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War
of 1812
Reading 1:
British cruisers have been
in the continued practice of violating the American flag on the
great highway of nations, and of seizing and carrying off persons
sailing under it, not in the exercise of a belligerent right
founded on the law of nations against an enemy, but of a municipal
prerogative over British subjects....Under pretended blockades,
without the presence of an adequate force and sometimes without
the practicability of applying one, our commerce has been plundered
in every sea, the great staples of our country have been cut
off from their legitimate markets, and a destructive blow aimed
at our agricultural and maritime interests....
In reviewing the conduct of
Great Britain toward the United States our attention is necessarily
drawn to the warfare just renewed by the savages on one of our
extensive frontiers--a warfare which is known to spare neither
age nor sex and to be distinguished by features peculiarly shocking
to humanity.
President Madison's war message,
1812
Reading 2:
First. Representatives and
direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which
may be included within this union, according to their respective
numbers of free persons....
Second. No new state shall
be admitted into the Union...without the concurrence of two thirds
of both houses.
Third. Congress shall not have
power to lay any embargo on the ships or vessels of the citizens
of the United States...for more than sixty days.
Fifth. Congress shall not make
or declare war...without concurrence of two thirds of both houses....
Seventh. The same person shall
not be elected president of the United States a second time;
nor shall the president be elected form the same state two terms
in succession.
Hartford Convention
1. Why did
the United States declare war on Great Britain in 1812?
2. Why did New England
Federalists oppose the war? What revisions did they seek in
the Constitution?
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