Plain Calculations: What will be the cost and consequence of the war? What will be the Gain?
This broadside published in Massachusetts condemned the move toward with Great Britain.
Topic: New England and the War of 1812
Please study this document and answer the following questions.
When the people of a free country, who are not the slaves of
any man's ambition, passions or policy, are carried into a war, the most
dreadful of human afflictions, they have a right to demand clear and
satisfactory answers to these questions:
What will be the cost and consequence of the war? What will
be the gain?
PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, whose hard and
honest labour must supply the treasure to be wasted in the war now forced upon
you, and whose blood must buy every advantage to be gained by it, count the cost
and count the gain, for yourselves.--Put away all prejudice, passion and party
feeling; and you can, every man of you, decide the question as well as the
cabinet at Washington--Decide for yourselves, and you will, at least, be sure
you decide honestly, and without any intrigue or false influence.
Suppose then that this war shall terminate most
successfully;--there shall be no disappointment, no disaster, no disgrace;--we
shall get all we expect; all that the makers of this war have promised
themselves or you--WHAT IS IT?
THE CONQUEST OF CANADA.
Inquire then what will this Canada cost us; and what will it
be worth when we get it? We will have no exaggeration or misrepresentation; it
would only deceive ourselves. If Canada, this promised land, shall be taken, it
must be done by the usual means of war--Men and Money--Proclamations, we have
seen, wont do the business.
How many men? and How much money?
When we consider how and by whom Canada is defended, how
many forts and military posts it contains, the amazing strength of Quebec, one
of the strongest places in the world, and the intolerable climate of that
country for a great part of the year, we are very moderate when we say it cannot
be taken without the sacrifice of, at least, THIRTY THOUSAND LIVES, to say
nothing of the hardships and sufferings of those who survive. What sort of men
will be the thirty thousand thus slaughtered and lost? Will they be a gang of
vagabonds such as are picked up in Europe for standing armies? No--they must be
good and useful citizens; the honest yeomanry of our country, fathers of
families. A regular standing army of any great force cannot be obtained in this
country--we have not the stuff for it. We are all too happy and too thriving to
turn soldiers for five dollars a month.--We love our families and our homes; our
fields and our firesides too well to exchange them for the misery of a camp and
the tyranny of military upstarts. The experiment has been made and it
failed--the raw material for a standing army seems to be already exhausted here,
and I hope we shall not import it. The recruiting for the army of 25,000 men
began in May last, and not more than 6000 have been obtained. Yet no pains have
been spared--Land, rum, and the promise of glory have combined their influence
to induce inlistment.
But Men must be had or Canada cannot be taken. It is true
that by our constitution the militia cannot be compelled to march out of the
United States--they are for defence and not for invasion. If they may be taken
to Canada, they may be taken to Russia. But what are constitutions, or laws, or
the rights of the people in the fury of war? Ask the miserable people of Europe.
The power that forces the war upon you, can also force upon you its own means of
carrying it on.--Shall we then live to see the system of
FRENCH CONSCRIPTION
adopted in this land of liberty, and all of us become the
wretched slaves of military despotism--Fellow Citizens, look to this before it
is too late; before your children are torn from you to perish under the walls of
Quebec, and you are drawn like criminals to a foreign land, to return to your
peaceful homes no more.
HOW MUCH MONEY will this conquest cost? and WHERE IS IT TO
BE GOT? It cannot be denied, for it is proved by Mr. Gallatin's estimates, that
at least
Thirty Millions of Dollars
will be wanted by the government for every year during the
war. The administration papers tell us it will probably last about six
years.Then we shall, at the end of six years misery, have Canada, at the cost
of
One Hundred and Eighty Millions of Dollars
And who is to pay this money? Where is it to come from? Not
from commerce and the merchant--All trade is at an end. It must come then from
the hands and mouth of Labour; from the FARMER and MECHANIC. to prove this
beyond all contradiction, look at the following
list of taxes, prepared for and produced by the war, which
have been reported to Congress, by Mr. Gallatin's direction. The bills are
already drawn, and the passing them postponed until the first Monday of November
next, when the Elections will be over. Could these rulers believe the people are
such fools and children as to be deceived by this shallow contemptible
artifice?
LIST OF WAR TAXES.
1. A bill to lay and collect a direct tax within the United
States (land tax)
2. A bill for the assessment and collection of direct taxes
and internal duties.
3. A bill imposing additional duties on the tonnage of ships
and vessels.
4. A bill to retain 25 per cent. on the drawbacks allowed by
law.
5. A bill laying a duty on IMPORTED SALT.
6. A bill to establish the office of commissioner of the
revenue.
7. A bill to lay duties on licences to retailers of wines,
spirituous liquors and foreign merchandize.
8. A bill to lay duties on carriages for the conveyance of
persons.
9. A bill to lay duties on licences to Distillers of
spirituous liquors.
10. A bill laying duties on sales at auction of foreign
merchants dize, and of ships and vessels.
11. A bill laying duties on sugar refined within the United
States.
12. A bill laying duties on bank notes and on notes of hand;
and on foreign bills of exchange of a certain description.--STAMP TAX.
