 Chapter 10 of Jefferson and His Colleagues by Ellen Johnson. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 10, The War Hawks. Among the many unsolved problems which Jefferson bequeathed to his successor in office was that of the Southern Frontier. Running like a shuttle through the warp of his foreign policy had been his persistent desire to acquire possession of the Spanish Florida's. This dominant desire amounting almost to a passion had mastered even his better judgment and had created dilemmas from which he did not escape without the imputation of duplicity. On his retirement he announced that he was leaving all these concerns to be settled by my friend Mr. Madison, yet he could not resist the desire to direct the course of his successor. Scarcely a month after he left office he wrote, I suppose the conquest of Spain will soon force a delicate question on you as to the Florida's and Cuba, which will offer themselves to you. Napoleon will certainly give his consent without difficulty to our receiving the Florida's and with some difficulty possibly Cuba. In one respect Jefferson's intuition was correct, the attempt of Napoleon to subdue Spain and to cede his brother Joseph once again on the throne of Ferdinand VII was a turning point in the history of the Spanish colonies in America. One by one they rose in revolt and established revolutionary juntas either in the name of their deposed king or in professed cooperation with the insurrectionary government which was resisting the invader. Events proved that independence was the inevitable issue of all these uprisings from the Rio de La Plata to the Rio Grande. In common with other Spanish provinces West Florida felt the impact of this revolutionary spirit but it lacked natural unity and a dominant Spanish population. The province was in fact merely a strip of coast extending from the Perdido River to the Mississippi indented with bays into which great rivers from the north discharged their turgid waters. Along these bays and rivers were scattered the inhabitants numbering less than one hundred thousand of whom a considerable portion had come from the states. There as always on the frontier land had been a lodestone attracting both the speculator and the home seeker. In the perishes of West Feliciano and Baton Rouge in the aluvial bottoms of the Mississippi and in the settlements around Mobile Bay American settlers predominated submitting with ill-grace to the exactions of Spanish officials who were believed to be as corrupt as they were inefficient. If events had been allowed to take their natural course West Florida would in all probability have fallen into the arms of the United States as Texas did three decades later. But the Virginia presidents were too ardent suitors to await the slow progress of events they meant to assist destiny. To this end President Jefferson had employed General Wilkinson with indifferent success. President Madison found more trustworthy agents in Governor Claiborne of New Orleans and Governor Holmes of Mississippi whose letters revealed the extent to which Madison was willing to meddle with destiny. Nature had decreed the union of Florida with the United States. Claiborne affirmed but he was not so sure that nature could be left to execute her own decrees for he strained every nerve to prepare the way for American intervention when the people of West Florida should declare themselves free from Spain. Americans also was instructed to prepare for this eventuality and to cooperate with Claiborne in West Florida in diffusing the impressions we wish to be made there. The anticipated insurrection came off just when and where nature had decreed. In the summer of 1810 a so-called movement for self-government started at Bayou Sara and at Baton Rouge where nine-tenths of the inhabitants were Americans. The leaders took pains to assure the Spanish commandant that their motives were unimpeachable. Nothing should be done which would in any wise conflict with the authority of their loved and worthy sovereign Don Fernando Seventh. They wished to relieve the people of the abuses under which they were suffering but all should be done in the name of the King. The commandant de la Sue was not without his suspicions of these patriotic gentlemen but he allowed himself to be swept along in the current. The several movements finally coalesced on the 25th of July in a convention near Baton Rouge which declared itself legally constituted to act in all cases of national concern with the consent of the governor and professed a desire to promote the safety, honor and happiness of our beloved King as well as to rectify abuses in the province. It adjourned with a familiar Spanish salutation which must have sounded ironical to the helpless de la Sue's. May God preserve you many years. Were these pious professions farcical or were they the sincere utterances of men who like the patriots of 1776 were driven by the march of events out of an attitude of traditional loyalty to the King and to open defense of his authority. The commandant was thus thrust into a position whereas every movement would be watched with distrust. The pretext for further action was soon given. An intercepted letter revealed that de la Sue had written to Governor Fulch for an armed force. That act of perfidy was enough to dissolve the bond between the convention and the commandant. On the 23rd of September under cover of night an armed force shouting Hurrah, Washington overpowered the garrison of the fort at Baton Rouge and three days later the convention declared the independence of West Florida appealing to the supreme ruler of the world for the rectitude of their intentions. What their intentions were is clear enough before the ink was dry on their declaration of independence they wrote to the administration at Washington asking for the immediate incorporation of West Florida into the union. Here was the blessed consummation of years of diplomacy near at hand. President Madison had only to reach out his hand and pluck the ripe fruit yet he hesitated from constitutional scruples. Where was the authority which warranted the use of the army and navy to hold territory beyond the bounds of the United States? Would not intervention indeed be equivalent to an unprovoked attack on Spain, a declaration of war? He set forth his doubts in that letter to Jefferson and hinted at the danger which in the end was to resolve all his doubts. Was there not grave danger that West Florida would pass into the hands of a third and dangerous party? The conduct of Great Britain showed a propensity to fish in troubled waters. On the 27th of October President Madison issued a proclamation authorizing Governor Claiborne to take possession of West Florida and to govern it as part of the Orleans territory. He justified his action which had no precedent in American diplomacy by reasoning which was valid only if his fundamental premise was accepted. West Florida he repeated as a part of the Louisiana purchase belonged to the United States but without abandoning its claim the United States had either to suffer Spain to continue in possession looking forward to a satisfactory adjustment by friendly negotiation. A crisis had arrived however which had subverted Spanish authority and the failure of the United States to take the territory which threatened the interests of all parties and seriously disturbed the tranquility of the adjoining territories. In the hands of the United States West Florida would not cease to be a subject of fair and friendly negotiation. In his annual message President Madison spoke of the people of West Florida as having been brought into the bosom of the American family and two days later Governor Claiborne formally took possession of the country to the Pearl River. How territory which had thus been incorporated could still remain a subject of fair negotiation does not clearly appear except on the supposition that Spain would go through the forms of a negotiation which could have but one outcome. The enemies of the administration seized eagerly upon the flaws in the president's logic and pressed his defenders solely in the closing session of the Eleventh Congress. Conspicuous among the champions of the administration was young Henry Clay then serving out the term of Senator Thurston of Kentucky who had resigned his office. This eloquent young lawyer now in his thirty third year had been born and bred in the Old Dominion a typical instance of the American boy who had nothing but his own head and hands were with to make his way in the world. He had a slender schooling a much abbreviated law education in a lawyer's office and little enough of that intellectual discipline needed for leadership at the bar yet he had a clever wit and engaging personality and a rare facility in speaking and he capitalized these assets. He was practicing law in Lexington Kentucky when he was appointed to the Senate. What this persuasive Westerner had to say on the American title to West Florida was neither new nor convincing but what he advocated as an American policy was both bold and challenging the eternal principles of self-preservation justified in his mind the occupation of West Florida irrespective of any title. With Cuba and Florida in the possession of a foreign maritime power the immense extent of country watered by streams entering the Gulf would be placed at the mercy of that power neglect the Prophet Boone and some nation profiting by this era would seize this southern frontier it had been intimated that Great Britain might take sides with Spain to resist the occupation of Florida to this covert threat clay replied sir is the time never to arrive when we may manage our own affairs without the fear of insulting his Britannic Majesty is the rod of British power to be forever suspended over our heads does the president refuse to continue our correspondence with a minister who violates the decorum belonging to his diplomatic character by giving and deliberately repeating in a front to the whole nation we are instantly menaced with the chastisement which English pride will not fail to inflict whether we assert our rights by a sea or attempt their maintenance by land with or so ever we turn ourselves this phantom incessantly pursues us already has it had too much influence on the councils of the nation it contributed to the repeal of the embargo that dishonorable repeal which has so much tarnish the character of our government Mr. President I before sit on this floor and now take occasion to remark that I most sincerely desire peace and amity with England but I even prefer an adjustment of all differences with her before one with any other nation but if she persists in a denial of justice to us or if she avails herself of the occupation of West Florida to commence war upon us I trust and hope that all hearts will unite in a bold and vigorous vindication of our rights I'm not sir in favor of cherishing the passion of conquest but I must be permitted in conclusion to indulge the hope of seeing our long but new United States if you will allow me the expression embracing not only the old thirteen states but the entire country east of the Mississippi including East Florida and some of the territories of the north of us also conquest was not a familiar word in the vocabulary of James Madison and he may well have prayed to be delivered from the hands of his friends if this was to be the keynote of their defense of his policy in West Florida nevertheless he was impelled in spite of himself in the direction of clay's vision if West Florida in the hands of an unfriendly power was a menace to the southern frontier east Florida from the Perdido to the ocean was not less so by the third of January 1811 he was prepared to recommend secretly to Congress that he should be authorized to take temporary possession of East Florida in case the local authority should consent or a foreign power should attempt to occupy it and Congress came promptly to his aid with the desired authorization twelve months had now passed since the people of the several states had expressed a judgment at the polls by electing a new Congress the 12th Congress was indeed new in more senses than one some 70 representatives took their seats for the first time and fully half of the familiar faces were missing its first and most significant act betraying a new spirit was the choice as speaker of Henry Clay who had exchanged his seat in the Senate for the more stirring arena of the house in all the history of the house there is only one other instance of the choice of a new member as speaker it was not merely a personal tribute to clay but an endorsement of that forward looking policy which he had so vigorously championed in the Senate the temper of the house was bold and aggressive and it saw its mood reflected in the mobile face of the young Kentucky in the speaker of the house had hitherto followed English traditions choosing rather to stand as an impartial moderator than to act as a legislative leader for British traditions of any sort clay had little respect he was resolved to be the leader of the house and if necessary to join his privileges as speaker to his rights as a member in order to shape the policies of Congress almost his first active speaker was to appoint two important committees those who shared his impatience with commercial restrictions as a means of coercing Great Britain on the committee on foreign relations second to none in importance at this moment he plays Peter B. Porter of New York young John C. Calhoun of South Carolina and Felix Grundy of Tennessee the chairmanship of the committee on naval affairs he gave to Langdon chiefs of South Carolina and the chairmanship of the committee on military affairs to another South Carolinian David Williams there was nothing fortuitous in this selection of representatives from the South and Southwest for important committee posts like clay himself these young intrepid spirits were solicitous about the Southern frontier about the ultimate disposal of the Florida's like clay they had lost faith in temporizing policies like clay they were prepared for battle with the old adversary if necessary in the president's message of November 5 