After Jefferson’s presidency, the United States needed to set a new direction for the country’s economy. James Madison was appointed to the Office and had to act quickly and decisively to prevent the growing financial gap from harming the nation’s potential any further. However, resuming the stable trade after the Embargo Act has proven to be challenging, as the British Empire continued to interfere with the U.S. naval routes and disrespect the young nation’s claims of independence (Shi, 295). It was critical to show the attackers that the United States was no longer their vassal. While the primarily Republican states had their financial opportunities thwarted and supported Madison’s war, Federalists in many other regions, such as New England, saw that this conflict would bring them more hardships than benefits (Shi, 294). Despite this rift in opinions on the matter, the President convinced Congress to declare war against a powerful enemy.
The inevitability of this event was guaranteed by the direction of British actions against American interests. Shi and Mayer (2019) provide a glimpse into the hostility through the letters of James Durand, who has been told by a British captain that he will take “all [his] damned countrymen as [their] prisoners” (p. 191). It was apparent that the war was guaranteed from the beginning, as Brits did not plan to cease their aggression without being severely punished for it. In conclusion, the war between the United States and the British Empire had to happen despite the protests from Federalists.
References
Shi, D. E. (2018). America: A narrative history (11th ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton.
Shi, D. E., & Mayer, H. A. (2019). For the record: A documentary history (7th ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton.