Madison was President for the Second War of Independence, more commonly known as the War of 1812. Madison had little enthusiasm for the war, but his hand was forced by the "War Hawks" in his own party. England and France were at war, and neither respected the neutrality of U.S. shipping. In addition, English war ships seized American sailors and impressed then into service.

New England, the region of the country most effected by the British policies, opposed the war: a war against the world's major naval power would do little to restore their shipping. Moreover, the British had made a last minute offer to respect American shipping. The Federalist party, with its base in New England, opposed the war and labeled it "Mr. Madison's War."

Today this war is regarded in U.S. government texts as a stalemate as best and is primarily remembered for the burning of the White House and the failed expansion into Canada (see Dolley Madison's Letter). The initial choices of Generals were bad, and the troops were militia and volunteers. General William Hull, a Revolutionary War veteran, was to invade Canada through Detroit. Instead he surrendered his army and Detroit to a much smaller British and Native American army. General Hull was court-martialed and convicted, but his life was spared by Madison, justified by his previous service to his country. The attempted invasions of Canada through other routes were not so disastrous, but still unsuccessful.

After these initial defeats Madison determined to build fleets to sieze control of the lakes lie on the border of the United States and Canada. This strategy would eventually bottle up the veteran British troops in Canada, and save the United States from dismemberment.

American moral was boosted in the first year of the war by naval victories. The three American frigates, the Constitution, the United States, and the President, were bigger, faster, stronger, and better armed than their British counterparts. The British had overwhelming superiority in numbers of ships, but their frigates were vulnerable in one-on-one combat with American frigates. Three days after Hull's surrender, the Constitution destroyed the British frigate Guerriere. The United States later defeated the Macedonian, and the Constitution defeated the Java.

"Old Ironsides" F rom a James Madison Center photographic slide

The American naval victories were not militarily significant: the American ships were soon bottled up by the British blockade. However, they embarrassed the British who had to order their frigates to avoid one-on-one combat with the Americans, and they were a significant source of U.S. pride. The Constitution got its name, Old Ironsides, when British cannon balls were observed to bounce off her sides (see U.S.S. Constitution).

New England opposed the War, but with fast ships and skilled sailors idled, privateering seemed an attractive venture. Hundreds of privateers sailed from New England looking for British prizes, but the state militias stayed home. Massachusetts even declined to defend Maine which was then part of Massachusetts (Maine was not to forget the injury and acquired its own statehood in 1820, the forgotten portion of the Missouri compromise.).

In 1814, the British defeated the U.S. forces at the Battle of Bladensburg and burned the White House. But the British victory was more important for its impact on morale than for its strategic value. The same British force was turned back both on land and sea at Baltimore. The American defense of Fort McHenry was to inspire Francis Scott Key to write the words to the Star Spangled Banner.

In response to the embarrassment at Washington, Madison forced the resignation of the Secretary of War, John Armstrong. After a delay, Madison appointed Monroe to the post. Monroe thus served simultaneously as Secretary of State and Secretary of War.

That same year, disaster loomed as 10,000 experienced British troops under command of Sir George Prevost marched from Montreal along Lake Champlain and down the Hudson Valley toward New York City with the intention of cutting the country in two. The British had attempted the same strategy in the Revolutionary War with an army of 9,500 marching south under General John Burgoyne: the Hudson Valley invited this strategy. However, on September 11, 1814, an American fleet commanded by Captain Thomas Macdonough destroyed the British fleet on Lake Champlain. The British army, with its lines of communication and supply jeopardized, fought poorly and retreated into Canada. (Perhaps Prevost remembered that Burgoyne had been forced to surrender the 5,000 man remnant of his army at Saratoga.)

Ten thousand British regulars had accomplished nothing except to galvanize the Americans to seize control of Lake Champlain. In addition, the British had lost control of Lake Erie and suffered defeat at the Battle of the Thames the year before. Tecumseh, the great Native-American leader died at the Battle of the Thames and with him died the last hopes for an alliance of the Nations of the U.S. territories. When the Duke of Wellington, hero of the European wars. proved reluctant to take command of British forces in North America, the British decided to end the war without making territorial claims. The U.S. was happy to emerge from the war without losses, and the peace treaty, the Treaty of Ghent (December 24, 1814), provided for essentially the status quo ante bellum (the situation before the war).

The other major British thrust of 1814 had been an attempt to capture New Orleans and gain control of the mouth of the Mississippi. With control of the Mississippi, the British could strangle the commerce of the states and territories west of the Appalachians. This effort was a disaster for the British as a U.S. army assembled by Andrew Jackson inflicted a crushing defeat on a much larger British Army in the Battle of New Orleans. The Battle of New Orleans occurred after the peace treaty had been signed (but prior to its ratification). Nonetheless, the Battle of New Orleans sent a reassuring message to Americans: the United States could defend the Louisiana territory and assure the free passage of the Mississippi against the world's major power.

Moreover, the United States had gained a tremendous advantage that was not reflected in the terms of the Treaty of Ghent. With the American victories in the West, effective opposition to the advance of the U.S. settlers into the Northwest Territory had ended and the Mississippi was secure from foreign threats. The next serious threat to U.S. control of the Mississippi would be the Civil War.

By the end of the War of 1812, it was regarded as a great success and set off an outburst of national patriotism. Three of our great icons — the Star Spangled Banner, "Old Ironsides," and Uncle Sam — date from this war. The two victorious generals of the West, Andrew Jackson (New Orleans) and William Henry Harrison (Tippecanoe and the Thames), would go on to be the seventh and ninth Presidents of the United States respectively.

This national pride and patriotism may have been the most important consequence of the war. Before the war "The party which was in power wished to continue the union; the party which was in the opposition threatened it." (Hunt, 1914, page 251). After the war, loyalty to the Union had become synonymous with patriotism. The Federalist opposition to the war and their hints of secession were, in retrospect, viewed as unpatriotic and disloyal. The Federalist party, which had been declining, dissolved.

James Madison's last two years in office were, in comparison to what had come before, pleasant and uneventful. Personal attacks on the President, which had become unusually vicious during the war, no longer found an appreciative audience, and Congress was more compliant. A Second National Bank was created with his support. Madison, who had opposed a National Bank in 1791, was not deterred by charges of inconsistency (Madison wrote a long defense of his position in a letter to J. C. Ingersoll in 1831). Madison had not changed his position on internal improvements. He called for a Constitutional amendment to authorize federal support for roads and canals. When Congress passed an internal improvements bill without a Constitutional amendment, Madison's veto was his last official act.