1811 there was just one passage which suited the mood of this group of younger Republicans after a recital of injuries at the hands of the British ministry Madison wrote with unwanted vigor with this evidence of hostile inflexibility in trampling on rights which no independent nation can relinquish Congress will feel the duty of putting the United States into an armor and an attitude demanded by the crisis and corresponding with the national spirit and expectations it was this part of the message which the committee on foreign relations took for the text of its report the time had arrived in the opinion of the committee when forbearance sees to be a virtue and when Congress must as a sacred duty call forth the patriotism and resources of the country nor did the committee hesitate to point out the immediate steps to be taken if the country were to be put into a state of preparedness that the ranks of the regular army be filled and 10 regiments added that the president call for 50,000 volunteers that all available war vessels be put in commission and let merchant vessels arm in their own defense if these recommendations were translated into acts they would carry the country appreciably nearer war but the members of the committee were not inclined to shrink from the consequences to a man they agreed that war was preferable to inglorious submission to continued outrageous and that the outcome of war would be positively advantageous Porter who represented the western most district of a state profoundly interested in the northern frontier doubted not that Great Britain could be dispoiled of her extensive provinces along the borders to the north Grundy speaking for the southwest contemplated with satisfaction the time when the British would be driven from the continent I feel anxious he concluded not only to add the Florida's to the south but the Canada's to the north of this empire others like Calhoun who now made his entrance as a debater refused to entertain these mercenary calculations sir exclaimed Calhoun his deep set eyes flashing I only know of one principle to make a nation great to produce in this country not the form but the real spirit of union and that is to protect every citizen in the lawful pursuit of his business protection and patriotism are reciprocal but these young Republicans march faster than the rank and file not so likely were Jeffersonian traditions to be thrown aside the old Republican prejudice against standing armies and seagoing Navy still survived for weary months of discussion produced only two measures of military importance one of which provided for the addition to the army of twenty five thousand men enlisted for five years and the other for the calling to service a fifty thousand state militia the proposal of the naval committee to appropriate seven and a half million dollars to build a new Navy was voted down Gallatin's urgent appeal for new taxes fell upon deaf ears and Congress proposed to meet the new military expenditure by the dubious expedient of a loan of eleven million dollars a hesitation which seemed fatal paralyzed all branches of the federal government in the spring months Congress was obviously reluctant to follow the lead of the radicals who clamored for war with Great Britain the president was unwilling to recommend a declaration of war though all evidence points to the conclusion that he and his advisors believe war inevitable the nation was divided in sentiment the federalist insisting with some plausibility that France was as great an offender as Great Britain and pointing to the recent captures of American merchant men prefer French cruises as evidence that the decrees had not been repealed even the president was impressed by these unfriendly acts and soberly discussed with his mentor at Monticello the possibility of war with both France and England there was a moment in March indeed when he was disposed to listen to moderate Republicans who advised him to send a special mission to England as a last chance what were the considerations which fixed the mind of the nation and of Congress upon war with Great Britain merely to catalog the accumulated grievances of a decade does not suffice nations do not arrive at decisions by mathematical computation of injuries received but rather because of a sense of accumulated wrongs which may or may not be measured by losses in life and property and this sense of wrongs is the more acute in proportion to the racial propensity of the offender the most bitter of all feuds are those between peoples of the same blood it was just because the mother country from which Americans had won their independence was now denying the fruits of that independence that she became the object of attack in two particulars with great Britain offending and France not the racial differences between French and American seamen were too conspicuous to countenance and pressmen into the navy out Napoleon no injuries at the hands of France bore any similarity to the Chesapeake outrage nor did France menace the frontier in the frontier folk of the United States by collusion with the Indians to suppose that the settlers beyond the Allegheny's were eager to fight great Britain solely for free trade and sailors rights is to assume a stronger consciousness of national unity than existed anywhere in the United States at this time these Western pioneers had stronger and more immediate motives for a reckoning with the old adversary their occupation of the Northwest had been hindered at every turn by the red man who they believed had been sustained in his resistance directly by British traders and indirectly by the British government documents now abundantly proved that the suspicion was justified the key to the early history of the Northwest and frontier is the fur trade it was for this lucrative traffic that England retained so long the Western posts which she had agreed to surrender by the peace of Paris out of the region between the Illinois the Wabash the Ohio and Lake Erie peltz have been shipped year after year to the value annually of some 100,000 pounds in return for the products of British looms and forges it was the constant aim of the British trader in the Northwest to secure the exclusive advantages of a valuable trade during peace and the zealous assistance of brave and useful auxiliaries in time of war to dispossess the red skin of his lands and to rest the fur trade from British control was the equally constant desire of every full-blooded Western American Henry Clay voice this desire when he exclaimed in a speech already quoted the conquest of Canada is in your power is it nothing to extinguish the torch that lights up savage warfare is a nothing to acquire the entire fur trade connected with that country and to destroy the temptation and opportunity of violating your revenue and other laws the 12th Congress had met under the shadow of an impending catastrophe in the Northwest reports from all sources pointed to an Indian war of considerable magnitude to come so and his brother the prophet had formed an Indian Confederacy which was believed to embrace not merely the tribes of the Northwest but also the creeks and seminars of the Gulf region persistent rumors strengthened long nourished suspicions and connected this Indian unrest with the British agents on the Canadian border in the event of war so it was said the British paymasters would let the Redskins loose to massacre helpless women and children old men retold the outrageous of these savage fiends during the war of independence on the 7th of November at three days after the assembling of Congress Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana territory encountered the Indians of to comp says confederation at typical new and biocostly but decisive victory crushed the hopes of their chieftains as the news of these events drifted into Washington it colored perceptibly the minds of those who doubted brother great Britain or France were the greater offender Grundy who had seen three brothers killed by Indians and his mother reduced from opulence to poverty in a single night spoke passionately of that power which was taking every opportunity of intriguing with our Indian neighbors and setting on that Ruthless savages to Tom Hock are women and children war he exclaimed is now to commence by Sea or land it has already begun and some of the richest blood of our country has been shed still the president hesitated to lead on the 31st of March to be sure he suffered Monroe to tell a committee of the house that he thought war should be declared before Congress adjourned and that he was willing to recommend an embargo if Congress would agree but after an embargo for 90 days have been declared on the 4th of April he told the British minister that it was not could not be considered a war measure he's still waiting for Congress to shoulder the responsibility of declaring war why did he hesitate was he aware of the woeful state of unpreparedness everywhere apparent and was he therefore desirous of delay some color is given to this excuse by his efforts to persuade Congress to create to assistant secretary ships of war or was he conscious of his own inability to play the role of war president the personal question which thrust itself upon Madison at this time was indeed whether he would have a second term of office an old story often told by his detractors recounts a dramatic incident which is said to have occurred just as the congressional caucus of the party was about to meet a committee of Republican congressmen headed by Mr. Speaker Clay waited upon the president to tell him that if he wished a renomination he must agree to recommend a declaration of war the story has never been corroborated and the dramatic interview probably never occurred yet the president knew as everyone knew that his renomination was possible only with the support of the war party when he accepted the nomination from the Republican caucus on the 18th of May he tacitly pledged himself to acquiesce in the plans of the war Hawks some days later an authentic interview did take place between the president and a deputation of congressmen headed by the speaker in the course of which the president was assured of the support of Congress if he would recommend a declaration subsequent events point to a complete understanding. Clay now used all the latent powers of his office to aid the war party even John Randolph ever a thorn in the side of the party was made to wince on the 9th of May Randolph undertook to address the house on the declaration of war at which he had been credibly informed was imminent he was called ordered by a member because no motion was before the house he protested that his remarks were preparatory to motion the speaker ruled that he must first make a motion my proposition is responded Randolph solemnly that it is not expedient at this time to resort to a war against Great Britain is the motion seconded as the speaker Randolph protested that a second was not needed and appealed from the decision of the chair then when the house sustained the speaker Randolph having found a seconder once more began to address the house again he was called to order the house must first vote to consider the motion Randolph was beside himself with rage the last vestige of liberty of speech was vanishing he declared the clay was imperturbable the question of consideration was put and lost Randolph had found his master on the 1st of june the president sent to congress what is usually denominated a war message yet it contained no positive recommendation of war congress must decide said the president whether the united state shall continue passive or oppose force to force preface to this impotent conclusion was a long recital a progressive use of patience and accumulating wrongs a recital which have become so familiar in state papers as almost to lose its power to provoke popular resentment it was significant however that the president put in the forefront of his catalog of wrongs the impression of american sailors on the high seas no indignity touched national pride so keenly and none so clearly differentiated great britain from france as the national enemy almost equally provocative was the harassing of incoming and outgoing vessels by british cruisers which hovered off the coast and even committed depredations within the territorial jurisdiction of the united states pretended blockades without an adequate force was a third charge against the british government and closely connected with it that sweeping system of blockades under the name of orders in council against which two republican administrations had struggled in vain there was in the account not an item indeed which could not have been charged against great britain in the fall of 1807 when the public climate for war after the chesapeake outrage for long years have been spent in testing the efficacy of commercial restrictions and the country was if anything less prepared for the alternative when president madison penned this message he was in fact making public a vow of the breakdown of a great jeffersonian principle peaceful coercion was proved to be an idle dream so well advised was the committee on foreign relations to which the president's message was referred that it could present a long report two days later again reviewing the case against the adversary in great detail the contest which is now forced on the united states it concluded is radically a contest for their sovereignty and independency there was now no other alternative than an immediate appeal to arms on the same day calhoun introduced a bill declaring war against great britain known the fourth of june in secret session the war party mustered by the speaker bore down all opposition and carried the bill by a vote of 79 to 49 on the 7th of june the senate followed the house by the close vote of 19 to 14 and on the following day the president promptly signed the bill which marked the end of an epic it is one of the bitterest ironies in history that just 24 hours before war was declared at washington the new ministry at westminster announced its intention of immediately suspending the orders in council had president madison yielded to those moderates who