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dent of the United States, or such other person as he shall have empowered for that purpose, to employ such part of the land and naval forces, or of the militia of the United States, or the territories thereof, as he shall deem necessary, to compel such ship or vessel to depart.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful for any citizen or citizens of the United States or the territories thereof, nor for any person or persons residing or being in the same, to have any intercourse with, or to afford any aid or supplies to any public ship or vessel as aforesaid, which shall, contrary to the provisions of this act, have entered any harbor or waters within the jurisdiction of the United States or the territories thereof; and if any person shall, contrary to the provisions of this act, have any intercourse with such ship or vessel, or shall afford any aid to such ship or vessel, either in repairing the said vessel or in furnishing her, her officers and crew with supplies of any kind or in any manner whatever, or if any pilot or other person shall assist in navigating or piloting such ship or vessel, unless it be for the purpose of carrying her beyond the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, every person so offending, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than one hundred dollars, nor exceeding ten thousand dollars; and shall also be imprisoned for a term not less than one month, nor more than one year.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That from and after the twentieth day of May next, the entrance of the harbors and waters of the United States and the territories thereof be, and the same is hereby interdicted to all ships or vessels sailing under the flag of Great Britain or France, or owned in whole or in part by any citizen or subject of either; vessels hired, chartered or employed by the government of either country, for the sole purpose of carrying letters or despatches, and also vessels forced in by distress or by the dangers of the sea, only excepted. And if any ship or vessel sailing under the flag of Great Britain or France, or owned in whole or in part by any citizen or subject of either, and not excepted as aforesaid, shall after the said twentieth day of May next, arrive either with or without a cargo, within the limits of the United States or of the territories thereof, such ship or vessel, together with the cargo, if any, which may be found on board, shall be forfeited, and may be seized and condemned in any court of

the United States or the territories thereof, having competent jurisdiction, and all and every act and acts heretofore passed, which shall be within the purview of this act, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That from and after the twentieth day of May next, it shall not be lawful to import into the United States or the territories thereof, any goods, wares or merchandise whatever, from any port or place situated in Great Britain or Ireland, or in any of the colonies or dependencies of Great Britain, nor from any port or place situated in France, or in any of her colonies or dependencies, nor from any port or place in the actual possession of either Great Britain or France. Nor shall it be lawful to import into the United States, or the territories thereof, from any foreign port or place whatever, any goods, wares or merchandise whatever, being of the growth, produce or manufacture of France, or of any of her colonies or dependencies, or being of the growth, produce or manufacture of Great Britain or Ireland, or of any of the colonies or dependencies of Great Britain, or being of the growth, produce or manufacture of any place or country in the actual possession of either France or Great Britain: Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to affect the cargoes of ships or vessels wholly owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States, which had cleared for any port beyond the Cape of Good Hope, prior [December 22, 1807,]. . . or which had departed for such port by permission of the President, under the acts supplementary to the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States.

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SEC. II. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is authorized, in case either France or Great Britain shall so revoke or modify her edicts, as that they shall cease to violate the neutral commerce of the United States, to declare the same by proclamation; after which the trade of the United States, suspended by this act, and by the [Embargo Act] . . . and the several acts supplementary thereto, may be renewed with the nation so doing:1

SEC. 12.

And be it further enacted, That so much of the

1 See act of March 2, 1811 (Stat. at Large, II., 651, 652). — ED.

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[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. . .

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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.

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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] .

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

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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 Relation's, 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.

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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.

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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., 695– 748; 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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