VOA慢速英语2013 Madison Declares War on Britain in 1812

 

Madison Declares War on Britain in 1812

From VOA Learning English, welcome to The Making of a Nation, our weekly program of American history for people learning English. I’m Steve Ember.

The United States declared war on Britain in 1812.  It did so because Britain refused to stop seizing American ships that traded with France—Britain's enemy in Europe. Sometimes there were also seizures¹ of American sailors. These seizures were known as impressment.

Britain finally suspended its orders against neutral trade, after a change in government.  But the British acted too late. The United States had already declared war.  Today, we continue the story of the War of 1812.

Most of Britain's forces were battling the soldiers of Napoleon Bonaparte in Europe. Historian and Pulitzer Prize winner Alan Taylor says that, as a result, the British could send only a small force to the United States.

“And so the British were basically fighting the war against the United States on the defensive² in Canada, while trying to raid the American coast using their advantage in the more powerful Royal Navy.”

For its part, the United States was far from ready to fight. The United States had not fought a war, or needed an army, for a long time. There were only 8,000 American soldiers. The soldiers who were young knew little about war. And the officers who knew about war were old enough to have led troops in the American Revolution.

President James Madison named two top generals: 62-year-old Henry Dearborn and 63-year-old Thomas Pinckney.

The United States had only a few warships⁴ and gunboats with which to face the British navy—the most powerful naval⁵ force in the world.

Historian and professor Alan Taylor says the American people were divided about the war.

“A majority of them supported the Madison administration, and agreed that they tried the embargo⁶ and it failed, and that something had to be done because national honor, they felt, was at stake. And that they needed to stop the British practice of impressment. And they were also upset about the British military aid to these Indian peoples who were restricting American expansion.”

Alan Taylor says for those reasons, many Americans supported the war, particularly in the southern, western and mid-Atlantic states.

“But in New England most of the people supported the opposition⁷ party, the Federalists, and they were very bitter about the war. They felt that it was really being waged for illegitimate reasons, that diplomacy⁸ could have just papered over the disagreement over impressment. And so they did their best to obstruct⁹ the war effort. They not only didn’t want to contribute to the war effort, but they wanted to block it as best they could.”

Church bells were rung and flags were lowered in New England when the declaration of war was announced.

There was also the problem of getting enough men to serve as soldiers. Congress had approved an increase of 25,000 men. Only 5,000 agreed to serve. Members of Congress from the western states had spoken proudly of how their people would rush to fight the British. This did not happen. The first request to Kentucky for soldiers produced only 400 men.

Historian Alan Taylor says that some states in the Northeast did not offer any soldiers at all, especially for invasions into Canada.

“And even when the governors would cooperate, as did for example, the governor of New York, the militia¹⁰ would often march to the border and then decide that their constitutional duty was only to defend their state and not help the United States invade another country. And so they’d go on a sit-down strike once they got to the border.”

Nevertheless, an American general named William Hull¹¹ led 2,000 men across the Canadian border. But the British general there was prepared, and the attack failed. Although Hull had the stronger force and plenty of supplies, he retreated to Detroit. He was chased by a smaller force of British soldiers and Indians.

After the war, Hull was tried by a military court on charges of cowardice¹². The court found him guilty and ordered him shot. But president, because of Hull's service during the Revolutionary War, permitted the old soldier to live.

The next American attack was made from Fort Niagara, a military post in New York on the shore of Lake Ontario.  A small group of American soldiers crossed the Niagara River and attacked the British. But some Americans from New York refused to cross the border to help against the British. They calmly watched as British soldiers shot down the attacking Americans. 

The third campaign was made by General Henry Dearborn.  He led a state militia force from Plattsburgh, New York, to the Canadian border.  He was planning to cross the border and attack Montreal. But again the soldiers refused to cross the border. Dearborn could do nothing but march them back to Plattsburgh.

British forces at this time were winning victories.  They captured an American fort in northern Michigan.  And Indians — fighting for the British — captured a fort at the place now known as Chicago.

Instead of marching through Canada without difficulty, the Americans found themselves trying hard to keep the British out of the state of Ohio.

For a while, the small American Navy was doing better than the Army.

Just two months after the war started, the United States warship³ Constitution forced a British ship to surrender. Several months later another American ship, the Wasp¹³, captured the British ship Frolic. Then a frigate¹⁴ named the United States defeated one of Britain's most famous fighting ships, the Macedonian. The British ship was captured and brought to the United States.

