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Summary: In his book The Winning of the West, Theodore Roosevelt condemns British treatment of the Indians, whom they promised to protect, and other aspects of Britain’s prosecution of the War of 1812. Yet he reserves his harshest criticism for Thomas Jefferson and James Madison for not adequately building up the U.S. armed forces in the decade before Madison’s declaration of war on Britain, and for not protecting the U.S. capital from British attack during the war, “…for the sin of burning a few public buildings is as nothing compared with the cowardly infamy of which Jefferson and Madison, and the people whom they represented, were guilty in not making ready, by sea and land, to protect their capitol, and in not exacting full revenge for its destruction.”
Theodore Roosevelt. Autograph Manuscript fragment [ca 1899], tipped into The Winning of the West. New York & London: Knickerbocker Press, 1900. #64 of 200 copies from Daniel Boone edition.
Inventory # 21750 $15,000
Partial Transcript:
“…way which can scarcely be too harshly stigmatized. Their treatment both of the Indians whom they professed to protect and of the Americans with whom they professed to be friendly forms one of the darkest pages in the annals of [sentence ends here]. Yet they have been much less severely condemned for their conduct in this matter, than for more excusable offences. American historians, for example, usually condemn them without stint because in 1814 the army of Ross and Cockburn burned and looted the public buildings of Washington; but by rights they should keep all their condemnation for their own country, so far as the taking of Washington is concerned; for the sin of burning a few public buildings is as nothing compared with the cowardly infamy of which Jefferson and Madison, and the people whom they represented, were guilty in not making ready, by sea and land, to protect their capitol, and in not exacting full revenge for its destruction. These facts may with advantage be pondered by those men of the present day who are either in ignorance or of such lukewarm patriotism that they do not wish to see the United States build a powerful navy, and show herself willing and able to adopt a vigorous foreign policy where there is need of furthering American interests or upholding the honor of the American flag. America is bound scrupulously to respect the rights of the weak; but she is no less bound to make stalwart insistence on her own rights as against the strong. The count against the British on the Northwestern frontier is not that they insisted on their rights, but that they were guilty of treachery to both friend and foe. The success of the British was incompatible with the good of mankind in general, and of the English-speaking races in particular; for they strove to prop up savagery, and…”
Historical Background:
On August 24, 1814, British troops under the command of General Robert Ross invaded the American capital of Washington. The attack was in retaliation for the U.S. invasion of York, Upper Canada (now Toronto) in 1813, when the Americans looted and burned the city, including the Parliament buildings. It was also an attempt to humiliate and demoralize the young nation. Ross ordered the destruction of the Capitol building, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Treasury, the Washington Navy Yard, and other public buildings. The next day Admiral George Cockburn and his troops entered the White House. Tired and hungry from their march, they sat down to eat at the dining room table, which had been set by First Lady Dolley Madison for 40 guests. When they were done, they completely gutted the building. Fuel was added to the fires as the British left the city to make sure the fires burned into the next day. The glow of the fire could be seen 50 miles away in Baltimore.
Washington was vulnerable to British attack for several reasons. Thomas Jefferson had slashed navy and army expenditures during his presidency, opposed to keeping a long standing military force. Despite having a weak navy and a poorly trained army, his successor James Madison declared war on the British (the largest military force in the world) in 1812 in response to repeated British offenses. And two years later, after repeated warnings that the British planned to invade Washington after they entered the Patuxent River 50 miles away, the U.S. government failed to realize the intentions of the British and protect the capital.
It is no doubt that these are the acts of “cowardly infamy” that Roosevelt refers to in this passage. Jefferson and Madison’s actions, or inactions, stand in stark contrast to Roosevelt’s belief in having a strong and active military to protect, defend, and pursue American interests at home and abroad.
Theodore Roosevelt articulated his foreign policy with the slogan: “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Under his leadership, the United States became increasingly assertive in the early 1900s as an international police force.
“Big Stick” diplomacy referred specifically to Roosevelt’s 1904 corollary to the Monroe Doctrine stating that the U.S. had the right to intervene in the domestic affairs of its neighbors in the Western Hemisphere if they proved unable to maintain order and respect international citizens and corporations. This led to U.S. intervention in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Panama and the creation of the Panama Canal. “Big Stick” diplomacy backed up negotiations with an implicit threat of military force.
To support this policy, Roosevelt expanded the strength of the U.S. military. In particular, he dramatically increased the size of the navy, forming the Great White Fleet, which toured the world between 1907 and 1909, as a demonstration of U.S. might. This was important because tensions were slowly growing between the United States and Japan. The Great White Fleet greatly expanded the respect for, and the role of, the United States in the international theater.
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