Download Jefferson to Madison – Embargo to Non

Jefferson to Madison
http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/embargo-1807
Embargo of 1807
Shortly after the Chesapeake Affair, Thomas Jefferson received a letter from his friend John
Page in Richmond on July 12, 1807 which read, "...an immediate embargo is necessary-€¦in
order to retrieve our lost honor & to bring the mad King to his senses-€¦"[16]Although Jefferson
was not fully opposed to the embargo, he wanted to allow ample time for American naval ships
to return stateside. Impressment was continuing and the British showed no sign of wanting to
improve relations between the two nations. James Madison updated the United States Congress
on February 29, 1808 saying, "From the returns in the office it would appear that four thousand
twenty-eight American seamen had been impressed into British service since the commencement
of the war, and nine hundred thirty-six of this number had been discharged, leaving in that
service three thousand two hundred and ninety-two."[17]
On December 15, 1807, Jefferson called his cabinet members to discuss the next phase of
reconciliation.[18] Shortly after, the President had received news from Europe that did not rule in
favor of a settlement. In fact, England released a royal proclamation that promised more
impressments. In addition to this, Napoleon had the full intention of applying the Berlin Decree,
an act created in response to a British blockade on France, to United States shipping. [19] The
situation in Europe showed no signs of improvement. The Jefferson administration needed to
respond.
As December 1807 began, debate about an embargo was heating up in Congress. Two key
figures against the measure were Massachusetts Governor James Sullivan and Secretary of the
Treasury Albert Gallatin. Sullivan's constituents would be greatly affected by the measure as
most of the United States' commercial shipping was located in his state. Gallatin faced the
problem of enforcing the measure. [20] Gallatin suggested amending the present Non-Importation
Act instead of imposing a full embargo. In a letter to Jefferson, Gallatin argued, "In every point
of view, privation, suffering, revenue, effect on the enemy, politics at home, I prefer war to a
permanent embargo." [21] However, Jefferson was unmoved by the arguments against the
embargo, and failed to see the benefits of a restrictive economic policy like the Non-Importation
Acts. He delivered the following remarks before Congress on December 18, 1807:
"To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: The communications now
made, showing the great and increasing dangers with which our vessels, our seamen, and
merchandise are threatened on the high seas and elsewhere, from the belligerent powers of
Europe, and it being of great importance to keep in safety these essential resources, I deem it my
duty to recommend the subject to the consideration of Congress, who will doubtless perceive all
the advantages which may be expected from an inhibition of the departure of our vessels from
the ports of the United States. Their wisdom will also see the necessity of making every
preparation for whatever events may grow out of the present crisis." [22]
It was four days later that the United States Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807, on
December 21, 1807, making the Non-Importation Act obsolete.
Jefferson continued to support the Embargo Act. He saw it as an alternative to war, and he
wanted to keep the United States out of conflict for as long as possible. However, some changes
needed to be made. Three such changes were passed in Congress over the course of 1807 and
1808. These acts are called the supplementary, the additional and the enforcement acts. [23] The
supplementary acts, most significantly, required "...bonds from vessels in the coastwise trade,
and also from those engaged in fishing and whaling."[24] The additional act, "tightened the
system by requiring bonds for foreign vessels engaged in the coastal trade; and, what was more
significant, it forbade the exportation of goods of any sort by land as well as by sea."[25] An
unfortunate result of the embargo was the rise in the smuggling trade. Port authorities were now
allowed to seize cargoes if there was any suspicion of violation of the embargo, and the President
was empowered to use the Army or the Navy for additional enforcement.
