The writings of James Madison, comprising his public papers and his private correspondence, including numerous letters and documents now for the first time printed. |
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FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. |
 | The writings of James Madison, |  |
FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:
In meeting you at the present interesting conjuncture it
would have been highly satisfactory if I could have communicated
a favorable result to the mission charged with negotiations
for restoring peace. It was a just expectation, from
the respect due to the distinguished Sovereign who had invited
them by his offer of mediation, from the readiness with which
the invitation was accepted on the part of the United States,
and from the pledge to be found in an act of their Legislature
for the liberality which their plenipotentiaries would carry into
the negotiations, that no time would be lost by the British
Government in embracing the experiment for hastening a stop
to the effusion of blood. A prompt and cordial acceptance
of the mediation on that side was the less to be doubted, as
it was of a nature not to submit rights or pretensions on either
side to the decisions of an umpire, but to afford merely an
opportunity, honorable and desirable to both, for discussing
and, if possible, adjusting them for the interest of both.
The British cabinet, either mistaking our desire of peace
for a dread of British power or misled by other fallacious
calculations, has disappointed this reasonable anticipation.
No communications from our envoys having reached us, no
but it is known that the mediation was declined in the first
instance, and there is no evidence, notwithstanding the lapse
of time, that a change of disposition in the British councils
has taken place or is to be expected.
Under such circumstances a nation proud of its rights and
conscious of its strength has no choice but an exertion of the
one in support of the other.
To this determination the best encouragement is derived
from the success with which it has pleased the Almighty to
bless our arms both on the land and on the water.
Whilst proofs have been continued of the enterprise and
skill of our cruisers, public and private, on the ocean, and a
new trophy gained in the capture of a British by an American
vessel of war, after an action giving celebrity to the name
of the victorious commander, the great inland waters on
which the enemy were also to be encountered have presented
achievements of our naval arms as brilliant in their character
as they have been important in their consequences.
On Lake Erie, the squadron under command of Captain
Perry having met the British squadron of superior force, a
sanguinary conflict ended in the capture of the whole. The
conduct of that officer, adroit as it was daring, and which was
so well seconded by his comrades, justly entitles them to the
admiration and gratitude of their country, and will fill an
early page in its naval annals with a victory never surpassed
in luster, however much it may have been in magnitude.
On Lake Ontario the caution of the British commander,
favored by contingencies, frustrated the efforts of the American
commander to bring on a decisive action. Captain Chauncey
was able, however, to establish an ascendency on that
important theater, and to prove by the manner in which he
effected everything possible that opportunities only were
wanted for a more shining display of his own talents and the
gallantry of those under his command.
The success on Lake Erie having opened a passage to the
army transferred the war thither, and rapidly pursuing
the hostile troops, fleeing with their savage associates,
forced a general action, which quickly terminated in the capture
of the British and dispersion of the savage force.
This result is signally honorable to Major-General Harrison,
by whose military talents it was prepared; to Colonel Johnson
and his mounted volunteers, whose impetuous onset gave a
decisive blow to the ranks of the enemy, and to the spirit of the
volunteer militia, equally brave and patriotic, who bore an
interesting part in the scene; more especially to the chief
magistrate of Kentucky, at the head of them, whose heroism
signalized in the war which established the independence of
his country, sought at an advanced age a share in hardships
and battles for maintaining its rights and its safety.
The effect of these successes has been to rescue the inhabitants
of Michigan from their oppressions, aggravated by gross
infractions of the capitulation which subjected them to a
foreign power; to alienate the savages of numerous tribes from
the enemy, by whom they were disappointed and abandoned,
and to relieve an extensive region of country from a merciless
warfare which desolated its frontiers and imposed on its citizens
the most harassing services.
In consequence of our naval superiority on Lake Ontario
and the opportunity afforded by it for concentrating our forces
by water, operations which had been provisionally planned
were set on foot against the possessions of the enemy on the
St. Lawrence. Such, however, was the delay produced in the
first instance by adverse weather of unusual violence and
continuance and such the circumstances attending the final
movements of the army, that the prospect, at one time so
favorable, was not realized.
The cruelty of the enemy in enlisting the savages into a
war with a nation desirous of mutual emulation in mitigating
its calamities, has not been confined to any one quarter.
Wherever they could be turned against us, no exertions to
the Creek tribes, who, yielding to our persevering endeavors,
were gradually acquiring more civilized habits, became the
unfortunate victims of seduction. A war in that quarter
has been the consequence, infuriated by a bloody fanaticism
recently propagated among them. It was necessary to crush
such a war before it could spread among the contiguous tribes,
and before it could favor enterprises of the enemy into that
vicinity. With this view, a force was called into the service
of the United States from the State of Georgia and Tennessee,
which, with the nearest regular troops, and other corps from
the Mississippi Territory, might not only chastise the savages
into present peace, but make a lasting impression on their
fears.