advised him in april to send a minister to england he might have been apprised of that gradual change in public opinion which was slowly undermining the authority of spencer percival's ministry and commercial system he had only to wait a little longer to score the greatest diplomatic triumph of his generation but fate willed otherwise no ocean cable flashed the news of the abrupt change which followed the tragic assassination of perso and the formation of a new ministry when the slow-moving packets brought the tidings war had begun end of chapter 10 chapter 11 of jefferson and his colleagues by ellen johnson this liber vox recording is in the public domain chapter 11 president madison under fire the dire calamity which jefferson and his colleagues had for 10 years bent all their energies to avert have now fallen the young republic war with all its strain of attendant evils stalked upon the stage and was about to test the hearts of pacifist in warhawk alike but nothing marked off the younger republicans more sharply from the generation to which jefferson madison and gallatin belong then that positive relief with which they hailed this break with jeffersonian tradition this attitude was something quite different from the usual intrepidity of youth in the face of danger it was bottomed upon the conviction which clay expressed when he answered the question what are we to gain by the war by saying what are we not to lose by peace commerce character a nation's best treasure honor calhoun had reached the same conclusion the restrictive system as a means of resistance end of obtaining redress for wrongs he declared to be unsuited to the genius of the american people it required the most arbitrary laws it rendered government odious it bred discontent war on the other hand strengthened the national character fed the flame of patriotism and perfected the organization of government sir he exclaimed i would prefer a single victory over the enemy by sea or land to all the good we shall ever derive from the continuation of the non importation act the issue was thus squarely faced the alternative to peaceable coercion was now to be given a trial scarcely less remarkable was the buoyant spirit with which these young republicans faced the exigencies of war defeat was not to be found in their vocabulary clay pictured in fervent rhetoric of victoria's army dictating the terms of peace at quibac or at halifax calhoun scouted the suggestion of unpreparedness declaring that in four weeks after the declaration of war the whole of upper and part of lower canada would be in our possession and even soberer patriots believed that the conquest of canada was only a matter of marching across the frontier to montreal or quibac but for that matter older heads were not much wiser as prophets of military events even jefferson assured the president that he had never known a war entered into under more favorable auspices and predicted that great britain would surely be stripped of all her possessions on this continent well minrose seems to have anticipated a short decisive war terminating in a satisfactory accommodation with england as for the president he averred many years later that while he knew the unprepared state of the country he esteemed it necessary to throw forward the flag of the country sure that the people would press on word and defend it there is something at once humor sympathetic in this self-portrait of madison throwing forward the flag of his country and summoning his legions to follow on never was a man called to lead in war who had so little of the marshal in his character and yet so earnest a purpose to rise to the emergency an observer describes him the day after war was declared visiting in person a thing never known before all the offices of the departments of war and the navy stimulating everything in a manner worthy of a little commander in chief with his little round hat and huge cockade stimulation was certainly needed in these two departments as events proved but attention to petty details which should have been watched by subordinates as not the mark of a great commander jefferson afterward consoled madison for the defeat of his armies by writing all you can do is to order execution must depend on others and failures be imputed to them alone jefferson failed to perceive what medicine seems always to have forgotten that a commander in chief who appoints and may remove his subordinates can never escape responsibility for their failures the president's first duty was not to stimulate the performance of routine in the departments but to make sure of the competence of the executive heads of those departments William Eustace of massachusetts secretary of war was not without some little military experience having served as a surgeon in the revolutionary army but he lacked every qualification for the onerous task before him senator crawford of georgia wrote to Monroe costically that Eustace should have been forming general and comprehensive arrangements for the organization of the troops and for the prosecution of campaigns instead of consuming his time reading advertisements of petty retailing merchants to find where he could purchase 100 shoes or 200 hats of paul hamilton the secretary of navy even less could be expected for he seems to have had absolutely no experience to qualify him for the post senator crawford intimated that in instructing his naval officers hamilton impressed upon them the desirability of keeping their superior supplied with pineapples and other tropical fruits and he'll nature comment which true or not gives us the measure of the man both Monroe and gallatin shared the prevailing estimate of the secretaries of war and of the navy and express themselves without reserve to jefferson but the president with characteristic indecision hesitated to purge his cabinet of these two incompetence and for his want the decision he paid dearly the president had just left the capital for his country place at montpelier toward the end of august when the news came that general william hall who had been ordered to invade upper canada and begin the military promenade to quibbeck had surrendered detroit and his entire army without firing a gun it was a crushing disaster and a well-deserved rebuke for the administration for whether the fault was halls or use to says the president had to shoulder the responsibility his first thought was to retrieve the defeat by commissioning Monroe to command a fresh army for the capture of detroit but this proposal which appeals strongly to Monroe had to be put aside fortunately for all concern for Monroe's desire for military glory was probably not equaled by his capacity as a commander and the western campaign proved incomparably more difficult than wise acres at washington imagined what was needed indeed was not merely able commanders in the field though they were difficult enough to find there was much truth in jefferson's naive remark to medicine the creator has not thought proper to mark those on the forehead who are of the stuff to make good generals we are first therefore to seek them blindfold and then let them learn the trade at the expense of great losses but neither seems to have comprehended that their opposition to military preparedness had caused this dearth of talent and was now forcing the administration to select blindfold more pressing even than the need of tacticians was the need of organizers of victory the utter failure of the Niagara campaign vacated the office of secretary of war and with use this retired also the secretary of the navy Monroe took over the duties of the one temporarily and William Jones as ship owner of philadelphia succeeded Hamilton if the president seriously intended to make Monroe secretary of war and the head of the general staff he speedily discovered that he was powerless to do so the republican leaders in New York felt too keenly Josiah Quincy's taunt about a despotic cabinet composed to all efficient purposes of two virginians and a foreigner to permit Monroe to absorb two cabinet posts to appease this jealousy of virginia Madison made an appointment which very nearly shipwrecked his administration he invited general John Armstrong of New York to become secretary of war whatever it may be said of Armstrong's qualifications for the post his presence in that cabinet was most inadvisable for he did not and could not inspire the personal confidence of either gallatin or Monroe once in office he turned Monroe into our relentless enemy and fairly drove gallatin out of office and discussed by appointing his old enemy William Duane editor of the Aurora to the post of agitant general and Armstrong said Dallas who subsequently as secretary of war knew whereof he spoke he was the devil from the beginning is now and ever will be the man of clear's vision in these unhappy months of 1812 was undoubtedly Albert Gallatin the defects of Madison as a war president he had long foreseen the need of reorganizing the executive departments he had pointed out as soon as war became inevitable and the problem of financing the war he had attacked far sightedly fearlessly and without regard to political consistency no one watched the approach of hostilities with a bitterer sense of blasted hopes for 10 years he had labored to limit expenditures sacrificing even the military and naval establishments that the people might be spared the burden of needless taxes and within this decade he had also scaled down the national debt one half so that posterity might not be saddled with burdens not of its own choosing and now war threatened to undo his work the young republic was after all not to lead its own life realize a unique destiny but to tread the old well-worn path of war armaments and high-handed government well he would save what he could do his best to avert perpetual taxation military establishments and other corrupting or anti-republican habits or institutions if gallatinette first underrated the probable revenue for war purposes he speedily confessed his error and set before congress inexorably the necessity for new taxes I even for an internal tax which he had once denounced as loudly as any republican for more than a year after the declaration of war congress was deft to please for new sources of revenue and it was not indeed until the last year of the war that it voted the taxes which in the long run could alone support the public credit meantime facing a depleted treasury gallatin found himself reduced to a mere dealer of loans a position utterly important to him even his efforts to place the loans which congress authorized must have failed but for the timely aid of three men whom quincy would have contemptuously termed foreigners for all like gallatin were foreign born aster, gerard and perish utterly weary of his thankless job gallatin seized upon the opportunity afforded by the russian offer of mediation to leave the cabinet and perhaps to end the war by a diplomatic stroke he asked and received an appointment as one of the three american commissioners if medicine really believed that the people of the united states would unitedly press onward and defend the flag when once he had thrown it forward he must have been strangely insensitive to the disaffection in new england perhaps like jefferson in the days of the embargo he must took the spirit of this opposition thinking that it was largely partisan clamor which could safely be disregarded what neither of these virginians appreciated was the peculiar fanatical and sectional character of the spare drillist opposition and the extremes to which it would go yet abundant evidence lay before their eyes 34 federalist members of the house nearly all from new england issued an address to their constituents bitterly arraigning the administration and deploring the declaration of war the house of representatives of massachusetts following this example published another address denouncing the war as a wanton sacrifice of the best interests of the people and imploring all good citizens to meet in town and county assemblies to protest and to resolve not to volunteer except for a defensive war and a meeting of citizens of rockingham county new hamster adopted a memorial drafted by young daniel webster which hinted that the separation of the states and event off-fraud within calculable evils might sometime occur on just such an occasion as this town after town and county after county took up the hue and cry keeping well within the limits of constitutional opposition it is true but weakening the arm of the government just when it should have struck the enemy effective blows nor was the president without enemies in his own political household the republicans of new york always luke warm in their support of the virginia dynasty were now bent upon preventing his reelection they found a shrewd and not overscrupulous leader into wit clinton and an adroit campaign manager in martin van buren both belong to that school of new york politicians of which burr had been master anything to beat madison was their cry to this end they were willing to condemn the war policy to promise a vigorous prosecution of the war and even to negotiate for peace what made this division in the ranks of the republicans so serious was the willingness of the new england federalists to make common cause with clinton in september a convention of federalists endorsed his nomination for the presidency under the weight of accumulating disasters military and political it seemed as though madison must go down in defeat every new england state but vermont cast its electoral votes for clinton all the middle states but the pennsylvania also supported him and maryland divided its vote only the steadiness of the southern republicans and of pennsylvania saved madison a change of 20 electoral votes would have ended the virginia dynasty now at least madison must have realized the poignant truth which the federalists were never tired of repeating he had entered upon the war as president of a divided people only a few months experience was needed to convince the military authorities at washington that the war must be fought mainly by volunteers every military consideration derived from american history warned