THE CAUSE OF THE PRESENT WAR
The Congress,
who declared the present war, and the people who supported them in the
declaration, it appears were totally mistaken, in the causes they ascribed for
it. It was not the commercial appression
of England, her illegal blockades, her impressments of our seamen &c. which
caused the resort to arms; - it was not, (strange, as it may seem,) on the
other hand, the dictation of Bonaparte,
who had go the cord so cleverly about our necks, and whose defeat gave such pleasant slumber to Mr. Harper[1], which produced it. No, no. Here follows the detection of the true "desideratum," and the sympathy which it causes, is really
appropriate and natural. The article is
from a violent Massachusetts tory
print.
The next news from that quarter,
will probably furnish the great
desideratum for which this war was waged, that is - the possession and
governmet of the immense and fertile tracts of land, of which these unfortunate
denizens of the woods were the rightful owners; not by conquest or plunder,
but by natural inheritance.
How perfectly and natural and obvious all this is, but no
one but this wise gentleman happened before to think of it. Our rulers, it appears, declared war against Great Britain, simply for the purpose of
cheating the Indians out of their land!
What a craving for land our government seem to have! First they bought the
Louisianian woods, and now they have fought
for the Canadian wilds.
But for the poor Indians. - Alas how
melting are the plaints of their weeping condoler! Is the massacre at Fort Mims forgotten?[2] Is
the massacre at Fort Mims
forgotten? Did the ornament, which
accompanied the mace [sic] at York,
the capital of Upper Canada indicate n[] state of humanity, which could call
for such tender sympathy?[3]-
It is all of a piece, however. If fear
of superior force did not deter our internal foes from displaying their real
temper, it would be a matter of indifference, whether an American, faithful to
the republican administration fell into the hands of an English Hampton
ruffian, a Creek Indian, or an Essex tory.[4]
[1] Heidler
and heidler. 2004. Encyclopedia of the war of 1812. Annapolis, Md. Naval Institute Press.
John Adams Harper (November
2, 1779 – June 18, 1816) was elected as a Democratic-Republican from New
Hampshire to the Twelfth Congress (March 4, 1811 – March 3, 1813). He was a key
member of the War Hawk faction that strongly supported the War of 1812.
[2]
"The Fort Mims massacre was a battle that occurred on 30 August 1813
during the Creek War, when a force of Creek people, belonging to the "Red
Sticks" faction under the command of head warriors Peter McQueen and
William Weatherford, or Lamochattee (Red Eagle), stormed the fort and defeated
the militia garrison. After the defeat of the garrison there ensued a massacre
and almost all of the remaining Lower Creek, white settlers, and militia at
Fort Mims were killed. The fort was a stockade with a blockhouse surrounding
the house and outbuildings of the settler Samuel Mims, located about 35 miles
north of present-day Mobile, Alabama." from Wikipedia.
[3] "The Battle of York was a battle of the
War of 1812 fought on April 27, 1813, at York, Upper Canada (present day
Toronto) on the north-west shore of Lake Ontario. An American force supported
by a naval flotilla landed on the lake shore to the west, defeated the
defending British force and captured the fort, town and dockyard. The Americans
themselves suffered heavy casualties, including Brigadier General Zebulon Pike
who was leading the troops, when the retreating British blew up the fort's
magazine. The American forces subsequently carried out several acts of arson
and looting in the town before withdrawing." from Wikipedia.
[4] Baltimore
Patriot & Evening Advertiser.; Date: 05-21-1814; Volume: 3; Issue: 120;
Page: [2]; Location: Baltimore, Maryland.
Transcribed by John Peter Thompson, May 22, 2013.
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