The Importance Of James Madison And America In War

Most important, James Madison and America in war. For Madison and the War Hawks, the declaration amounted to a second war of independence for the new Republic. It also provided the opportunity to seize Canada, drive the Spanish from west Florida, put down the Indian uprising in the Northwest, and secure maritime independence. In the preparations for battle, it became clear that most of the War Hawks wanted a land invasion of Canada above all else. Accordingly, the United States moved quickly to mount an offensive against Canada. The plan was aimed at separating Upper Canada (Ontario) from the Northwest, thus cutting off the Shawnees, Potawatomi, and other pro-British tribes from British support. Unfortunately, the move ended in disaster for American forces. By the fall of 1812, one American force had surrendered at Detroit, another had been defeated in

General Jackson, moreover, emerged as a genuine war hero, equal in public esteem to George Washington. The 2,200 dead Americans undoubtedly left behind families proud of the men who had won the Second American Revolution. Not all Americans, however, had wrapped themselves in the flag of patriotism. New England states seldom met their quotas of militiamen, and many New England merchants and farmers traded freely with the enemy. After the British offensive included northern ports, some New England Federalists talked about seceding from the Union. In an attempt to block secessionist sentiment, moderate Federalists called a convention in Hartford, Connecticut, to propose a series of constitutional amendments protecting sectional rights. The convention leaders brought their proposals to Washington just as news broke of the Battle of New Orleans and the Treaty of Ghent. To most of the nation, the participants of the Hartford Convention looked like traitors, or at least unpatriotic troublemakers. Their antiwar criticism and regional concerns helped to doom the weakened Federalist Party as a national entity on the