against this policy it is true but neither congress nor the people would entertain for an instant the thought of conscription only with great reluctance and under pressure had congress voted to increase the regular army and to authorize the president to raise 50 000 volunteers the results of this legislation were disappointing not to say humiliating the conditions of enlistment were not such as to encourage recruiting and even when the pay had been increased and the term of service shortened few able-bodied citizens would respond if any such desire to serve their country they enrolled in the state militia which the president had been authorized to call into active service for six months in default about well-disciplined regular army and an adequate volunteer force the administration was forced more and more to depend upon such quotas of militia as the states would supply how precarious was the hold of the national government upon the state forces appeared in the first months of the war when called upon to supply troops to relieve the regulars in the coast defenses the governors of massachusetts and connecticut flatly refused holding that the commanders of the state militia and not the president had the power to decide when exigencies demanded the use of the militia in the service of the united states in his annual message medicine termed this a novel and unfortunate exposition of the constitution and he pointed out what indeed was sufficiently obvious that if the authority of the united states could be thus frustrated during actual war they are not one nation for the purpose most of all requiring it but what was the president to do even if he james medicine author of the virginia resolutions of 1798 could so forget his political creed as to conceive of coercing a sovereign state where was the army which would do his bidding the president was the victim of his own political theory these bitter revelations of 1812 the disaffection of new england the incapacity of two of his secretaries the disasters of his staff officers on the frontier the slow recruiting the defiance of massachusetts and connecticut almost crushed the president never physically robust he succumbed to an insidious intermittent fever in june and was confined to his bed for weeks so serious was his condition that mrs madison was in despair and scarcely left his side for five long weeks even now she wrote to mrs gallatin at the end of july i've watched over him as i would an infant so precarious as his convalescence the rumor spread that he was not likely to survive and politicians in washington began to speculate on the succession to the presidency but now and then a ray of hope shot through the gloom pervading the white house in capital the stirring victory of the constitution of the ureaire in august 1812 had almost taken the sting out of halls surrender at detroit and other victories at sea followed glorious and the annals of american naval warfare though without decisive influence on the outcome of the war of much greater significance was perry's victory on lake eerie in september 1813 which opened the way to the invasion of canada this brilliant combat followed by the battle of the tims cheered the president in his slow convalescence encouraging to where the exploits of american privateers in british waters but none of these events seemed likely to hasten the end of the war great britain had already declined the russian offer of mediation last day but one of the year 1813 a british schooner the bramble came into the port of anapolis bearing an important official letter from lord casselry to this secretary of state with what eager and anxious handsman wrote broke the seal of this letter maybe readily imagined it might contain assurances of a desire for peace it might indefinitely prolong the war in truth the letter pointed both ways casselry had declined to accept the good offices of russia but he was prepared to begin direct negotiations for peace meantime the war must go on with the chances favoring british arms for the bramble had also brought the alarming news of napoleon's defeat on the planes of life-seek now for the first time great britain could concentrate all her efforts upon the campaign in north america no wonder the president accepted casselry's offer with the liquidity to the three commissioners sent to russia he added henry clay and janathan russell and bade them godspeed while he nerfed himself to meet the crucial year of the war had the president been fully apprised of the elaborate plans of the british war office his anxieties would have been multiplied many times for what resources have the government to meet invasion on three frontiers the treasury was again depleted new loans brought in insufficient funds to meet current expenses recruiting was slack because the government could not compete with the larger bounties offered by the states by summer the number of effective regular troops was only 27 000 all told with this slender force supplemented by state levies the military authorities were asked to repel invasion the administration had not yet drunk the bitter dregs of the cup of humiliation that some part of the invading british forces might be detailed to attack the capital was vaguely divine by the president and his cabinet but no adequate measures had been taken for the defense of the city when on a fatal august day the british army marched upon it the humility story of the battle of bladenberg has been told elsewhere the disorganized mob which had been hastily assembled to check the advance of the british was utterly routed almost under the eyes of the president who with feelings not easily described found himself obliged to join the troops fleeing through the city no personal humiliation was spared the president and his family dali medicine never once doubting that the noise of battle which reached the white house meant an american victory stayed calmly indoors until the rush of troops warned her of danger she and her friends were then swept along in the general route she was forced to leave her personal effects behind but her presence of mind saved one treasure in the white house a large portrait of general washington painted by gilbert stewart that priceless portrait and the plate were all that survived the fleeing militiamen had presence of mind enough to save a large quantity of the wine of by drinking it and what was left together with the dinner on the table was consumed by adal cockburn and his staff by nightfall the white house the treasury of the war office were in flames and only a severe thunder storm checked the conflagration hard sick and utterly weary the president crossed the potomac at about six o'clock in the evening and started westward in a carriage toward montpelier he had been in the saddle since early morning and was nearly spent too fatigued was added humiliation for he was forced to travel without crowded embittered fugitives and sleep in a forlorn house by the wayside next morning he overtook mrs madison at an in some 16 miles from the capital here they passed another day of humiliation for refugees who had followed the same line of flight reviled the president for betraying them and the city at midnight alarmed at a report that the british were approaching the president fled to another miserable refuge deeper in the virginia woods this fear of capture was quite unfounded however for the british troops had already evacuated the city and were marching in the opposite direction two days later the president returned to the capital to collect his cabinet and repair his shattered government he found public sentiment hot against the administration for having failed to protect the city he had even to fear personal violence but he remained tranquil as usual though much distressed by the dreadful event which had taken place he was still more distressed however by the insistent popular clamor for a victim for punishment all fingers pointed at armstrong as the man responsible for the capture of the city armstrong offered to resign at once but the president in distress would not hear of resignation he would advise only a temporary retirement from the city to placate the inhabitants so armstrong departed but by the time he reached baltimore he realized the impossibility of his situation and sent his resignation to the president the victim had been offered up at his own request munro was now made secretary of war though he continued also to discharge the not very heavy duties of the state department it was a disillusioned group of congressmen who gathered in september 1814 in special session at the president's call among those who gazed sadly at the charred ruins of the capital were calhoun chiefs and grundy whose voices have been loud for a war and who had pictured their armies overrunning the british possessions clay was at this moment endeavoring to avert a humiliating surrender of american claims against to the sting of defeated hopes was added physical discomfort the only public building which had escaped the general conflagration was the post-impatent office in these grand quarters the two houses awaited the president's message a visitor from another planet would have been strangely puzzled to make the president's words tally with the havoc wrought by the enemy on every side a series of achievements had given new luster to the american arms the pride of our naval arms had been amply supported the american people had rushed with enthusiasm to the scenes where danger and duty call not a syllable about the disaster washington not a word about the withdrawal of the canadian militia from national service and the refusal of the governor of vermont to call out the militia just at the moment when sir george prevost began his invasion of new york not a word about the general suspension of specie payment by all banks outside of new england not a word about the failure of the last loan and the imminent bankruptcy of the government only a single sentence portrayed the anxiety which was gnawing madison's heart it is not to be disguised that the situation of our country calls for its greatest efforts what the situation demanded he left his secretaries to say the new secretary of war seemed to be the one member of the administration who was prepared to grapple with reality and who had the courage of his convictions whilst jefferson was warning him that it was nonsense to talk about a regular army munro told congress flatly that no reliance could be pled in the militia and that a permanent force of one hundred thousand men must be raised raised by conscription if necessary throwing virginian and jeffersonian principles to the winds he affirmed the constitutional right of congress to draft citizens the educational value of war must have been very great to bring munro to this conclusion but congress had not traveled so far one by one munro's alternative plans were laid aside and the country like a rudderless ship drifted on and insuperable obstacle indeed prevented the establishment of any efficient national army at this time every plan encountered ultimately the inexorable fact that the treasury was practically empty and the credit of the government gone secretary campbell's report was a confessional failure to sustain public credit some 74 millions would be needed to carry the existing civil and military establishments for another year and of this some vast indeed in those days only 24 millions were in site where the remaining 50 millions were to be found the secretary could not say with this admission of incompetence campbell resigned from office on the 9th of november his successor a j dallas notified holders of government securities at boston that the treasury could not meet its obligations it was at this crisis when bank rep c stared the government in the face that the legislature of massachusetts appointed delegates to confer with delegates from other new england legislatures on their common grievances and dangers and to devise means of security and defense the legislatures of connecticut and rote island responded promptly by appointing delegates to meet at hartford on the 15th of december and the proposed convention seemed to receive popular endorsement in the congressional elections for with but two exceptions all the congressmen chosen were federalists hotheads were discussing without any attempt at concealment the possibility of reconstructing the federal union a new union of the good old 13 states on terms set by new england was believed to be well within the bounds of possibility news sheets referred enthusiastically to the erection about new federal edifice which should exclude the western states little wonder that the harris president in distant washington was obsessed with the idea that new england was on the verge of secession william wort who visited washington at this time has left a vivid picture of ruin and desolation i went to look at the ruins of the president's house the rooms which you saw so richly furnished exhibited nothing but unroofed naked walls cracked defaced and blackened with fire i cannot tell you what i felt as i walked amongst them i called on the president he looks miserably shattered and will be gone in short he looked heartbroken his mind is full of the new england sedition he introduced the subject to continue to press it painful as it obviously was to him i denied the probability even the possibility that the yeomanry of the north could be induced to place themselves under the power and protection of england and averted the conversation to another topic but he took the first opportunity to return to it and convinced me that his heart and mind were painfully full of the subject what added to the president's misgivings was the secrecy in which the members of the hartford convention shrouded their deliberations an atmosphere of conspiracy seemed to envelop all their proceedings that the deliverance of new england was at hand was loudly proclaimed by the federalist press a reputable boston news she advised the president to procure a faster horse than he had mounted at bladden spurg if he would escape the swift vengeance of new england the report of the hartford convention seemed hardly commensurate with the fears