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VOICE ONE:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English by theVoice of America.

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James Madison of Virginia was elected president of the UnitedStates in Eighteen-Oh-Eight. He followed Thomas Jefferson in theoffice and served two terms.

Madison's first four years were not easy. He had to deal with aforeign policy problem that Jefferson was unable to solve:increasingly tense relations with Britain. His second four yearswere worse. There was war. That is our story.

VOICE TWO:

James Madison was inaugurated in Washington on March Fourth,Eighteen-Oh-Nine. The people of the city were happy with the newpresident. But the nation was not yet sure what kind of leader hewould be.

The French minister to the United States did not think much ofhim. He said: "Mister Madison is an intelligent man, but weak. Hewill always see what should be done, but will not do it."

VOICE ONE:

Like the first three American presidents, Madison had a smallcabinet. There would be a secretary of state and a secretary of thetreasury. Madison decided to keep Albert Gallatin in the position oftreasury secretary. Gallatin probably knew more about the nation'sfinances than anyone else. The choice for secretary of state waspolitical. Madison named Robert Smith, the brother of a senator. Thenew president was not too concerned about Mister Smith's abilities,because he planned to make foreign policy himself.

VOICE TWO:

Jefferson's biggest foreign policy problem arose from a warbetween Britain and France. The two nations refused to honorAmerica's neutrality. Each tried to prevent the United States fromtrading with the other. Both interfered with American shipping. Andthe British navy sometimes seized American sailors.

President Jefferson ordered a ban on trade with Europe. But itfailed to end the hostile acts against the United States.

VOICE ONE:

Britain and France were still at war when Madison was electedpresident. In place of the trade ban, Congress had approved a newlaw. It was called the Non-Intercourse Act. The law prevented tradewith Britain and France. But it gave President Madison the power tore-open trade if either nation stopped interfering with Americanships.

Madison hoped the law would force Britain and France to honorAmerican neutrality. He did not want war. But neither did he want tosurrender America's rights as an independent nation.

VOICE TWO:

A month after Madison took office, the British minister inWashington, David Erskine, received new orders from his government.He said he had been given the power to settle all differencesbetween the United States and Britain.

Erskine said Britain would stop seizing American ships if theUnited States would end the Non-Intercourse law. He did not makeclear that the British government demanded several conditions beforean agreement could be reached.

One condition was that the United States continue the law againsttrade with France. Another was that Britain be permitted to captureAmerican ships that violated the law. Erskine called the conditions,"proposals." He did not force the United States to accept them.

VOICE ONE:

On April Nineteenth, President Madison announced that anagreement had been reached. He said the United States would re-opentrade with Britain. The American people welcomed the agreement. Itappeared that -- after less than two months as president -- Madisonhad been able to remove the threat of war.

The United States began trading again with Britain on June Tenth,as agreed. Hundreds of ships left American ports. Relations withBritain seemed to have returned to normal.

VOICE TWO:

President Madison decided to spend the summer of Eighteen-Oh-Nineat his home in the hills of Virginia. Soon after he arrived, hereceived surprising news. The British government had rejected theagreement he had reached with Erskine.

A British newspaper said the agreement was not what Britainwanted. It said Erskine had violated his orders and was being calledback to London. A new minister, Francis James Jackson, would takehis place.

VOICE ONE:

Madison returned to Washington in the autumn, about a month afterthe new British minister arrived. He learned that Secretary of StateSmith had made no progress in talks with him. So the presidentdecided to deal with him directly. He wanted to know exactly whyBritain had rejected the agreement. Madison ordered that allcommunications between the two sides be written. There would be nomore talks. Letters were exchanged. But the British minister failedto explain satisfactorily what had happened. And his letters seemedto charge that the United States had not negotiated honestly.Madison finally broke off all communications, and the Britishminister left Washington.

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America's policy of trade with Britain and France continued to bea serious issue. In the early days of Eighteen-Ten, Congress beganto consider a new law to control such trade. After several weeks ofdebate, the two houses of Congress approved a compromise bill.

The bill ended the Non-Intercourse Act against Britain andFrance. It permitted trade with any nation. But it gave thepresident the power to declare non-intercourse again with eitherBritain or France separately. President Madison signed the bill intolaw.

VOICE ONE:

Relations between the United States and Britain did not improveduring the year. And President Madison once again declarednon-intercourse against Britain. Trade between the two countries wasstopped at the beginning of March, Eighteen-Eleven.

Trade was not the only problem, however. A growing number ofAmericans believed that the British were helping some NativeAmerican Indians to fight the United States.

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As the people of the United States began to move to the northernand western territories, the government made treaties with thedifferent Indian tribes. The treaties explained which land belongedto the Indians...and which land could be settled by the white men.The settlers did not always honor the treaties.

A leader of the Shawnee Indian tribe, Tecumseh, decided to takeaction. He started a campaign to unite all Indians and to help themdefend against the white men.

Throughout the west, many Americans believed that the British inCanada were responsible for Tecumseh's efforts to unite the Indians.They demanded war with Britain to destroy the power of the tribes.VOICE ONE:

In Washington, a new Congress was meeting. Some of the newmembers were very different from the men who had controlled Congressbefore. They were less willing to compromise...and more willing togo to war to defend America's interests. They soon got the name "WarHawks."

The new Congress quickly approved several measures to prepare theUnited States for war. One bill increased the size of the army bytwenty-five-thousand regular soldiers and fifty-thousand volunteers.

VOICE TWO:

At the same time, America had a new secretary of state. PresidentMadison had not been pleased with the work of Robert Smith. Nor didhe trust Smith. The president could not be sure of Smith's supportfor administration proposals.

Madison wanted his close friend, James Monroe, to be secretary ofstate. Monroe was then governor of Virginia. He agreed to take thenew job.

VOICE ONE:

What the United States did not have at that troubled time was arepresentative in Britain. hen Madison broke off communications withBritish minister Jackson in Washington, Jackson returned to London.And the American minister in London, William Pinkney, sailed home.

There was no official in either capital to report what washappening. And the two countries were moving closer to war. Thatwill be our story next week.

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VOICE TWO:

You have been listening to the Special English program, THEMAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Larry West and Leo Scully.Our program was written by Frank Beardsley.