President James Madison in a Special Message to Congress (June 1, 1812)
The practice, hence, is so far from affecting British subjects alone that, under the pretext of searching for these, thousands of American citizens, under the safeguard of public law and of their national flag, have been torn from their country and from everything dear to them; have been dragged on board ships of war of a foreign nation and exposed, under the severities of their discipline, to be exiled to the most distant and deadly climes, to risk their lives in the battles of their oppressors, and to be the melancholy instruments of taking away those of their own brethren.
(Source: Miller Center-University of Virginia)
Congress voted in favor of a declaration of war on June 18, 1812, America’s first declared war.. The following day, President Madison issued a Proclamation of a State of War.
Read more about the Presidency of James Madison in Don’t Know Much About the American Presidents and the War of 1812 in Don’t Know Much About History.
Don’t Know Much About History (Revised, Expanded and Updated Edition)