of the president or with the windy boast of the federalist press it arraigned the administration as gazing language to be sure but it did not advise secession the multiplied abuses of bad administrations did not yet justify severance of the union especially in a time of war the manifest effects of the constitution were not incurable yet the infractions of the constitution by the national government had been so deliberate dangerous and palpable as to put the liberties of the people in jeopardy and to constrain the several states to interpose their authority to protect their citizens the legislatures of the several states were advised to adopt measures to protect their citizens against such unconstitutional acts of congress as conscription and to concert some arrangement with the government of washington whereby they jointly or separately might undertake their own defense and retain a reasonable share of the proceeds of federal taxation for that purpose to remedy the defects of the constitution seven amendments were proposed all of which have their origin in sectional hostility to the ascendancy of virginia and to the growing power of the new west the last of these proposals was a shot of madison and virginia nor shall the president be elected from the same state to terms in succession and finally should these applications of the states for permission to arm in their own defense be ignored then and in the event that peace should not be concluded another convention should be summoned with such powers and instructions as the exigency of a crisis of momentous may require massachusetts under federalist control acted promptly upon these suggestions three commissioners were dispatched to washington to effect the desired arrangements for the defense of the state the progress of these three ambassadors as they styled themselves was followed with curiosity if not with apprehension in federalist circles there was a general belief that an explosion was at hand a disaster at new orleans which was now threatened by a british fleet and army would force madison to resign or to conclude peace but on the road to washington the ambassadors learned to their surprise the general andrew jackson had decisively repulsed the british before new orleans on the eighth of january and on reaching the capital they were met by the news that a treaty of peace had been signed again their cause was not only discredited but made ridiculous they are in their mission were forgotten as the tension of war times relaxed the virginia dynasty was not to end with james madison end of chapter 11 chapter 12 of jefferson and his colleagues by alan johnson this liberal vox recording is in the public domain chapter 12 the peacemakers on a may afternoon in the year 1813 a little 300 ton ship the neptune put out from new castle down delaware bay before she could clear the capes she fell in with a british frigate one of the blockading squadron which was already drawing its fatal cordon around the seaboard states the captain of the neptune boarded the frigate and presented his passport from which it appeared that he carried two distinguished passengers abert gallatin and james a bayard envoys extraordinary to russia the passport duly visied the neptune resumed her course out into the open sea by grace of the british navy one of these envoys watched the coast disappear in the haze of evening with mingle feelings of regret and relief for 12 weary years gallatin had labored disinterestedly for the land of his adoption and now he was recrossing the ocean to the home of his ancestors with the taunts of his enemies ringing in his ears with the federalists never forget that he was a foreigner he reflected with a sad ironic smile that as a foreigner with a french accent he would have distinct advantages in the world of european diplomacy upon which he was entering he counted many distinguished personages among his friends from madame distal to alexander baring of the famous london banking house unlike many native americans he did not need to learn the ways of european courts because he was to the manor born he had no provincial habits which he must slough off or conceal also he knew himself in the happy qualities with which nature hadn't doubt him patience philosophic composure unfailing good humor all these qualities were to be laid under heavy requisition in the work ahead of him james bayard gallatin's fellow passenger he had never been taunted as a foreigner because several generations had intervened since the first of his family had come to new amsterdam with peter stuyvesant nothing but his name could ever suggest that he was not of that stock commonly referred to as native american bayard had graduated at princeton studied law in philadelphia and had just opened a law office in romington when he was elected to represent delaware in congress as the sole representative of his state in the house of representatives and as a federalist he had exerted a powerful influence in the disputed election of 1800 and he was credited with having finally made possible the election of jefferson over burr subsequently he was sent to the senate where he was serving when he was asked by president madison to accompany gallatin on this mission to the court of the czar granting that a federalist must be selected gallatin could not have found a colleague more to his liking for bayard was a good companion and perhaps the least partisan of the federalist leaders it was mid-summer when the neptune dropped anchor in the harbor of crone stott their gallatin and bayard were joined by john quincey adams minister to russia who had been appointed the third member of the commission here was a pure blooded american by all the accepted canons john quincey adams was the son of his father and gloried secretly in his lineage a puritan of the puritans in his outlook upon human life and destiny something of the rigid quality of rock bound new england entered into his composition he was a foe to all compromise even with himself to him duty was the stern daughter of the voice of god who admonished him daily and hourly of his obligations no character in american public life hasn't bosomed himself so completely as this son of massachusetts in the pages of his diary there are no halftones in the pictures which he has drawn of himself no winsome graces of mind or heart only the rigid outlines of a soul buffeted by destiny gallatin the urbane cosmopolitan gallatin must have derived much quiet amusement from his association with this robust new englander who took himself so seriously two natures could not have been more unlike yet the superior flexibility of gallatin's temperament made their association not only possible but exceedingly profitable we may not call their intimacy a friendship adams had few of any friendships but it contained the essential foundation for friendship complete mutual confidence adams brought disheartening news to the travel weary passengers on the neptune england had declined the offer of mediation yes he had the information from the ellipse of count room and soft the chancellor and minister of foreign affairs apparently said adams with purse lips england regarded the differences with america as a sort of family quarrel in which it would not allow an outside neutral nation to interfere room and soft however had renewed the offer of mediation what the motives of the count were he would not presume to say russian diplomacy was unfathomable the american commissioners were in a most embarrassing position courtesy required that they should make no move until they knew what response the second offer of mediation would evoke the czar was their only friend in all europe so far as they knew and they were none too sure of him they were condemned to anxious in activity while in middle europe the fortunes of the czar rose and fell in august the combined armies of russia austria and prussia were beaten by the fresh levies of napoleon in september the fighting favored the allies in october napoleon was brought to bay on the plains of leipzig yet the imminent fall of the napoleonic empire only deepened the anxiety of the falorn american envoys for it was likely to multiply the difficulties of securing reasonable terms from his conqueror at the same time with news of the battle of leipzig came letters from home which informed gallatin that his nomination as envoy had been rejected by the senate this was the last straw to remain inactive as an envoy was bad enough to stay on an accredited scene impossible he determined to take advantage of a hint dropped by his friend bearing that the british ministry while declining mediation was not unwilling to treat directly with the american commissioners he would go to london in an unofficial capacity and smooth the way to negotiations but adams and bayard demurred and persuaded him to defer his departure a month later came assurances that lord castle re had offered to negotiate with the americans either at london or at gothenberg late in january 1814 gallatin and bayard set off for amsterdam the one to buy his chance to visit london the other two await further instructions there they learned that in response to castle re's overtures the president had appointed a new commission on which gallatin's name did not appear notwithstanding this disappointment gallatin secured the desired permission to visit london through the friendly offices of alexander bearing hardly had the americans established themselves in london when the word came that the two new commissioners henry clay and jonathan russell had landed at gallatinberg bearing a commission for gallatin it seems the gallatin was believed to be on his way home and had therefore been left off the commission on learning of his whereabouts the president had immediately added his name so it happened that gallatin stood last on the list when every consideration dictated his choice as head of the commission the incident illustrates the difficulties that beset communication 100 years ago diplomacy was a game of chance in which wind and waves often turned the score here were five american envoys duly accredited one keeping his turn vigil in russia two on the coast of sweden and two in hostile london where would they meet with whom were they to negotiate after vexatious delays again was fixed upon as the place where peace negotiations will begin and where the americans rendezvous during the first week in july further delay followed for in spite of the assurance as of lord castle re the british representatives did not make their appearance for a month meantime the american commissioners made themselves at home among the hospitable flamish townspeople with whom they became prime favorites in the concert halls they were always greeted with enthusiasm the musicians soon discovered that british tunes were not in favor and endeavored to learn some american errors have the americans know national errors of their own they asked oh yes they were assured there was hail columbia would not one of the gentlemen be good enough to play or sing it an embarrassing request for musical talent was not conspicuous in the delegation but peter gallatin's black servant rose to the occasion he whistled the air and then one of the attaché scraped out the melody on a fiddle so that the quick-witted orchestra speedily composed la nasnel des americans agón doclista and after thereafter always played it as a counterbalance to god save the king the diversions again however were not numerous and time hung heavy on the hands of the americans while they waited for the british commissioners we dined together for adam's records and sit usually at table until six we then dispersed to our several amusements and avocations clay preferred cards or billiards and the mild excitement of rather high stakes gallatin and his young son james preferred the theater and all but adam's became intimately acquainted with the members of a french troop of players whom adam's describes as the worst he ever saw as for adam's himself his diversion was a solitary walk of two or three hours and then to bed on the 6th of august the british commissioners arrived again admiral lord gambier henry gull burn that square and dr william adam's they were not an impressive trio gambier was an elderly man whom a writer in the morning chronicle described as a man who slumbered for sometime as a junior lord of admiral team who sang psalms said prayers and assisted in the burning of kopenhagen for which he was made a lord gull burn was a young man who had served as an undersecretary of state adam's was a doctor of laws who was expected perhaps to assist negotiations by his legal lord gallington described them not unfairly as men who have not made any mark puppets of lords castlery and liverpool perhaps in justification of this choice of representatives that should be said that the best diplomatic talent have been drafted into service at vienna and that the british ministry expected in this smaller conference to keep the threads of diplomacy in its own hands the first meeting of the negotiators was amicable enough the americans found their opponents courteous and well-bred and both sides events the desire to avoid inward and manner as bayard put it everything of an inflammable nature throughout this memorable meeting again indeed even when difficult situations arose and nerves became taught personal relations continued friendly we still keep personally upon eating and drinking terms with them adam's wrote at a tense moment speaking for his superiors and his colleagues admiral gambier assured the americans of their earnest desire to end hostilities on terms honorable to both parties adam's replied that he and his associates reciprocated this sentiment and then without further formalities gull burn stated in blunt and business-like fashion the matters on which they have been instructed impressment fisheries boundaries the pacification of the indians and the demarcation of an indian territory the last was to be regarded as a sine qua non for the conclusion of any treaty would the americans be good enough to state the purport of their instructions the american commissioners seem to have been startled out of their composure by the sine