The progress of the expedition, as far as is yet known,
corresponds with the martial zeal with which it was espoused;
and the best hopes of a satisfactory issue are authorized
by the complete success with which a well planned enterprise
was executed against a body of hostile savages, by a detachment
of the volunteer militia of Tennessee, under the gallant
command of General Coffee; and by a still more important
victory over a larger body of them, gained under the immediate
command of Major General Jackson, an officer equally
distinguished for his patriotism and his military talents.
The systematic perseverance of the enemy in courting
the aid of the savages in all quarters, had the natural effect
of kindling their ordinary propensity to war into a passion,
which, even among those best disposed towards the United
States, was ready, if not employed on our side, to be turned
against us. A departure from our protracted forbearance
to accept the services tendered by them, has thus been forced
upon us. But, in yielding to it, the retaliation has been
mitigated as much as possible, both in its extent and in its
character, stopping far short of the example of the enemy,
who owe the advantages they have occasionally gained in
battle, chiefly to the number of their savage associates; and
of indiscriminate massacre on defenceless inhabitants, or
from scenes of carnage without a parallel, on prisoners to the
British arms, guarded by all the laws of humanity and honorable
war. For these enormities the enemy are equally
responsible, whether with the power to prevent them, they
want the will, or, with the knowledge of the want of power,
they still avail themselves of such instruments. In other
respects, the enemy are pursuing a course which threatens
consequences most afflicting to humanity.
A standing law of Great Britain naturalizes, as is well
known, all aliens complying with conditions limited to a
shorter period than those required by the United States;
and naturalized subjects are, in war, employed by her Government
in common with native subjects. In a contiguous
British province, regulations promulgated since the commencement
of the war, compel citizens of the United States
being there under certain circumstances to bear arms; whilst,
of the native emigrants from the United States, who compose
much of the population of the province, a number have actually
borne arms against the United States within their
limits; some of whom, after having done so, have become
prisoners of war, and are now in our possession. The British
commander in that province, nevertheless, with the sanction,
it appears, of his Government, thought proper to select from
American prisoners of war, and send to Great Britain for
trial as criminals, a number of individuals, who had emigrated
from the British dominions long prior to the state
of war between the two nations, who had incorporated themselves
into our political society, in the modes recognised by
the law and the practice of Great Britain, and who were made
prisoners of war, under the banners of their adopted country,
fighting for its rights and its safety.
The protection due to these citizens requiring an effectual
interposition in their behalf, a like number of British prisoners
of war were put into confinement, with a notification that they
the American prisoners of war sent to Great Britain.
It was hoped that this necessary consequence of the step
unadvisedly taken on the part of Great Britain would have
led her Government to reflect on the inconsistencies of its
conduct, and that a sympathy with the British, if not with
the American sufferers, would have arrested the cruel career
opened by its example.
This was unhappily not the case. In violation both of
consistency and humanity, American officers and non-commissioned
officers, in double the number of the British soldiers
confined here, were ordered into close confinement, with
formal notice that, in the event of a retaliation for the death
which might be inflicted on the prisoners of war sent to Great
Britain for trial, the officers so confined would be put to
death also. It was notified, at the same time, that the
commanders of the British fleets and armies on our coasts
are instructed, in the same event, to proceed with a destructive
severity against our towns and their inhabitants.
That no doubt might be left with the enemy of our adherence
to the retaliatory resort imposed on us, a correspondent
number of British officers, prisoners of war in our hands,
were immediately put into close confinement, to abide the
fate of those confined by the enemy; and the British Government
has been apprized of the determination of this Government,
to retaliate any other proceedings against us, contrary
to the legitimate modes of warfare.
It is as fortunate for the United States that they have it
in their power to meet the enemy in this deplorable contest, as
it is honorable to them that they do not join in it but under
the most imperious obligations, and with the humane purpose
of effectuating a return to the established usages of war.
The views of the French Government on the subjects which
have been so long committed to negotiation have received
no elucidation since the close of your late session. The
Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at Paris had
of his mission, as prescribed by his instructions.
The militia being always to be regarded as the great bulwark
of defence and security for free States, and the Constitution
having wisely committed to the national authority a use of
that force, as the best provision against an unsafe Military
Establishment, as well as a resource peculiarly adapted to a
country having the extent and the exposure of the United
States, I recommend to Congress a revision of the militia
laws, for the purpose of securing more effectually the services
of all detachments called into the employment, and placed
under the Government of the United States.
It will deserve the consideration of Congress, also, whether,
among other improvements in the militia laws, justice does
not require a regulation, under due precautions, for defraying
the expense incident to the first assembling, as well as the
subsequent movements, of detachments called into the
national service.
To give to our vessels of war, public and private, the requisite
advantage in their cruises, it is of much importance that
they should have, both for themselves and their prizes, the
use of the ports and markets of friendly Powers. With this
view, I recommend to Congress the expediency of such legal
provisions as may supply the defects or remove the doubts
of the Executive authority to allow to the cruisers of other
Powers at war with enemies of the United States, such use
of the American ports as may correspond with the privileges
allowed by such Powers to American cruisers.
