June 18, 1812: The day after the Senate followed the House of Representatives in voting to declare war against Great Britain,
President James Madison signed the declaration into law—
and the War of 1812 began. The American war declaration,
opposed by a sizable minority in Congress, had been called
in response to the British economic blockade of France, the
induction of American seaman into the British Royal Navy
against their will, and the British support of Indian tribes along
the Great Lakes frontier. A faction of Congress known as the
“War Hawks” had been advocating war with Britain for several
years and had not hidden their hopes that a U.S. invasion of
Canada might result in significant territorial land gains for the
United States.

    
    
   

James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836)