qua non they had no instructions on this latter point nor on the fisheries they could only ask for a more specific statement what had his majesty's government in mind when it referred to an indian territory with evident reluctance the british commissioners admitted that the proposed indian territory was to serve as a buffer state between the united states and canada press for more details they intimated that this area thus neutralized might include the entire north west a second conference only served to show the want of any common basis for negotiation the americans had come to get to settle two outstanding problems blockades and indemnities for attacks on neutral commerce and to insist on the abandonment of impressments as a sine qua non both commissions then agreed to appeal to their respective governments for further instructions within a week lord cassowry sent precise instructions which confirmed the worst fears of the americans the indian boundary line was to follow the line of the treaty of greenville and beyond it neither nation was to acquire land the united states was asked in short to set apart for the indians and perpetuity an area which comprised the present states of mexico and wisconsin and elinor four-fifths of india and a third of ohio but remonstrated gallatin this area included states and territories settled by more than a hundred thousand american citizen what was to be done with them they must look after themselves was the blunt answer in comparison with this astounding proposal lord cassowry's further suggestion of a rectification of the frontier by the session of fortna agra and saccots harbour and by the exclusion of americans from the lakes seemed of little importance the purpose of his majesty's government the commissioners hasten to add was not aggrandizement but the protection of the north american provinces in view of the about name of the united states to conquer canada the control of the lakes must rest with great britain indeed taking the weakness of canada into account his majesty's government might have reasonably demanded the session of the lands adjacent to the lakes and should these moderate terms not be accepted as majesty's government would feel itself at liberty to enlarge its demands if the war continued to favor british arms the american commissioners asked if these proposals relating to the control of the lakes were also a sine qua non we have given you one sine qua non already was the reply and we should suppose one sine qua non at a time was enough the americans returned to their hotel of one mind they could view the proposals just made in no other light than as a deliberate attempt to dismember the united states they could differ only as to the form in which they should couch their positive rejection as titular head of the commission adams set properly to work upon a draft of an answer which he soon set before his college at once all appearance of unanimity vanished to the enemy they could present a united front in the privacy of their apartment they were five headstrong men they promptly fell upon adams's draft tooth and nail adams described the scene with power renewable resentment mr gallatin is for striking out any expression that may be offensive to the feelings of the adverse party mr clay is displeased with figurative language which he thinks improper for our state paper mr russell agreeing in the objections of the two other gentlemen will be further for amending the construction of every sentence mr bayard even when agreeing to say precisely the same thing chooses to say it only in his own language sharp encounters took place between adams and clay you dare not shouted clay in a passion on one occasion you cannot you shall not insinuate that there has been a cabal of three members against you gentlemen gentlemen gallatin would expot you late with a twinkle in his eye we must remain united or we fail it was his good temper intact that saved this in many similar situations when bayard had essayed a draft of his own and had failed to win support it was gallatin who took up adams's draft and put it into acceptable form on the third day after hours of sifting erasing patching and amending until we were all weary though none of us satisfied gallatin's revision was accepted from this moment gallatin's virtual leadership was unquestioned the american note of the 24th of august was a vigorous but even tempered protest against the british demands as contrary to precedent and dishonorable to the united states the american states would never consent to abandon territory and a portion of their citizens to admit a foreign interference in their domestic concerns and to cease to exercise their natural rights on their own shores and in their own waters a treaty concluded on such terms would be but an armistice but after the note had been prepared and dispatched profound discouragement reigned in the american hotel even gallatin usually hopeful and philosophically serene grew despondent our negotiations may be considered at an end he wrote to minnow great britain once wore in order to cripple us she wants aggrandizement at our expense i do not expect to be longer than three weeks in europe the commissioners notified their landlord that they would give up their quarters on the first of october yet they lingered on week after week waiting for the word which would close negotiations and send them home meantime the british ministry was quite as little pleased at the prospect it would not do to let the impression go abroad the great print was prepared to continue the war for territorial gains if a rupture of the negotiations must come lord castley preferred to let the american shoulder the responsibility he therefore instructed gambier not to insist on the independent indian territory and the control of the lates these points were no longer to be ultimatum but only matters for discussion the british commissioners were to insist however on articles providing for the pacification of the indians should the americans yield this sine qua non now that the first had been withdrawn adams thought not decidedly not he would rather break off negotiations than admit the right of great britain to interfere with the indians dwelling within the limits of the united states gallatin remarked that after all it was a very small point to insist on when a slight concession would win much more important points then said i adams with a movement of impatience and an angry tone it is a good point to admit the british as the sovereigns and protectors of our indians gallatin's face brightened and he said in a tone of perfect good humor that's a non sequitur this turned the edge of the argument into jocularity i laughed and insisted that it was a sequitur and the conversation easily changed to another point gallatin had his way with the rest of the commission and drafted the note of the 26th of september which while refusing to recognize the indians as sovereign nations in the treaty proposed a stipulation that would leave them in possession of their former lands and rights this solution of a perplexing problem was finally accepted after another exchange of notes and another earnest discussion at the american hotel where gallatin again poured oil on that troubled waters concession began concession new instructions from president madison now permitted the commissioners to drop the demand for the abolition of impressments and blockades and with these difficult matters swept away the path to peace was much easier to travel such was the outlook for peace when news reached gint of the humiliating rock at bladden spurg the british newspapers were full of jubilant comments the five crestfallen american envoys took what cold comfort they could out of the very general condemnation of the burning of the capital then on the heels of this intelligence came rumors that the british invasion of new york had failed and that prevo stormy was in full retreat to canada the americans could hardly grasp the full significance of this british reversal it was too good to be true but true it was and their spirits rebounded it was at this juncture that the british commissioners presented a note on the 21st of october which for the first time went to the heart of the negotiations war had been waged territory had been overrun conquest had been made not the anticipated conquests on either side to be sure but conquest nevertheless these were the plain facts now the practical question was this was the treaty to be drafted on the basis of the existing state of possession or on the basis of the status before the war the british notes stated their case in plain unvarnished fashion it insisted on the status uti po sedates the possession of territory won by arms in the minds of the americans buoyed up by the victory at platzberg there was not the shadow of doubt as to what their answers should be they declined for an instant to consider any other basis for peace then the restoration of gains on both sides their note was prompt and fatic even blunt and it nearly shattered the nerves of the gentleman in downing street had these stiff-necked yankees no sense could then that perceive the studied moderation of the terms proposed an island or two and a small strip of main when half of main and the south bank of the saint warrence from platzberg to sack its harbor might have been demanded as the price of peace the prospect of another year of war simply to secure a frontier which nine out of ten englishmen could not have identified was most disquieting especially in view of the prodigious cost of military operations in north america the ministry was both hot and cold at one moment it favored continued war at another its rank from the consequences and in the end it confessed its own want of decision by appealing to the duke of wellington and trying to shift the responsibility to his broad shoulders where the duke take command of the forces in canada he should be invested with full diplomatic and military powers to bring the war to an honorable conclusion the reply of the iron duke gave the ministry another shock he would go to america but he did not promise himself much success there and he was reluctant to leave europe at this critical time to speak frankly he had no high opinion of the diplomatic game which the ministry was playing again i confess that he that i think you have no right from the state of the war to demand any concession from america you have not been able to carry it into the enemy's territory notwithstanding your military success and now undoubted military superiority and have not even cleared your own territory on the point of attack you cannot on any principle of equality and negotiation claim a session of territory accepting in exchange for other advantages which you have in your power then if this reasoning be true why stipulate for the uti po sedates you can give no territory indeed the state of your military operations however creditable does not entitle you to demand any as lord liverpool perused this dispatch the will to conquer oozed away i think we have determined he wrote a few days later to castley if all other points can be satisfactorily settled not to continue the war for the purpose of obtaining or securing any acquisition of territory he set forth his reasons for this decision succinctly the unsatisfactory state of the negotiations at vienna the alarming condition of france the deplorable financial outlook in england but lord liverpool omitted to mention a still more potent factor in his calculations the growing impatience of the country the american war had ceased to be popular it had become the graveyard of military reputations it promised no glory to either sailor or soldier now that the correspondence of the negotiators again was made public the reading public might very easily draw the conclusion that the ministry was prolonging the war by setting up pretensions which it could not sustain no ministry could afford to continue a war out of mere stubbornness meantime holy in the darkest of the forces which were working in their favor the american commissioner is set to work upon a draft of a treaty which should be their answer to the british offer of peace on the basis of udi po sedetus almost at once dissensions occurred protracted negotiations and enforced idleness had set their nerves on edge and old personal and sectional differences appeared the two matters which caused most trouble were the fisheries and the navigation of the mississippi adams could not forget how stubbornly his father had fought for that article in the treaty of 1783 which had conceded to new england fishermen as a natural right freedom to fish in british waters to a certain extent this concession had been offset by yielding to the british the right of navigation of the mississippi but the latter right seemed unimportant in the days when the allergenies marked the limit of western settlement in the quarter of a century which had elapsed however the west had come into its own it was now a powerful section with an intensely alert consciousness of its rights and wrongs and among its rights it counted the exclusive control of the father of waters feeding himself as much the champion of western interests as adams did of new england fisheries clay refused indignant lead to consent to a renewal of the treaty provisions of 1783 but when the matter came to a vote he found himself with rustle in a minority very reluctantly he then agreed to gallatin's proposal to insert in a note rather than in the draft itself a paragraph to the effect that the commissioners were not instructed to discuss the rights of the two enjoyed in the fisheries since no further stipulation was deemed necessary to entitle them to rights which were recognized by the treaty of 1783 when the british replied to the american project was read adams noted with quite satisfaction that the reservation as to the fisheries was passed over in silence silence he thought gave consent but clay flew into a towering passion when he learned that the old right of navigating a mississippi was reasserted adams was prepared to accept the british proposals clay refused point blank and gallatin cited this time with clay could a compromise