hough the War of 1812 was dubbed “Mr. Madison’s War,” his role in the prosecution of the war was relatively ineffectual. Elected in 1808, President James Madison was intimately familiar with the ongoing diplomatic and trade conflicts with Britain. As Secretary of State under President Jefferson, he was the principal architect of the “restrictive system” of trade embargos designed to force Britain to relax its control of Atlantic trade. Madison’s support of this failed system lasted well into the war itself.
Madison’s attempts to resolve disagreements with Britain peacefully was viewed by some in his own Republican party as a sign of weakness. A group of pro-war Republicans, led by Speaker of the House Henry Clay, argued that military force was the only option left to combat British imperiousness. These “War Hawks” were not a majority of the party, but over time, their influence acted on more skeptical party members.
President Madison eventually did bring a declaration of war to Congress, but his leadership in planning for war was mostly absent. Republican ideology was intensely skeptical of the concept of a national standing army, preferring to rely on state militias, and the Madison administration, following in the footsteps of Jefferson, did much to starve national military forces of men and material support. His influence on Congress was minimal, and in retrospect, it is hard to understand how he, or the War Hawks for that matter, felt that the United States had the necessary military resources to prosecute a war on multiple fronts.
The Japanese surprise attack on the naval base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, on December 7th 1941. Described by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as “a date which will live in infamy” on his famous speech delivered the following day.
The attack happened in the absence of a declaration of war and without any kind of warning to the civilian population. Japanese attack planes sunk four battleships, severely damaged another four, sunk another two military boats, damaged three cruisers, three destroyers and three other vessels. It destroyed 188 planes and severely damaged 159 more. 2,335 servicemen were killed and 1,143 were wounded. 68 civilians were killed and 35 were wounded with 3 civilian planes shot down. The US declared war on Japan on December 8, one hour after Roosevelt’s speech.
The native americans thought the french was less a threat and the french also treated the native americans with more respect.
