The Papers of James MadisonPresidential Series, Volume 5

10 July 1812-7 February 1813

Edited by J. C. A. Stagg, Martha J. King, Ellen J. Barber, Anne Mandeville Colony, Angela Kreider, Jewel L. Spangler

Volume 5 of the Presidential Series covers the first seven months of the War of 1812, documenting the problems Madison faced as he led the United States into its first major military conflict under the Federal Constitution. The planned American invasions of Canada faltered because of General Henry Dearborn's inept leadership in the East and General William Hull's...

Volume 7 of the Presidential Series, covering the period between late October 1813 and June 1814, documents Madison's response to diplomatic developments and European military events affecting the course of the war between the United States and Great Britain. Early in 1814 the president accepted an offer of direct peace negotiations, but his country's military situation did not augur well for the outcome of the talks. He sought to improve U.S. diplomatic prospects by strengthening commercial ties with European powers in the wake of Napoleon's defeat, and by resolving a controversy with...

The five months covered by this volume encompass the end of Jefferson's first administration and point toward his second. At home, the government was still digesting the Louisiana Purchase, establishing territorial governments for the Orleans and Louisiana Territories, and trying to ascertain the boundaries of the acquisition. Abroad, the shifting alliances resulting from the ongoing war in Europe affected American relations with European nations and obstructed Madison's and Jefferson's goals in international affairs.

Changes in the diplomatic corps led to confusion, as Robert R....

These essays on the Constitution were written by busy men in the midst of an active public and professional life, written with immense haste, and without proper time for consultation.... Yet even when they first appeared, the Federalist papers were recognized as the best explanation of and defense of the Constitution available, and they took their place, almost at once, as a classic. Jefferson-no Federalist himself-pronounced the volume, when it appeared, the best commentary on the principles of government which has ever been written.--From the Introduction by Editor, Henry S. Commager....