During the preceding year the British government had declined to treat under the mediation of Russia, and a direct negotiation had been agreed on. Ghent was ultimately determined as the place of meeting; and in the autumn of 1814 the commissioners prosecuted their labors, but at first with very doubtful success. By the 24th of December a treaty was agreed upon and signed by the plenipotentiaries of the respective powers at Ghent;and in February of the following year it received the ratification of the president.[148]
While the people of the United States were rejoicing at the return of peace, their attention was called to a new scene of war. By a message from the president to the house of representatives, with a report of the secretary of state, it appeared that the dey of Algiers had violently, and without just cause, obliged the consul of the United States, and all the American citizens in Algiers, to leave that place, in violation of the treaty then subsisting between the two nations; that he had exacted from the consul, under pain of immediate imprisonment, a large sum of money, to which he had no just claim; and that these acts of violence and outrage had been followed by the capture of at least one American vessel, and by the seizure of an American citizen on board of a neutral vessel; that the captured persons were yet held in captivity, with the exception of two of them, who had been ransomed; that every effort to obtain the release ofthe others had proved abortive; and that there was some reason to believe they were held by the dey as means by which he calculated to extort from the United States a degrading treaty. The president observed, that the considerations which rendered it unnecessary and unimportant to commence hostile operations on the part of the United States were now terminated by the peace with Great Britain, which opened the prospect of an active and valuable trade of their citizens within the range of the Algerine cruisers; and recommended to congress the consideration of an act declaring the existence of a state of war between the United States and the dey of Algiers, and of such provisions as might be requisite for the prosecution of it to a successful issue. A committee of congress, to whom was referred a bill ‘for the protection of the commerce of the United States against the Algerine cruisers,’ after a statement of facts, concluded their report by expressing their united opinion, ‘that the dey of Algiers considers his treaty with the United States as at an end, and is waging war with them;’ and in March war was declared against the Algerines.
An expedition was immediately ordered to the Mediterranean, under the command of commodore Bainbridge. The squadron in advance on that service, under commodore Decatur, lost not a moment after its arrival in the Mediterranean in seeking the naval force of the enemy, then cruising in that sea, and succeeded in capturing two of his ships, one of them commanded by the Algerine admiral. The American commander, after this demonstration of skill and prowess, hastened to the port of Algiers, where he readily obtained peace, in the stipulated terms of which the rights and honor of the United States were particularly consulted by a perpetual relinquishment, on the part of the dey, of all pretensions to tribute from them. The impressions thus made, strengthened by subsequent transactions with the regencies of Tunis and Tripoli, by the appearance of the larger force which followed under commodore Bainbridge, and by the judicious precautionary arrangements left by him in that quarter, afforded a reasonable prospect of future security for the valuable portion of American commerce which passes within reach of the Barbary cruisers.
President Madison, in his message to the congress of 1816, having adverted to the peace of Europe and to that of the United States with Great Britain, said, he had the ‘satisfaction to state, generally, that they remained in amity with foreign powers.’ He proceeded to say, that the posture of affairs with Algiers at that moment was not known; but that the dey had found a pretext for complaining of a violation of the last treaty, and presenting as the alternative war or a renewal of the former treaty, which stipulated, among other things, an annual tribute. ‘The answer,’ says the president, ‘with an explicit declaration that the United States preferred war to tribute, required his recognition and observance of the treaty last made, which abolishes tribute, and the slavery of our captured citizens. The result of the answer had not been received. Should he renew his warfare on our commerce, we rely on the protection it will find in our naval force actually in the Mediterranean. With the other Barbary states our affairs have undergone no change. With reference to the aborigines of our own country,’ he continues, ‘the Indian tribes within our limits appear also disposed to remain in peace. From several of them purchases of lands have been made, particularly favorable to the wishes and security of our frontier settlements as well as to the general interests of the nation.
In some instances, the titles, though not supported by due proof, and clashing those of one tribe with the claims of another, have been extinguished by double purchases, the benevolent policy of the United States preferring the augmented expense to the hazard of doing injustice, or to the enforcement of justice against a feeble and untutored people, by means involving or threatening an effusion of blood. I am happy to add that the tranquillity which has been restored among the tribes themselves, as well as between them and our own population, will favor the resumption of the work of civilization, which had made an encouraging progress among some tribes; and that the facility is increasing for extending that divided and individual ownership, which exists now in movable property only, to the soil itself; and of thus establishing, in the culture and improvement of it, the true foundation for a transit from the habits of a savage to the arts and comforts of social life.’
The doubtful state of the relations between the United States and the dey of Algiers, to which the president alluded in his message, arose either from a strong impulse of the love of extortion in the dey, or from the influence of some foreign personages; the rising differences were, however, settled by the prudent management of the American consul, Mr. Shaler, and peace has not since been broken on the part of the Algerines.
Among the incidents of domestic interest which indicate the rapid growth and increasing prosperity of the republic, we may notice the formation of the territory of Indiana into a state, and its admission into the Union; the progress of canals in various states; the institution of a national bank; and the arrival of many thousand emigrants, chiefly from Great Britain. Treaties were, during this year, negotiated with the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Cherokee Indians, ceding large portions of their respective territories to the United States, and acknowledging their tribes to be under the protection of the republic.
ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MONROE.
The term of Mr. Madison’s administration having expired in the year 1817, James Monroe was inaugurated president, and Daniel D. Tompkins vice-president. In his speech to congress on his inauguration, the president expresses sentiments in which every true friend to the human race will fully concur. ‘It is particularly gratifying to me,’ says Mr. Monroe, ‘to enter on the discharge of these official duties at a time when the United States are blessed with peace. It is a state most consistent with their prosperity and happiness. It will be my sincere desire to preserve it, so far as depends on the executive, on just principles, with all nations, claiming nothing unreasonable of any, and rendering to each what is its due.’
During this year the republic received another accession by the erection of the territory of Mississippi into a state, and its admission into the Union. By the act of admission it is provided, that the public lands, while belonging to the United States, and for five years from the day of sale, shall be exempted from all taxes; that lands belonging to the citizens of the United States residing without the state shall never be taxed higher than lands belonging to persons residing within the state; and that the river Mississippi, and the navigable rivers and waters leading into it, or into the gulf of Mexico, shall be common highways, and forever free of toll or duty toall the citizens of the United States. In return for this concession, congress provided, that, after paying a debt to Georgia and indemnifying certain claimants, five per cent. of the net proceeds of the public lands lying within the state shall be devoted to the making of roads and canals for the benefit of the state.