Repeal of the Embargo/Non-Intercourse Acts
Although it was successful in averting war, news of evasions and other such negative
consequences of the Embargo forced Thomas Jefferson and Congress to consider repealing the
measure. The American economy was suffering and the American public opinion was not in
support of its continuation. Ultimately, the embargo failed to have a significant effect on the
British. Goods still reached Great Britain through illegal shipments; British trade was not
suffering as much as the framers of the embargo had intended.[26] There was an initial effect on
the price of goods in Britain, but the Britons quickly adapted to the altered prices, and
supplemented their decreased North American trade with South American commerce.[27] What
they could not replace through other trading partners were goods that were not vital to the
survival of the country. The other country in question, France, almost seemed to welcome the
American embargo because it supported Napoleon's Continental System.[28]
The House Foreign Affairs Committee, which was headed by George Washington Cabell from
Tennessee, was in charge of writing a report giving an overview of the United States'
relationship with Britain and France, as well as giving suggestions for policies, late in 1808. The
committee came up with three different resolutions. The first was to grant "partial repeal with
submission." The second was to impose the non-importation acts on France, and the third was to
begin military preparations. Jefferson left the decision up to Congress and urged the
Congressmen to honor the report given by Cabell's committee.[29]
After a long-winded debate on the subject, the committee reconvened and insisted that the best
course of action was the substitution of a non-intercourse act. Through this act, all countries
except for Britain and France would be removed from the Embargo. At the same time, French
and British ships would be banned from American waters.[30]
Jefferson signed the Non-Intercourse Act on March 1, 1809, three days before he left office.[31]
http://millercenter.org/president/madison
Domestic Affairs
During the James Madison presidency, domestic affairs took a backseat to foreign affairs, as
would be expected of a nation at war. The President made this point clear in his public addresses.
For example, Madison's first inauguration speech stressed his commitment to neutrality in the
French-English conflict while insisting that U.S. neutrality be respected without conditions by
the warring parties. His second speech, delivered on March 13, 1813, ten months into the war,
accused the British of arming frontier "savages" in vicious acts of war upon the American
citizenry. Indeed, almost everything else seemed trivial in comparison to the conflict with
Britain.
Among the domestic issues that did stand somewhat apart from the war itself was the struggle
over the rechartering of the Bank of the United States, whose charter was scheduled to terminate
in 1812. The move to recharter the Bank met stiff oppositon from three sources: "old"
Republicans who viewed the Bank as unconstitutional and a stronghold of Hamiltonian power,
anti-British Republicans who objected to the substantial holdings of Bank stock by Britons, and
state banking interests opposed to the U.S. Bank's power to control the nation's financial
business. When the anti-Bank forces killed the recharter drive, the U.S. confronted the British
without the means to support war loans or to easily obtain government credit. In 1816, with
Madison's support, the Second Bank was chartered with a twenty-year term. Madison's critics
claimed that his support for the Bank revealed his pro-Federalist sympathies.
Foreign Affairs
Just prior to James Madison's assumption of office, Congress passed the Non-Intercourse Act of
1809, which replaced Jefferson's failed embargo. It allowed the resumption of world trade with
the exclusion of trade with England and France, thus barring French and British vessels from
American ports. In the event that one of these nations removed its restrictions against American
trade, the President was empowered to remove restrictions against that country, leaving the
restrictions in place against the other.
When neither country replied, Congress passed Macon's Bill No. 2, a perplexing law that
removed all restrictions on American trade, including those against France and Britain,
empowering the President to reimpose the restrictions on France or Britain only after one of
them had repealed its restrictions on American trade and the other had failed to follow suit within
three months. France met the challenge through the Cadore letter of August 1810, leading
Madison to implement the provisions of Macon's Bill No. 2 in two stages, first in November
1810 and then in March 1811. The British insisted that American ships would continue to be
seized until France lifted all restrictions on British trade. This proclamation essentially treated
U.S. exports and the merchant marine as part of the British war strategy.
Congress voted for military preparations and, in April 1812, a ninety-day embargo. When
Madison came before that body with his list of complaints against the British, which included the
continued impressment of American sailors, the arming of Indians who attacked American
settlers, and the trade restrictions embodied in the British Orders in Council, the House lost little
time debating the issue, voting for war on June 4. The Senate, however, debated for more than
two weeks and would not sanction war until June 17. In a regionally divided vote, Congress
declared war on Britain the following day.
Second War for Independence
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 western New York near
Niagara Falls, and a third never even managed to get across the Niagara River. In just a few
months, much of the Northwest Territory had fallen to British forces.