American minister at Paris, in which he pretended that the Berlin and Milan Decrees were already suspended so far as the United States was concerned, and intimated that their revocation would be announced as soon as England should withdraw her Orders in Council. Madison, misled by Napoleon's pretense, issued a proclamation prohibiting trade with England because France had withdrawn her Decrees. American ships, misled by Napoleon's trickery, now hastened to France, but they had no sooner arrived than they were seized by order of Napoleon, who was in need of supplies for his army. And Napoleon's bad faith did not stop at this-the French continued to plunder American commerce to the extent that by the year 1812 France had confiscated ten million dollars' worth of American property.

Napoleon's purpose in thus preying upon the commerce of the United States was not alone to get needed supplies, but also to prevent England from repealing her Orders in Council. In this he was successful-England now insisted that since France continued to despoil American commerce, Napoleon had not withdrawn his Decrees in good faith; and she refused absolutely to withdraw her Orders in Council.

While the United States had as just a grievance against France as against England, still her chief enmity was now directed against England-due to the successful double dealing of Napoleon Bonaparte. France, when accused by the United States of violating the withdrawal of her Decrees, at once became conciliatory and expressed a willingness to treat with the United States in a manner satisfactory to the two countries. Later Napoleon, as a reply to the charge of bad faith, publicly announced the revocation of his Decrees. Thus had Madison played into the hands of France; Napoleon's trick had been successful. All war talk in the United States was now directed against England.

In the meantime, two events had occurred which produced strained relations between the two countries and aroused the anger of the Americans against the British.

345. Tecumseh and the British.-Tecumseh, the noted Indian chief, had for years been inciting the savages against the settlers on the north west frontier. Governor William Henry Harrison met the Indians (Nov. 7, 1811) in a pitched battle near the Tippecanoe River and completely routed them. Tecumseh afterwards joined the British in Canada, a fact which convinced the western settlers that the English were in league with the Indians, and the people of the northwest became clamorous for an attack upon the British posts in Canada.

346. President and Little Belt.-Off the coast of New Jersey, in May, 1811, the British cruiser Little Belt fired into the American frigate President, whereupon a battle ensued resulting in the disabling of the British sloop. An investigation was begun by the two governments, but on the recommendation of the British minister at Washington, the affair was dropped. It, however, created bitter feeling between the two countries.

347. War Declared June 18, 1812.-Following these events the war spirit in America ran high, resulting in the election of a number of young men to congress (among them John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and William H. Crawford)—all of them eager for a contest at arms with Great Britain. This congress, known as the "War Congress," voted to raise and equip an army of 25,000 regular troops, 50,000 volunteers, and 100,000 militia. A few months later it passed another Embargo Act, and on June 18, 1812, declared war against Great Britain.

348. Causes of the War of 1812.-The War of 1812 was due: (1) To England's blockade of American ports, and her refusal to withdraw her obnoxious Orders in Council.

(2) To England's continued possession of the western forts. and her inciting the Indians to commit depredations on the western borders.

(3) To England's insisting on the right of search and impressment, and to a desire on the part of the United States to annex Canada.

349. The Two Political Parties and the War. Thus had the United States been involved in war on account of her connection with the war politics of Europe. The DemocraticRepublican party, through Jefferson's influence, had always had a feeling of sympathy for France-while the Federalists were kindly disposed toward England. The former party was strongest in the south and west,-among the agricultural classes; the latter, in New England and the middle states, among the commercial class. To the New Englanders particularly, war meant destruction of their commerce. The agricultural class felt they had nothing to lose in the direction of trade, and under the leadership of Clay and Calhoun, hoped for the conquest of Canada.

350. Relative Strength of the Two Nations.-England had a population at that time of nearly twenty millions of people, as opposed to seven millions in the United States.

England, after Nelson's great victory at Trafalgar, was the undisputed mistress of the seas-she had the most formidable navy in the world; while the navy of the United States consisted of less than a dozen frigates, and eight or ten brigs and sloops. England on account of the Napoleonic wars had large armies of well disciplined troops ready to put into the field; while the policy of the party in power in the United States had been opposed to the building of a navy, and the creation of a standing army.

351. Madison's Conduct of the War.-Madison's conduct of the war did not add to his reputation as president. He was supreme as the maker of the constitution and as an able legislator in the halls of congress, but as a war president he failed. Some of the generals whom he at first selected, and some of the campaigns which he planned, reflected but little credit upon either Madison or the American army. He never awoke to a realization of the importance of the navy, always referring to American successes on the sea as "our little naval victories."

352. Events of 1812.-The American plan of operations in

1812 provided for the garrisoning of the coast defences along the Atlantic seaboard and the organization of three expeditions for the invasion of Canada-one by the army of the north, by way of Lake Champlain; another by the army of the center, by way of the Niagara River; and the third by the army of the west, by way of Detroit.

General William Hull, commander of the western army, invaded Canada by way of Detroit. On crossing the river at that point, Hull unexpectedly encountered a force of British and In

dians under General Sir Isaac Brock. Hull thereupon hastily recrossed the river to Detroit where he soon disgracefully surrendered his entire force, consisting of two thousand men. Near the same time Fort Dearborn, on the present site of Chicago, and Fort Mackinaw, fell into the hands of the British.

General Brock, after the capture of Detroit, hastened to the Niagara frontier, where he met the army of the center under General Solomon Van Rensselaer, just on the point of invading Canada, and defeated it at the battle of Queenstown Heights.

The army of the north, awaiting the issue at Detroit and Niagara, accomplished nothing.

Thus the land operations of this year ended in total failure. The Americans, besides losing three thousand men as prisoners of war, lost the whole of the Michigan territory.