Conscription DBQ Essay Outline: War of 1812

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James Madison, president from March 4th 1809 to March 4th 1817, was the United States' fourth president. Madison is known to be "The Father of the Constitution" but it was the War of 1812 that defined his time as President. Madison wrote a letter to Congress listing the grievances justifying his call for war against Great Britain. On June 1st 1812, Madison became the first president, ever, to ask Congress to declare War. Causes of the War of 1812 included the British attempts to restrict U.S. trade routes on the high seas, the Royal Navy’s impressment of American seamen, and America’s desire to expand its territory. The biggest reason Madison called for War was the desire to expand territory. Great Britain continually violated the American …show more content…

British large number of forces raided the Chesapeake Bay and moved in on the U.S. capitol, capturing Washington, D.C. on August 24, 1814, and burning government buildings including the Capitol and the White House. Driven from his own home, James Madison became the first president to face enemy fire. Madison is forever burdened for getting us into this war. There were several proposals for conscription in the War of 1812. Conscription was close to being enacted when the war ended. The plans essentially involved shifting some of the burden of financing the military to individual classes of twenty-five men. If a member of a class could not be induced to volunteer, the class would pay a tax based on its members' wealth. On December 15, 1814 through January 5, 1815, a group of Federalists from New England had a series of secret meetings at an Old Statehouse in Hartford MA to discuss the injustices concerning the ongoing war. They planned to draft a formal protest against the Federal Government's continued involvement in the war. The Hartford Convention resulted in a declaration calling on the Federal Government to protect New England and to supply financial aid to New England’s badly battered trade economy. In 1798, Thomas Jefferson and Madison authored the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions which argued that the Federal Government had no authority to exercise power not specifically delegated

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