...“to have shrunk under such circumstance from manly resistance would have, . acknowledged that on the element which forms three-fourths of the globe we...independent nations have equal and common rights, the Americans were not an independent people, but colonists and vassals' John C. Calhoun of South Carolina...

...insisted that meek acceptance of such rapacious maritime policies would have been an admission that "the American people were not an independent people but colonists and vassals." Moreover, America's weakness against British naval aggression reinforced the fear that nations with...

...Madison, ". . . would have acknowledged that, on the element which forms three-fourths of the globe which we inhabit, and where all independent nations have...an independent people, but colonists and vassals. With such an alternative war was chosen." From 1783 onwards, and more particularly between the years...