President Madison sent a war-preparation message to Congress on Tuesday, November 5, 1811.150 He argued that the depredations along the borders and on the oceans were too much to bear. The time had come to put the question of America’s permanent independence to the test. “We are to have war then?151 I believe so and that it is necessary,” Jefferson wrote Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. “Every hope from time, patience and the love of peace is exhausted, and war or abject submission are the only alternatives left us.” On the last day of 1811, Jefferson offered warm words to Madison. “Your message
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