[Embargo Act] . . . and of the several acts supplementary thereto, as forbids the departure of vessels owned by citizens of the United States, and the exportation of domestic and foreign merchandise to any foreign port or place, be and the same is hereby repealed, after... [March 15, 1809,] . . . except so far as they relate to Great Britain or France, or their colonies or dependencies, or places in the actual possession of either. . . .

...

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That during the continuance of so much of the [Embargo Act], . . . and of the several acts supplementary thereto, as is not repealed by this act, no ship or vessel bound to a foreign port, with which commercial intercourse shall, by virtue of this act, be again permitted, shall be allowed to depart for such port, unless the owner or owners, consignee or factor of such ship or vessel shall, with the master, have given bond with one or more sureties to the United States, in a sum double the value of the vessel and cargo, if the vessel is wholly owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States; and in a sum four times the value, if the vessel is owned in part or in whole by any foreigner or foreigners, that the vessel shall not leave the port without a clearance, nor shall, when leaving the port, proceed to any port or place in Great Britain or France, or in the colonies or dependencies of either, or in the actual possession of either, nor be directly or indirectly engaged during the Voyage in any trade with such port, nor shall put any article on board of any other vessel; nor unless every other requisite and provision of the second section of the act, intituled "An act to enforce and make more effectual an act, intituled An act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto," 1 shall have been complied with. . . .

...

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That so much of the . . . [Embargo Act]. . . and of the several acts supplementary thereto, as compels vessels owned by citizens of the United States, bound to another port of the said States, or vessels licensed for the coasting trade, or boats, either not masted or not decked, to give bond, and to load under the inspection of a revenue officer, or renders them liable to detention, merely on account of the nature of their cargo, (such provisions excepted as relate to collection districts

1 Act of Jan. 9, 1809 (Stat. at Large, II., 506–511). — ED.

adjacent to the territories, colonies or provinces of a foreign nation, or to vessels belonging or bound to such districts) be, and the same is hereby repealed, from and after . . . [March 15, 1809].

[SEC. 17 repeals act of April 18, 1806, and supplementary act, after May 20.]

SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That this act shall continue and be in force until the end of the next session of Congress, and no longer; and that the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed from and after the end of the next session of Congress.

No. 68. Declaration of War

June 18, 1812

MADISON'S message of June I was referred in the House to the Committee on Foreign Relations. June 3 Calhoun reported from the committee a bill declaring war between the United States and Great Britain. The bill passed the House the following day by a vote of 79 to 49, after strong opposition. The bill with amendments was reported by a select committee of the Senate on the 8th; on the 11th, by a vote of 17 to 13, it was recommitted. Several amendments were reported on the 12th, but were rejected by a tie vote; and by vote of 21 to 11 the first report of the committee, with amendments, was agreed to. Determined efforts were made to postpone or further amend the bill, but without success, and on the 17th the bill passed, by a vote of 19 to 13. On the 18th the House concurred in the Senate amendments, and on the same day the act was approved. A proclamation announcing the existence of war was issued June 19.

REFERENCES. Text in U. S. Stat. at Large, II., 755. For the proceedings, see the House and Senate Supplementary Journals, 12th Cong., 1st Sess. The discussions are reported briefly in the Annals, and in Benton's Abridgment, IV. Calhoun's report is in Amer. State Papers, Foreign Relations, III., 567-570. The Orders in Council were withdrawn June 16; for the announcement, June 23, see Annual Register, 1812, pp. 379–381. There is an analysis by States of the vote in the House, June 4, in McMaster's United States, III., 457, 458. For the address of the Federalist minority to their constituents, see the Annals, 2196-2221.

An Act declaring War between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America and their territories.

Be it enacted. That war be and the same is hereby declared to exist between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America and their territories; and that the President of the United States is hereby authorized to use the whole land and naval force of the United States to carry the same into effect, and to issue to private armed vessels of the United States commissions or letters of marque and general reprisal, in such form as he shall think proper, and under the seal of the United States, against the vessels, goods, and effects of the government of the said United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the subjects thereof.

