president james madison asked congress to declare war against great britain in 1812.
president james madison asked congress to declare war against great britain in 1812.
he asked congress to declare war against great britain in 1812?
president james madison
on the first of june 1812, president james madison gave a speech to the u.s. congress, recounting american grievances against great britain, though not specifically calling for a declaration of war. after madison's speech, the house of representatives quickly voted (79 to 49) to declare war, and the senate by 19 to 13. the conflict formally began on 18 june 1812 when madison signed the measure into law. this was the first time that the united states had declared war on another nation, and the congressional vote would prove to be the closest vote to declare war in american history. none of the 39 federalists in congress voted in favor of the war; critics of war subsequently referred to it as "mr. madison's war."
origins of the war of 1812
monroe returned to the virginia house of burgesses and was elected to another term as governor in 1811, but served only four months. in april 1811, madison appointed monroe as secretary of state in hopes of shoring up the support of the more radical factions of the democratic-republicans. madison also hoped that monroe, an experienced diplomat with whom he had once been close friends, would improve upon the performance of the previous secretary of state, robert smith. madison assured monroe that their differences regarding the monroe-pinkney treaty had been a misunderstanding, and the two resumed their friendship. on taking office, monroe hoped to negotiate treaties with the british and french to end the attacks on american merchant ships. while the french agreed to reduce the attacks and release seized american ships, the british were less receptive to monroe's demands. monroe had long worked for peace with the british, but he came to favor war with britain, joining with "war hawks" such as speaker of the house henry clay. with the support of monroe and clay, madison asked congress to declare war upon the british, and congress complied on june 18, 1812, thus beginning the war of 1812.
james monroe