madison had a potential war on his hands.

DOMESTIC ISSUES: War with the Native Americans The Battle of Tippecanoe Tecumseh & the Prophet The prophet led an attack to General William Henry Harrison’s troops without proper manpower The Shawnee were soundly defeated & their settlement burned. This made Harrison a national celebrity, ended the possibility of an Indian confederacy, & Tecumseh joined up with the British. War-hawks wanted to remove the threat of NA in the west 2 brothers challenged the US by creating a confederacy of tribes They promoted NA culture & that the tribes rebel against the “paleface” to preserve their land.

WAR OF 1812 Why? – Britain aided armies of Indians to attack settlements, US needed to protect itself, the seas needed to be free with no impediment of US commerce, When? – 1812-1814. It ended with the Treaty of Ghent being signed on Christmas Eve 1814 End Results?- The US maintained its independence, both sides agreed to stop fighting, but overall there was no change in territory or position.

FUN FACTS ABOUT THE WAR OF 1812 The White House was burned down by the British. Madison’s wife, Dolley, ran back into the White House to save Washington’s picture. The Battle of Fort Mc Henry in Baltimore led author, Francis Scott Key to write the “Star Spangled Banner” The Battle of New Orleans is significant for 2 reasons. First, the US victory helped us maintain control of the port & it created a new celebrity , General Andrew Jackson. The US Navy was extremely well-prepared for a sea battle & that was an impressive feat against the British.

THE HARTFORD CONVENTION The states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island met in secrecy for about 3 weeks to discuss their issues with the current administration and the direction of the nation. There was talk of secession but the real focus was on getting financial assistance from the federal govt as they felt they had been hurt by embargoes and the South’s economy seemed to be front and center. In the end, becomes the downfall of the Federalist Party