No. 69. Treaty of Ghent

December 24, 1814

THE offer of the Emperor of Russia to mediate between Great Britain and the United States was accepted by the latter, and on April 15, 1813, instructions were issued to commissioners. Great Britain, however, declined the offer of mediation, and suggested direct negotiation; the suggestion was accepted, additional commissioners were appointed, and new instructions issued Jan. 28, 1814. The commissioners held their first conference at Ghent July 11. The treaty was concluded Dec. 24; Feb. 17, 1815, ratifications were exchanged at Washington. The conclusion of the treaty was announced to Congress Feb. 20. REFERENCES. Text in U. S. Stat. at Large, VIII., 218-223. The diplo matic correspondence is in Amer. State Papers, Foreign Relations, III., 695748; IV., 808-811. For dispatches and instructions of the British commissioners, see the Castlereagh Correspondence, series III., vol. II. The diary of J. Q. Adams during the negotiations is in his Memoirs, II., 603–662; III., 3-144. Clay's letters are in Colton's Private Correspondence of Henry Clay, 24-44; Gallatin's, in Adams's Writings of Gallatin, I., 545-647. See also Treaties and Conventions (ed. 1889), 1326-1328, notes on the treaty by J. C. B. Davis.

ARTICLE THE FIRST.

There shall be a firm and universal peace between His Britannic Majesty and the United States, and between their respective

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countries, territories, cities, towns, and people, of every degree, without exception of places or persons. All hostilities, both by sea and land, shall cease as soon as this treaty shall have been ratified by both parties, as hereinafter mentioned. All territory, places, and possessions whatsoever, taken by either party from the other, during the war, or which may be taken after the signing of this treaty, excepting only the islands hereinafter mentioned, shall be restored without delay, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any of the artillery or other public property originally captured in the said forts or places, and which shall remain therein upon the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, or any slaves or other private property. And all archives, records, deeds, and papers, either of a public nature, or belonging to private persons, which, in the course of the war, may have fallen into the hands of the officers of either party, shall be, as far as may be practicable, forthwith restored and delivered to the proper authorities and persons to whom they respectively belong. Such of the islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy as are claimed by both parties, shall remain in the possession of the party in whose occupation they may be at the time of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, until the decision respecting the title to the said islands shall have been made in conformity with the fourth article of this treaty. No disposition made by this treaty, as to such possession of the islands and territories claimed by both parties, shall, in any manner whatever, be construed to affect the right of either.

Whereas it was stipulated by the second article in the treaty of peace [of 1783]. .. that the boundary of the United States should comprehend all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States, and lying between lines to be drawn due east from the points where the aforesaid boundaries, between Nova Scotia, on the one part, and East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the Bay of Fundy, and the Atlantic ocean, excepting such islands as now are, or heretofore have been, within the limits of Nova Scotia; and whereas the several islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy, which is part of the Bay of Fundy,

and the island of Grand Menan in the said Bay of Fundy, are claimed by the United States as being comprehended within their aforesaid boundaries, which said islands are claimed as belonging to his Britannic Majesty, as having been at the time of, and previous to, the aforesaid treaty. within the limits of the province of Nova-Scotia: In order, therefore, finally to decide upon these claims, it is agreed that they shall be referred to two commissioners to be appointed in the following manner, viz: one commissioner shall be appointed by his Britannic Majesty, and one by the president of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof. . . [The commissioners to meet at St. Andrews, N. B. In case of disagreement, the matter to be referred to the decision of some friendly Power.1]

ARTICLE THE FIFTH.

Whereas neither that point of the high lands lying due north from the source of the river St. Croix, and designated in the former treaty of peace between the two powers as the northwest angle of Nova-Scotia, nor the northwesternmost head of Connecticut river, has yet been ascertained; and whereas that part of the boundary line between the dominions of the two powers which extends from the source of the river St. Croix directly north to the abovementioned northwest angle of Nova-Scotia, thence along the said highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic ocean to the northwesternmost head of Connecticut river, thence down along the middle of that river to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; thence by a line due west on said latitude until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraguy, has not yet been surveyed: it is agreed, that for these several purposes two commissioners shall be appointed, sworn, and authorized to act exactly in the manner directed with respect to those mentioned in the next preceding article, unless otherwise specified in the present article. [The commissioners to meet at St. Andrews, N. B. Boundary to be surveyed and marked. In case of disagreement, the matter to be referred to the decision of some friendly Power, as in Art. IV.]

1 For the declaration and decision of the commissioners under this article Nov. 24, 1817, see Treaties and Conventions (ed. 1889), 405, 406. - - ED.