James Madison and the US Takeover of West Florida

Extract

[...] In 1804, France stated that the colony was never part of the deal. Spain rejected negotiating with the US, and as the battle intensified between Britain and France, Spain supported France. Both Britain and America provoked American shipping. President Madison suspected that Britain intended to conquer Florida and create a base for attacking the United States if the US joined the war. Towards the end of September, Americans that occupied West Florida took control of the territory, proclaiming it as an independent republic, and surrendered it to the US. [...]

[...] Suppose such a decision is made in modern American politics without Congressional approval; such a president would find himself in great legal problems. The US constitution regulates the president's powers of making some federal decisions without consulting the parliament. Work cited Higgs, Robert. "Not merely perfidious but ungrateful": the US takeover of West Florida." The Independent Review (2005): 303-310. History.com Editors. James Madison. A&E Television Networks January 2022, www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/james-madison. Accessed 6 March. 2022. [...]

[...] James Madison and the US Takeover of West Florida James Madison was the 4th American president. He was born on 16 March 1751 in Virginia. His father was James Madison, and his mother was Nellie. Madison was the firstborn in a family of 12, and he was brought up on the family land in Virginia, Orange County. Although several events took place during the reign of Madison, this paper focuses on the conquering of West Florida by the United States in September 1810. [...]

[...] President Madison experienced a great dilemma in conquering Spanish West Florida. For instance, he longed to conquer Baton Rouge straight away, but he was aware that using the Army was illegal without Congress's approval, and this house could not have a session before December 1810. In addition, the conquest of the Spanish lands would annoy Spain and France, and England. Yet the president feared that West Florida could get annexed by a dangerous power if he failed to protect the hunted territories. [...]

[...] Again, the Madison government gave those Americans who led military operations to conquer West Florida senior administrative positions in the new state (Higgs, Page,308). For example, Thomas Philemon, who led the US attack on Spain during the war over the territories, was made the Coronel. Besides, Skipwith, who had lost his job as the American diplomat in Paris, was finally made the registrar of the US land between River Mississippi and Pearl River. Despite many Americans regarding James Madison as a principled president who was a champion of freedom, his decisions to occupy West Florida never aligned with the US legislation. [...]