There were other victories at sea. At the end of six months, the United States Navy had captured six British ships and lost only one of its own vessels¹⁵.

Private American trade ships had been armed with guns when the war started. They, too, were successful against the British. They captured more than 300 British trade ships.

But the American successes forced Britain to bring more of its fighting ships into the war with the United States. By the middle of 1813, a year after the war started, British ships controlled the East coast. No American ship could enter or leave any port south of New England.

Meanwhile, the military situation was improving for the Americans in what was then the West. William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana territory, formed a large force to try to capture Detroit from the British. At the same time, Captain Oliver Perry built five warships on Lake Erie. With these, and four he already had, Perry met and defeated a British naval force.

Perry reported his victory to Harrison: "We have met the enemy, and they are ours."

Perry's victory and Harrison's large force caused the British to withdraw from Detroit and from a British fort at Malden, in Canada. Harrison's men continued to chase the enemy. They caught them and defeated them in the battle of the Thames. Killed in this battle was the great Indian chief Tecumseh, who had been fighting for the British.

American forces made new attempts to win control of Lake Ontario and invade Canada across the Niagara River. But none of these succeeded. Late in 1813, British soldiers crossed the river and captured Fort Niagara. They also burned the town of Buffalo¹⁶.

By April 1814 Napoleon was forced from power in Europe. And the war between France and Britain was over. The end of the war in Europe permitted Britain to send many of its soldiers to fight against the United States.

About 4,000 British soldiers landed on the Chesapeake coast, southeast of Washington. They met American forces inland at Bladensburg, a town 10 kilometers from Washington. The British soldiers broke through the American lines, and the Americans began to run away.

But a group of sailors refused to retreat with their artillery¹⁷. Commanded by Joshua Barney, the 400 sailors chose to stand and fight. The struggle did not last long against the 4,000 British soldiers.

Barney held his position for a half-hour before enemy soldiers got behind his men and silenced their guns. Barney was wounded seriously. The British thought so much of his courage that they carried him to a hospital for their own soldiers at Bladensburg. Barney himself said the British officers treated him as a brother.

Once the British troops had smashed through Barney's Navy men, nothing stood between them and Washington.

The commanders of the British force, General Robert Ross and Admiral George Cockburn, took a group of men to the Capitol building and set fire to it. Then the two commanders went to the White House with the same intention.

Before setting fire to the president's home, Cockburn took one of Madison's hats and the seat from one of Dolley Madison's chairs. The admiral found the president's table set for dinner. As a joke, he took a glass of wine and toasted the health of "President Jemmy.”

President Madison had fled the White House. He crossed the Potomac River and started toward his home in Virginia. He joined his wife on the road the second day. They decided¹⁸ to wait about 25 kilometers from Washington.

When President Madison returned to the capital three days later, the British had withdrawn¹⁹. They had also burned most public buildings.

The British coastal²⁰ force next attacked the city of Baltimore. The story of that battle, and the song it inspired, will be our story next week.

I’m Steve Ember, inviting²¹ you to join us again next time for The Making of a Nation – American History from VOA Learning English.

1 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

2 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

3 warship   

n.军舰，战舰

参考例句：

• He is serving on a warship in the Pacific.他在太平洋海域的一艘军舰上服役。
• The warship was making towards the pier.军舰正驶向码头。

4 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

5 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

6 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

9 obstruct   

v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物

参考例句：

• He became still more dissatisfied with it and secretly did everything in his power to obstruct it.他对此更不满意，尽在暗里使绊子。
• The fallen trees obstruct the road.倒下的树将路堵住了。

10 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

11 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

12 cowardice   

n.胆小，怯懦

参考例句：

• His cowardice reflects on his character.他的胆怯对他的性格带来不良影响。
• His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice.他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。

13 wasp   

n.黄蜂，蚂蜂

参考例句：

• A wasp stung me on the arm.黄蜂蜇了我的手臂。
• Through the glass we can see the wasp.透过玻璃我们可以看到黄蜂。

14 frigate   

n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰

参考例句：

• An enemy frigate bore down on the sloop.一艘敌驱逐舰向这只护航舰逼过来。
• I declare we could fight frigate.我敢说我们简直可以和一艘战舰交战。

15 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

17 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

18 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

19 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

20 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

21 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。