be effective between the stubborn representatives of east and west gallatin tried once more why not accept the british right of navigation surely an unimportant point after all and asked for an express affirmation of fishery rights clay replied hotly that if they were going to sacrifice the west to massachusetts he would not sign the treaty with infinite patience gallatin continued to play the role of peacemaker and finally brought both these self-willed men to agree to offer a renewal of both rights instead of accepting the seminally fair adjustment the british representatives proposed that the two disputed rights be left to future negotiation the suggestion caused another explosion in the ranks of the americans adams would not admit even by implication that the rights for which his sire fought could be forfeited by war and become the subject of negotiation but all save adams were ready to yield again gallatin came to the rescue he penned a note rejecting the british offer because it seemed to imply the abandonment of a right but internally offered to omit in the treaty all reference to the fisheries in the mississippi or to include a general reference to further negotiation of all matters still in dispute in such a way as not to relinquish any rights to this solution of the difficulty all agreed though adams was still torn by doubts and clay believed that the treaty was bound to be damn bad anyway an anxious week of waiting followed on the 22nd of december came the british reply a grudging acceptance of gallatin's first proposal to omit all reference to the fisheries and the mississippi two days later the treaty was signed in the refractory of the carthusian monastery where the british commissioners were quartered that the tired 17 year old boy who had been his father's scribe through these long weary months describe the events of christmas day 1814 the british delegates very civilly asked us to dinner wrote james gallatin in his diary the roast beef and plum pudding was from england and everybody drank everybody else's health the band played first god saved the king to the toast of the king and yankee doodle to the toast of the president congratulations on all sides in a general atmosphere of serenity it was a scene to be remembered god grant there may be always peace between the two nations i never saw father so cheerful he was in high spirits and his witty conversation was much appreciated peace that was the outstanding achievement of the american commissioners at gint measured by the purposes of the war hawks of 1812 measured by the more temperate purposes of president madison the treaty of gint was a confession of national weakness and humiliating failure clay whose voice had been loudest for war and whose kindling fancy had pictured american armies dictating terms of surrender at core back set his signature to a document which redressed not a single grievance and added not a foot of territory to the united states adams who had denounced great britain for the crime of man stealing accepted a treaty of peace which contained not a syllable about impressment president madison who had reluctantly accepted war as the last means of escape from the blockade of american ports and the ruin of neutral trade recommended the ratification of a convention which did not so much as mentioned maritime questions and the rights of neutrals peace and nothing more much more indeed than appears in rubric's own parchment the treaty of gint must be interpreted in the lighter more than a hundred years of peace between the two great branches of the english-speaking race more conscious of their differences than anything else no doubt these eight peacemakers at gint nevertheless spoke a common tongue and shared a common english trait they laid firm hold on realities like practical meant they faced the year of 1815 and not 1812 in a pacified europe rid of the course again questions of maritime practice seemed dead issues let the dead pass bury it's dead to remove possible causes of future controversies seemed wiser statesmanship than to break over their ambers of corals which might never be rekindled so it was that in prosaic articles they provided for three commissions to arbitrate boundary controversies at critical points in that far-flung frontier between canada and the united states and thus laid the foundations of an international court which has survived a hundred years end of chapter 12 chapter 13 of jefferson and his colleagues by alan johnson this liber vox recording is in the public domain chapter 13 spanish derelicts in the new world it fell to the last and perhaps least talented president of the virginia dynasty to consummate the work of jefferson and madison by a final settlement with spain which left the united states in possession of the florida's in the diplomatic service james munro had exhibited none of those qualities which warranted the expectation that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed on his missions to england and spain indeed he had been singularly inept but he had learned much in the rude school of experience and he now brought to his new duties discretion sobriety and poise he was what the common people held him to be a faithful public servant deeply and sincerely republican earnestly desirous to serve the country which he loved the circumstances of munro's election pledged him to a truly national policy he had received the electoral votes of all but three states he was now president of an undivided country not merely a virginian fortuitously elevated to the chief magistracy and regarded as alien in sympathy to the north and east any doubts on this point were dispelled by the popular demonstrations which greeted him on his tour through federalist strongholds in the northeast i have seen enough he wrote in grateful recollection to satisfy me that the great mass of our fellow citizens in the eastern states are as firmly attached to the union and republican government as i've always believed or could desire them to be the news sheets which follow his progress from day to day coined the phrase era of good feeling which has passed current ever since as a characterization of his administration it was in this admirable temper and with this broad national outlook that munro chose his advisors and heads of departments he was well aware of the common belief that his predecessors had appointed virginians to the secretarieship of state in order to prepare the way for their succession to the presidency he was determined therefore to avert the suspicion of sectional bias by selecting someone from the eastern states rather than from the south or from the west hitherto so closely allied to the south his choice fell upon john quincy adams who by his age long experience in our foreign affairs and adoption into the republican party he assured jefferson seems to have superior pretensions it was an excellent appointment from every point of view but one munro had overlooked and the circumstance did him infinite credit the exigencies of politics and passed over an individual whose vaulting ambition had already made him an aspirant to the presidency henry clay was grievously disappointed and hence forward salked in his tent refusing the secretarieship of war which the president tendered eventually the brilliant young john c calhoun took this post this south carolinian was in the prime of life full of fire and dash ardently patriotic and nationally minded to an unusual degree of william h carford of georgia who retained the secretarieship of the treasury little need be said except that he also was a presidential aspirant who saw things always from the angle of political expediency benjamin w cronin shield as secretary of the navy and william wort as attorney general completed the circle of the president's intimate advisors the new secretary of state had not been in office many weeks before he received a morning call from don louis the own niece the spanish minister who was laboring under ill disguised excitement it appeared that his house in washington had been repeatedly insulted of late windows broken lamps in front of the house smashed and one night a dead fowl tied to his bell rope this last piece of vandalism had been too much for his equanimity he held it a gross insult to his sovereign and the spanish monarchy importing that they were of no more consequence than a dead old hen adams though considerably amused endeavor to smooth the ruffle pride of the chivalier by suggesting that these were probably only the tricks of some mystifice boys but the own niece was not easily appeased indeed as adams was himself soon to learn the american public did regard the spanish monarchy as a dead old hen and took no pains to disguise its contempt adams had yet to learn the long train of circumstances which made spanish relations the most delicate and difficult of all the diplomatic problems in his office with his wanted industry adams soon made himself master of the facts relating to spanish diplomacy for the moment interest centered on east florida carefully unraveling the tangle skein of events adams followed the thread which led back to president madison's secret message to congress of january three eighteen eleven which was indeed one of the landmarks in american policy madison had recommended a declaration that the united states could not see without serious in quietude any part of a neighboring territory like east florida in which they have indifferent respects so deep and so just a concern passed from the hands of spain into those of any other foreign power to prevent the possible subversion of spanish authority in east florida and the occupation of the province by a foreign power great britain was of course the power the president had in mind he had urged congress to authorize him to take temporary possession in pursuance of arrangements which may be desired by the spanish authorities congress had responded with alacrity and empowered the president to occupy east florida in case the local authorities should consent or a foreign power should attempt to occupy it with equal dispatch the president had sent to agents general george matthews and colonel john mckay on one of the strangest missions in the border history of the united states east florida adams found pursuing his inquiries into the archives of the department included the two important ports of entry pencecola on the gulf and for nandina on amelia island at the mouth of the saint mary's river the island had long been a notorious resort for smugglers hither had come british and american vessels with cargos of merchandise and slaves which found their way in mysterious fashion to consignees within the states a spanish garrison of ten men was the sole custodian of law and order on the island up and down the river was scattered a lawless population of free booters who were equally ready to raid a border plantation or to raise the jolly roger on some piratical cruise to this no man's land fertile recruiting ground for all manner of villa bustering expeditions general matthews and colonel mckay had been taken themselves in the spring of 1811 bearing some explicit instructions from president madison but also some very pronounced convictions as to what they were expected to accomplish matthews at least understood that the president wished a revolution after the west florida model he assured the administration adams read the precious missive in the files of his office that he could do the trick only let the government consign 200 stand-of-arms and 50 horsemen swords to the commander at st mary's and he would guarantee to put the revolution through without committing the united states in any way the melodrama had been staged for the following spring 1812 some 200 patriots recruited from the border people gather near st mary's with souls yearning for freedom and while american gunboats took a menacing position this force of insurgents had landed on amelia island and summoned the spanish commandant to surrender not willing to spoil the scene by vulgar resistance the commandant capitulated and marched out his garrison ten strong with all the honors of war the spanish flag had been hauled down to give place to the flag of the insurgents bearing the inspiring motto salus papulae supremalex then general matthews with a squad of regular united states troops had crossed the river and taken possession only the benediction of the government at washington was lacking to make the success of his mission complete but to the general's consternation no approving message came only a peremptory dispatch disavowing his axe and revoking his commission as adams reviewed these events he could see no other alternatives for the government to have pursued at this moment when war with great britain was impending it would have been the height of folly to break openly with spain the administration had indeed instructed its new agent governor michael of georgia to restore the island to the spanish commandant and to withdraw his troops if he could do so without sacrificing the insurgents to the vengeance of the spaniards but the forces said emotion by matthews were not so easily controlled from washington once having resolved to liberate east florida the patreous were not disposed to retire at the nod of the secretary of state the spanish commandant was equally obdurate he would make no promise to spare the insurgents the legislature of georgia too had a mind of its own it resolved that the occupation of east florida was essential to the safety of the state whether congress approved or no and the governor swept along in the current of popular feeling summoned troops from savannah to hold the province just at this moment had come the news of war with great britain and governor state militia and patreous had combined in an effort to prevent east florida from becoming enemies territory military considerations had also swept the administration along the same hazardous course the occupation of the floridas seemed imperative the president sought authorization from congress to occupy and govern both the floridas until the vexed question of title could be settled by negotiation only a part of this program had carried for while congress