13. A bill making further provision for the collection of
internal duties.
Until these taxes can be raised the war is to be carried on
by Treasury Notes, or in other words, PAPER MONEY; by which the national debt
will be increased many millions, and by which so many honest people were ruined
in the last war.
When Canada shall be conquered by thus exhausting and
ruining ourselves--WHAT IS IT WORTH? We shall have a cold inhospitable country,
full of fortifications, military posts, and containing a large fortified city:
all of which must be maintained at an enormous expense from
our own treasury. The population of Canada never has paid
any tax to any government, and never will. It has cost the British many millions
every year, and will be a constant drain on the United States both of men and
money.
Who then gains any thing by the conquest of
Canada?
The President and his friends and parasites. Here will be a
new government to be established; a large army to be stationed. EXECUTIVE
PATRONAGE will have a fine field to feed the hungry advocates of this war. A
great number of civil officers, a much greater number of military officers must
be appointed; and the President will take care to reward those who have
supported him in HIS WAR; for it is not the war of the PEOPLE, inasmuch as they
have EVERY THING TO LOSE AND NOTHING TO GAIN BY IT.
Reference : |
America: A Narrative History, 9th Edition, Chapter 9; Inventing America, Chapter 9; Give Me Liberty, Chapter 8
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Hartford Convention (1814)
Delegates to the Hartford Convention made several suggestions for constitutional amendments.
Topic: New England and the War of 1812
Please study this document and answer the following questions.
The Federalist Party suffered a serious decline after the election of 1800. Despite a brief revival of fortunes due to its opposition to the war against Britain and the embargo that crippled trade, the party continued to weaken. In December 1814 a group of disgruntled New England Federalists met at Hartford, Connecticut and proposed amending the Constitution to require a two-thirds vote of Congress for the admission of new states, for declarations of war, and for laws restricting trade. Most divisively, the convention proposed the elimination of the three-fifths clause that gave disproportionate representation to the South.
Amendments to the Constitution Proposed by the Hartford Convention, 1814.
Therefore Resolved - That it be and hereby is recommended to the Legislatures of the several States represented in this Convention to adopt all such measures as may be necessary effectually to protect the citizens of said States from the operation and effects of all acts which have been or may be passed by the Congress of the United States, which shall contain provisions, subjecting the militia or other citizens to forcible drafts, conscriptions, or impressments, not authorized by the Constitution of the United States
Resolved - That it be and hereby is recommended to the said Legislatures, to authorize an immediate and earnest application to be made to the Government of the United States, requesting their consent to some arrangement, whereby the said States may, separately or in concert, be empowered to assume upon themselves the defense of their territory against the enemy, and a reasonable portion of the taxes, collected within said States, may be paid into the respective treasuries thereof, and appropriated to the payment of the balance due said States, and to the future defense of the same. The amount so paid into the said treasuries to be credited, and the disbursements made as aforesaid to be charged to the United States.
Resolved - That it be, and it hereby is, recommended to the Legislatures of the aforesaid States, to pass laws (where it has not already been done) authorizing the Governors or Commanders-in Chief of their militia to make detachments from the same, or to form voluntary corps, as shall be most convenient and conformable to their Constitutions, and to cause the same to be well armed equipped and disciplined, and held in readiness for service; and upon the request of the Governor of either of the other States, to employ the whole of such detachment or corps, as well as the regular forces of the State, or such part thereof as may be required and can be spared consistently with the safety of the State, in assisting the State, making such request to repel any invasion thereof which shall be made or attempted by the public enemy.
Resolved - That the following amendments of the Constitution of the United States, be recommended to the States as aforesaid, to be proposed by them for adoption by the State Legislatures, and, in such cases as may be deemed expedient, by a Convention chosen by the people of each State.
And it is further recommended, that the said States shall persevere in their efforts to obtain such amendments, until the same shall be effected.
First - Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this union, according to their respective numbers of free persons, including those bound to serve for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, and all other persons.
Second - No new State shall be admitted into the union by Congress in virtue of the power granted by the Constitution, without the concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses.
Third - Congress shall not have power to lay any embargo on the ships or vessels of the citizens of the United States, in the ports or harbors thereof, for more than sixty days.
Fourth - Congress shall not have power, without the concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses, to interdict the commercial intercourse between the United States and any foreign nation or the dependencies thereof.
Forth - Congress shall not make or declare war, or authorize acts of hostility against any foreign nation, without the concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses, except such acts of hostility be in defense of the territories of the United States when actually invaded.
Sixth - No person who shall hereafter be naturalized, shall be eligible as a member of the Senate or House of Representatives of the United States, nor capable of holding any civil office under the authority of the United States.
Seventh - The same person shall not be elected President of the United States a second time; nor shall the President be elected from the same State two terms in succession.
Resolved - That if the application of these States to the government of the United States, recommended in a foregoing Resolution, should be unsuccessful, and peace should not be concluded and the defense of these States should be neglected, as it has been since the commencement of the war, it will in the opinion of this Convention be expedient for the Legislatures of the several States to appoint Delegates to another Convention, to meet at Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, on the third Thursday of June next with such powers and instructions as the exigency of a crisis so momentous may require.
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