Indians of the Northwest. Eggleston, 242.
Tecumthe.
256. Indian Troubles, 1810.--To this everlasting trouble with Great Britain and France were now added the horrors of an Indian war. It came about in this way. Settlers were pressing into Indiana Territory west of the new state of Ohio. Soon the lands which the United States had bought of the Indians would be occupied. New lands must be bought. At this time there were two able Indian leaders in the Northwest. These were Tecumthe, or Tecumseh, and his brother, who was known as "the Prophet." These chiefs set on foot a great Indian confederation. They said that no one Indian tribe should sell land to the United States without the consent of all the tribes of the Confederation.
Battle of Tippecanoe, 1811.
257. Battle of Tippecanoe.--This determined attitude of the Indians seemed to the American leaders to be very dangerous. Governor William Henry Harrison of Indiana Territory gathered a small army of regular soldiers and volunteers from Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. He marched to the Indian settlements. The Indians attacked him at Tippecanoe. He beat them off and, attacking in his turn, routed them. Tecumthe was not at the battle. But he immediately fled to the British in Canada. The Americans had suspected that the British were stirring up the Indians to resist the United States. The reception given to Tecumthe made them feel that their suspicions were correct.
[Illustration: MEDAL PRESENTED TO HENRY CLAY.]
Henry Clay.
John C. Calhoun.
258. The War Party in Congress.--There were abundant reasons to justify war with Great Britain, or with France, or with both of them. But there would probably have been no war with either of them had it not been for a few energetic young men in Congress. The leaders of this war party were Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. Clay was born in Virginia, but as a boy he had gone to Kentucky. He represented the spirit of the young and growing West. He was a true patriot and felt angry at the way the British spoke of America and Americans, and at the way they acted toward the United States. He was a very popular man and won men to him by his attractive qualities and by his energy. Calhoun was a South Carolinian who had been educated in Connecticut. He was a man of the highest personal character. He had a strong, active mind, and he was fearless in debate. As with Clay so with Calhoun, they both felt the rising spirit of nationality. They thought that the United States had been patient long enough. They and their friends gained a majority in Congress and forced Madison to send a warlike message to Congress.
Madison's war message, 1812. McMaster>, 231; Source-Book, 214-216.
259. Madison's Reasons for War, 1812.--In his message Madison stated the grounds for complaint against the British as follows: (1) they impressed American seamen; (2) they disturbed American commerce by stationing warships off the principal ports; they refused to permit trade between America and Europe; (4) they stirred up the western Indians to attack the settlers; (5) they were really making war on the United States while the United States was at peace with them. For these reasons Madison advised a declaration of war against Great Britain, and war was declared.