was prepared to approve the military occupation of west florida to the perdita river beyond that it would not go and so with great reluctance the president had ordered the troops to withdraw from amelia island in the spring of the same year 1813 general wilkinson had occupied west florida the only permanent conquest of the war and that oddly enough the conquest of a territory owned in hell by a power with which the united states was not at war abandoned by the american troops amelia island had become a rendezvous for outlaws from every part of the americas just about the time that adams was crossing the ocean to take up his duties at the state department one of these buccaneers by the name of greger mcgregor descended upon the island as brigadier general of the armies of the united provinces of new granada and venezuela and general in chief of that destined to emancipate the provinces of both floridas under the commission of the supreme government of mexico and south america this pirate was soon succeeded by general auri who had enjoyed a wild career among the buccaneers of galveston bay where he had posed as military governor under the republic of mexico east florida in the hands of such desperados was a menace to the american border approaching the problem of east florida without any of the prepossessions of those who had been dealing with spanish envoys for a score of years the new secretary of state was prepared to move directly to his goal without any too great consideration for the feelings of others his examination of the facts led him to a clean cut decision this nest of pirates must be broken up at once his energy carried president and cabinet along with him he was decided to send troops and ships to the st mary's and if necessary to invest for nandina this demonstration of force suffice general auri departed to conquer new worlds and amelia island was occupied for the second time without bloodshed but now having grasped the nettle firmly what was the administration to do with it de onus promptly registered his protest the opposition in congress seized upon the incident to worry the president many of the president's friends thought that he had been precipitated munro indeed would have been glad to withdraw the troops now that they had affected their object but adams was for holding the island in order to force spain to terms with the frankness which lacerated the feelings of de onus adams insisted that the united states had acted strictly on the defensive the occupation of amelia island was not an act of aggression but a necessary measure for the protection of commerce american commerce the commerce of other nations the commerce of spain itself now why not put an end to all friction by ceding the florida's to the united states what would spain take for all her possessions east of the mississippi adams asked the onus declined to say well then adams pursued suppose the united states should withdraw from amelia island would spain guarantee that it should not be occupied again by free booters no the onus could give no such guarantee but he would write to the governor of havana to ascertain if he would send an adequate garrison to fernandina adams reported this significant conversation to the president who was visibly shaken by the conflict of opinions within his political household and not a little alarmed at the possibility of war with spain the secretary of state was coolly taking the measure of his chief there is a slowness want of decision and a spirit of procrastination in the president he confided to his diary he did not add but the thought was in his mind that he could sway this president mold him to his heart's desire in this first trial of strength the heartier personality one when roe sent a message to congress on january 13 18 18 announcing his intention to hold east florida for the president and the arguments which he used to justify this bold course were precisely those of his secretary of state when adams suggested that spain might put an end to all her worries by ceding the florida's he was only renewing an offer that Monroe have made while he was still secretary of state the onus have then declared that spain would never see territory east of the mississippi unless the united states would relinquish its claims west of that river now to the new secretary the onus intimated that he was ready to be less exacting he would be willing to run the line farther west and allow the united states a large part of what is now the state of louisiana adams made no reply to this tentative proposal provided his time and time played into his hands in unexpected ways to the secretary's office one day in june 18 18 came a letter from the onus which was a veritable fire brand the onus who was not unnaturally disposed to believe the worst of americans on the border had heard that general andrew jackson in pursuit of the seminal indians had crossed into florida and captured pentacola and saint marx he demanded to be informed in a positive distinct and explicit manner just what had occurred and then outraged by confirmatory reports and without waiting for adams's reply he wrote another angry letter insisting upon the restitution of the captured forts and the punishment of the american general worst tidings followed baguette the british minister had heard that jackson had seized and executed two british subjects on spanish soil with the secretary of state informed him whether general jackson had been authorized to take pentacola and with the secretary furnished him with copies of the reports of the court's marshal which had condemned these two subjects of his majesty adams could only reply that he lacked official information by the second week in july dispatches from general jackson confirmed the worst insinuations and accusations of the onus and baguette president menrode was painfully embarrassed prompt disavow of the general's conduct seemed the only way to avert war but to disavow the acts of this popular idol the victor of new orleans was no light matter he sought the advice of his cabinet and was hardly less embarrassed to find all but one convinced that old hickory had acted contrary to instructions and had committed acts of hostility against spain a week of anxious cabinet sessions followed in which only one voice was raised in defense of the invasion of florida all but adams feared war a war which the opposition which surely brand as incited by the president without the consent of congress no administration could carry on a war begun in violation of the constitution said calhoun but argued adams the president may authorize defensive acts of hostility jackson had been authorized across the frontier if necessary in pursuit of the indians and all the ensuing deplorable incidents had followed as a necessary consequence of indian warfare the conclusions of the cabinet were summed up by adams in a reply to de onus on the 23rd of july which must have greatly astonished that diligent defender of spanish honor opening the letter to read as he confidently expected a disavow and an offer of reparation he found the responsibility for the recent unpleasant incidents fastened upon his own country he was reminded that by the treaty of 1795 both governments had contracted to restrain the indians within their respective borders so that neither should suffer from hostile raids and that the governor of pencil cola when called upon to break up a strong hold of indians and fugitive slaves had acknowledged his obligation but had pleaded his inability to carry out the covenant then and then only a general jackson been authorized across the border and to put an end to outrages which the spanish authorities lacked the power to prevent general jackson had taken possession of the spanish forts on his own responsibility when he became convinced of the duplicity of the commandant who indeed had made himself a partner in accomplice of the hostile indians and of their foreign instigators such conduct on the part of his majesty's officer justified the president and calling for his punishment but in the meantime the president was prepared to restore pencil cola and also saint marx whenever his majesty should send a force sufficiently strong to hold the indians under control nor did the secretary of state moderate his tone or abate his demands when pazaro the spanish minister of foreign affairs threatened to suspend negotiations with the united states until it should give satisfaction for this shameful invasion of his majesty's territory and for these acts of barbarity glossed over with the forms of justice in a dispatch to the american minister at madrid adam's vigorously defended jackson's conduct from beginning to end the time had come said he when spain must immediately make her election either to place a force in florida adequate at once to the protection of her territory and to the fulfillment of her engagements or cede to the united states a province of which she retains nothing but the nominal possession but which is in fact a derelict open to the occupancy of every enemy civilized or savage of the united states and serving no other earthly purpose than as a post of annoyance to them this affront to spanish pride might have ended abruptly a chapter in spanish-american diplomacy but for the friendly offices of haida new via the french minister at washington whose government could not view without alarm the possibility of a rupture between the two countries it was new via who labored through the summer months of this year first with adams then with the onis tempering the demands of the one and placating the pride of the other but never allowing intercourse to drop adams was right and both new via and onus knew it the only way to settle outstanding differences was to cede these spanish derelicts in the new world to the united states to bring and keep together these two antithetical personalities representatives of two opposing political systems was no small achievement what the onus thought of his stubborn opponent may be surmised what the american thought of the spaniard need not be left to conjecture in the pages of his diary adams painted the portrait of his adversary as he saw him cold calculating wily always commanding his temper proud because he is a spaniard but supple and cunning accommodating the tone of his pretensions precisely to the degree of endurance of his opponents bold and overbearing to the utmost extent to which it is tolerated careless of what he asserts or how grossly it has proved to be unfounded the history of the negotiations running through the fall and winter is a succession of propositions and counter propositions made formally by the chief participants or tentatively and informally through nervilla the western boundary of the louisiana purchase was the chief obstacle to agreement each spart for an advantage each made extreme claims and each was persuaded to yield a little here and a little there slowly narrowing the bounds of the disputed territory more than once the president and the cabinet believed that the last concession had been extorted and were prepared to yield on other matters when the president was prepared for example to accept the hundredth meridian and the forty third parallel adams insisted on demanding the one hundred and second and the forty second and after a long and violent struggle wrote adams he de onus agreed to take longitude one hundred from the red river to the arkansas and let it do forty two from the source of the arkansas to the south sea this was a momentous decision for the united states acquired thus whatever claims spain had to the northwest coast but sacrificed its claim to texas for the possession of the floridas dexatious questions still remain to be settled the spoliation claims which were to have been adjusted by the convention of 1802 were finally left to our commission the united states agreeing to assume all obligations to an amount not exceeding five million dollars the onus emerged at stating this amount in the treaty he would be blamed for having betrayed the honor of spain by selling the floridas for a paltry five millions to which adams replied dryly that he ought to boast of his bargain instead of being ashamed of it since it was notorious that the floridas had always been a burden to the spanish exchequer negotiations came to a standstill again when adams insisted that certain royal grants of land in the florida should be declared null and void he feared and not without reason that these grants would deprive the united states of the domain which was to be used to pay the indemnities assumed in the treaty to onus presented the demand as offensive to the dignity in in prescriptible rights of the crown of spain and once again du via came to the rescue of the treaty and persuaded both parties to agree to a compromise on the understanding that the royal grants in question have been made subsequent to january twenty four eighteen eighteen adams agreed that all grants made since that date when the first proposal was made by his majesty for the session of the floridas should be declared null and void and that all grants made before that date should be confirmed on the anniversary of washington's birthday to onus and adams signed the treaty which carried the united states to its natural limits on the southeast the event seemed to adams to mark a great epoch in our history it was near one in the morning he recorded in his diary when i closed the day with ejaculations of fervent gratitude to the giver of all good it was perhaps the most important day of my life that no idle and unfounded exaltation take possession of my mind as if i would ascribe to my own foresight or exertions any portion of the event but misgivings followed hard on these joyous reflections the treaty has still to be ratified and the disposition of the spanish cortex was uncertain there was two considerable opposition in the senate a watchful eye a resolute purpose a calm and patient temper and a favoring providence will all be as indispensable for the future as they have been for the past in the management of this negotiation adams reminded himself he had need of all these qualities in the trying months that followed end of chapter 13