A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 3, part 2: Martin Van Buren
History
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 3, part 2: Martin Van Buren
Presidents -- United States; United States -- History -- Sources; United States -- Politics and government; Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862
I send with this letter, first, a copy of my first communication to His
Excellency Governor Marcy,[27] to which no reply has reached me; second,
the official reports, correspondence, and militia general order
respecting the destruction of the _Caroline_, with other documents;[27]
third, the correspondence between Commissary-General Arcularius, of the
State of New York, respecting the artillery belonging to the government
of the State of New York, which has been and is still used in making war
upon this Province;[27] fourth, other correspondence arising out of the
present state of things on the Niagara frontier;[27] fifth, the special
message of Governor Marcy.[27]
It will be seen from these documents that a high officer of the
government of the State of New York has been sent by his excellency
the governor for the express purpose of regaining possession of the
artillery of that State which is now employed in hostile aggressions
upon this portion of Her Majesty's dominions, and that, being aided and
favored, as he acknowledges, by the most friendly cooperation which the
commanding officer of Her Majesty's forces could give him, he has been
successfully defied by this army of American citizens, and has abandoned
the object of his mission in despair.
It can hardly fail also to be observed by your excellency that in
the course of this negotiation between Mr. Van Rensselaer and the
commissary-general of the State of New York this individual, Mr. Van
Rensselaer, has not hesitated to place himself within the immediate
jurisdiction of the government whose laws he had violated and in direct
personal communication with the officer of that government, and has,
nevertheless, been allowed to return unmolested to continue in command
of American citizens engaged in open hostilities against Great Britain.
The exact position, then, of affairs on our frontier may be thus described:
An army of American citizens, joined to a very few traitors from Upper
Canada, and under the command of a subject of the United States, has
been raised and equipped in the State of New York against the laws
of the United States and the treaties now subsisting, and are using
artillery plundered from the arsenals of the State of New York in
carrying on this piratical warfare against a friendly country.
The officers and Government of the United States and of the State of New
York have attempted to arrest these proceedings and to control their
citizens, but they have failed. Although this piratical assemblage are
thus defying the civil authorities of both countries, Upper Canada alone
is the object of their hostilities. The Government of the United States
has failed to enforce its authority by any means, civil or military, and
the single question (if it be a question) is whether Upper Canada was
bound to refrain from necessary acts of self-defense against a people
whom their own Government either could not or would not control.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account