During the year ending on the 30th of September last,
the receipts into the Treasury have exceeded thirty-seven
millions and a half of dollars, of which near twenty-four
millions were the produce of loans. After meeting all the
demands for the public service, there remained in the Treasury,
on that day, near seven millions of dollars. Under the authority
contained in the act of the 2d of August last, for
borrowing seven millions and a half of dollars, that sum has
than those of the preceding loan made during the present
year. Further sums to a considerable amount will be necessary
to be obtained in the same way during the ensuing year;
and, from the increased capital of the country, from the fidelity
with which the public engagements have been kept, and the
public credit maintained, it may be expected, on good grounds,
that the necessary pecuniary supplies will not be wanting.
The expenses of the current year, from the multiplied
operations falling within it, have necessarily been extensive.
But, on a just estimate of the campaign, in which the mass
of them has been incurred, the cost will not be found disproportionate
to the advantages which have been gained.
The campaign has, indeed, in its latter stages, in one quarter,
been less favorable than was expected; but, in addition to the
importance of our naval success, the progress of the campaign
has been filled with incidents highly honorable to the American
arms.
The attacks of the enemy on Craney Island, on Fort Meigs,
on Sacketts Harbor, and on Sandusky have been vigorously
and successfully repulsed; nor have they in any case succeeded
on either frontier excepting when directed against
the peaceable dwellings of individuals or villages unprepared
or undefended.
On the other hand, the movements of the American Army
have been followed by the reduction of York, and of Forts
George, Erie, and Malden; by the recovery of Detroit and
the extinction of the Indian war in the West, and by the
occupancy or command of a large portion of Upper Canada.
Battles have also been fought on the borders of the St. Lawrence,
which, though not accomplishing their entire objects,
reflect honor on the discipline and prowess of our soldiery,
the best auguries of eventual victory. In the same scale
are to be placed the late successes in the South over one of
the most powerful, which had become one of the most hostile
also, of the Indian tribes.
It would be improper to close this communication without
expressing a thankfulness in which all ought to unite for the
numerous blessings with which our beloved country continues
to be favored; for the abundance which overspreads
our land, and the prevailing health of its inhabitants; for the
preservation of our internal tranquillity, and the stability
of our free institutions, and, above all, for the light of divine
truth and the protection of every man's conscience in the
enjoyment of it. And although among our blessings we can
not number an exemption from the evils of war, yet these
will never be regarded as the greatest of evils by the friends
of liberty and of the rights of nations. Our country has
before preferred them to the degraded condition which was
the alternative when the sword was drawn in the cause
which gave birth to our national independence, and none who
contemplate the magnitude and feel the value of that glorious
event will shrink from a struggle to maintain the high and
happy ground on which it placed the American people.
With all good citizens the justice and necessity of resisting
wrongs and usurpations no longer to be borne will sufficiently
outweigh the privations and sacrifices inseparable from a state
of war. But it is a reflection, moreover, peculiarly consoling,
that, whilst wars are generally aggravated by their baneful
effects on the internal improvements and permanent prosperity
of the nations engaged in them, such is the favored
situation of the United States that the calamities of the
contest into which they have been compelled to enter are
mitigated by improvements and advantages of which the
contest itself is the source.
If the war has increased the interruptions of our commerce,
it has at the same time cherished and multiplied our manufactures
so as to make us independent of all other countries
for the more essential branches for which we ought to be
dependent on none, and is even rapidly giving them an
extent which will create additional staples in our future
intercourse with foreign markets.
If much treasure has been expended, no inconsiderable
portion of it has been applied to objects durable in their value
and necessary to our permanent safety.
If the war has exposed us to increased spoliations on
the ocean and to predatory incursions on the land, it has
developed the national means of retaliating the former and
of providing protection against the latter, demonstrating
to all that every blow aimed at our maritime independence
is an impulse accelerating the growth of our maritime
power.
By diffusing through the mass of the nation the elements of
military discipline and instruction; by augmenting and
distributing warlike preparations applicable to future use;
by evincing the zeal and valor with which they will be employed
and the cheerfulness with which every necessary
burden will be borne, a greater respect for our rights and a
longer duration of our future peace are promised than could
be expected without these proofs of the national character and
resources.
The war has proved moreover that our free Government,
like other free governments, though slow in its
early movements, acquires in its progress a force proportioned
to its freedom, and that the union of these
States, the guardian of the freedom and safety of all and
of each, is strengthened by every occasion that puts it to
the test.
In fine, the war, with all its vicissitudes, is illustrating the
capacity and the destiny of the United States to be a great,
a flourishing, and a powerful nation, worthy of the friendship
which it is disposed to cultivate with all others, and authorized
by its own example to require from all an observance of the
laws of justice and reciprocity. Beyond these their claims
have never extended, and in contending for these we behold
a subject for our congratulations in the daily testimonies of increasing
harmony throughout the nation, and may humbly repose
our trust in the smiles of Heaven on so righteous a cause.
| The writings of James Madison, | |