Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.
The United States and Britain agreed late in December of 1814 to end the war between them. The peace treaty was signed the day before Christmas at Ghent, Belgium. It took several weeks for word of the agreement to reach Washington. This resulted in two events that would not have happened had communications across the Atlantic been faster.
One of the events was the battle of New Orleans. British forces had begun the attack about the time the peace treaty was being signed in Ghent. The American commander, General Andrew Jackson, had prepared his defenses well. He won a great victory against the British in a battle that was unnecessary, because the war was already over.
Now, Maurice Joyce and Jack Moyles continue our story.
The other event was a convention of New England Federalists at Hartford, Connecticut. The meeting began in the middle of December and lasted through the first few days of January. Most of the representatives were from Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. There were a few from New Hampshire and Vermont.
The Federalists called the meeting to protest the war with Britain. Many of them had opposed the war from the beginning. Federalist state governments refused to put their soldiers under control of the central government. And Federalist banks refused to lend to the government in Washington.

The Federalist Party found itself greatly embarrassed by the peace. Its leaders had long denounced the war and said Britain could not be defeated. Many of them had traded with the enemy. Some had even worked with the British against their own country. They had even threatened to break up the Union. While there was some question about how the war would end, the Federalist Party had supporters. But once the war was over, its supporters vanished. And the party itself soon disappeared, even in New England.
The Senate acted quickly to approve the treaty with Britain. On February 17, 1815, President Madison declared the war officially ended. It had lasted two years and eight months. The United States had suffered thirty thousand casualties -- killed, wounded, or captured. But the war had united the American people. Albert Gallatin, Madison's treasury secretary and one of the negotiators at Ghent, explained it this "The war has renewed and reinstated the national feelings and character which the revolution had given and which were becoming weaker. The people now have more general objects of attachment with which their pride and political opinions are joined. They are more American. They feel and act more like a nation."
On the following Fourth of July, the nation celebrated its 39th anniversary of independence. In Washington, the man who wrote the "Star-Spangled Banner," Francis Scott Key, spoke at the celebrations.
"My countrymen," he said, "we hold something rich in trust for ourselves and all the rest of mankind. It is the fire of liberty. If it is ever put out, our darkened land will cast a sad shadow over the nations. If it lives, its blaze will enlighten and gladden the whole earth. " President Madison had been elected to his second term in 1812, the year the war started. The next presidential election was in 1816. Madison continued the tradition, begun by Washington and followed by Jefferson, of only serving eight years as president. Republican members of the House and Senate met March fifteenth to choose their presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Three Republicans wanted to be p Secretary of State James Monroe, former Senator and Secretary of War William Crawford, and New York Governor Daniel Tompkins. Monroe received 65 votes. Fifty-four of the lawmakers voted for Crawford. With Monroe chosen as the presidential candidate, the Republicans then chose Governor Tompkins as their vice presidential candidate. The Federalists did not meet to choose a presidential candidate. But electors from three of the New England states promised to vote for a New York Federalist, Rufus King. Nineteen states voted in the elections of 1816. That will be our story next week.
Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Maurice Joyce and Jack Moyles. For transcripts, MP3 and podcasts of our programs, along with historical images, go to voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.
thanks to manythings.org for audio and text This is a VOA product and is in the public domain.

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