eived 122 electoral votes to his oppositions, Pinckney's, 47. George Clinton, vice president under Jefferson, had 6 votes. Clinton also became Madison's vice president. Chief Justice John Marshall swore Madison into office on March 4, 1809. The eight years of Madison's presidency were dominated by continuing and growing tensions between the United States and the governments of France and Britain, and finally by open warfare with Britain. When Madison took office, the Embargo Act of 1807 had been replaced by the Non-Intercourse Act, which reopened trade with countries other than France and Great Britain. By 1810 it was apparent to Madison that the American trade boycott was having no effect. American ships were being seized at a greater rate, if anything, by both countries. In May 1810, therefore, the Non-Intercourse Act was repealed, and the United States resumed trade with both France and Great Britain. But if one of them dropped its restrictions on American shipping, Madison was authorized to again prohibit trade with the other.U.S.-British relations deteriorated further when the president received what he was led to regard as complete assurance that France was renouncing its policy of intercepting American ships. Unaware that he was being tricked by France, Madison declared in November 1810 that trade with Britain was to be halted. Although negotiations with British ambassadors continued in hope of a peaceable settlement, they were now almost certainly doomed to fail.When the long-anticipated war with Britain came, the United States was ill prepared. Opposition to the war from various quarters also hampered Madison’s efforts. The Federalists had been against war with Great Britain from the start. Northerners generally showed no enthusiasm for taking over Spanish Florida. Southerners similarly regarded a conquest of Canada as merely adding to the strength of the North. Throughout the war the New England states balked at contribu...
