The annual Friendsgiving episode is now available!
May 15, 2022

4.07 - Dissension and Discord

4.07 - Dissension and Discord

Year(s) Discussed: 1808-1809

The arrival of the new British Minister to the US, Francis James Jackson, was not necessarily seen as a good omen by the Madison administration for the prospect of healing the rift between the United States and Great Britain, and the negotiations once they started proved to be quite contentious. Meanwhile, in Europe, US Minister to France John Armstrong grew ever more frustrated with the Napoleonic government, and a new Prime Minister took office in London under less than auspicious circumstances. Sources used for this episode can be found at https://www.presidenciespodcast.com.

Special thanks to Andy of the History of Africa podcast for providing the intro quote for this episode and to Christian of Your Podcast Pal for his audio editing work on this episode!

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

  • Armstrong, Thom M. Politics, Diplomacy and Intrigue in the Early Republic: The Cabinet Career of Robert Smith 1801-1811. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co, 1991.
  • Dungan, Nicholas. Gallatin: America’s Swiss Founding Father. New York & London: New York University Press, 2010.
  • Gallatin, Albert. “To James Madison, 11 September 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-01-02-0409. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, vol. 1, 1 March–30 September 1809, ed. Robert A. Rutland, Thomas A. Mason, Robert J. Brugger, Susannah H. Jones, Jeanne K. Sisson, and Fredrika J. Teute. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1984, pp. 371–372.] [Last Accessed: 21 Apr 2022]
  • Georgia General Assembly. “To James Madison, 12 December 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-02-02-0149. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, vol. 2, 1 October 1809–2 November 1810, ed. J. C. A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, and Susan Holbrook Perdue. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992, pp. 129–130.] [Last Accessed: 31 Mar 2022]
  • Jefferson, Thomas. “To Albert Gallatin, 11 October 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0471. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March 1809 to 15 November 1809, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, pp. 597–599.] [Last Accessed: 21 Apr 2022]
  • Ketcham, Ralph. James Madison: A Biography. Charlottesville, VA and London: University Press of Virginia, 1994 [1971].
  • Landry, Jerry. The Presidencies of the United States. 2017-2022. http://presidencies.blubrry.com.
  • Leonard, Dick. A History of British Prime Ministers: Walpole to Cameron, Omnibus Edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015 [2014].
  • Madison, James. “To Thomas Jefferson, 30 October 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-02-02-0061. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, vol. 2, 1 October 1809–2 November 1810, ed. J. C. A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, and Susan Holbrook Perdue. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992, pp. 48–49.] [Last Accessed: 24 Apr 2022]
  • Madison, James. “First Annual Message, 29 November 1809.” Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/204403. [Last Accessed: 24 Apr 2022]
  • Masterson, William H. Tories and Democrats: British Diplomats in Pre-Jacksonian America. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1985.
  • Rodney, Caesar A. “To James Madison, 6 September 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-01-02-0397. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, vol. 1, 1 March–30 September 1809, ed. Robert A. Rutland, Thomas A. Mason, Robert J. Brugger, Susannah H. Jones, Jeanne K. Sisson, and Fredrika J. Teute. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1984, pp. 357–359.] [Last Accessed: 21 Apr 2022]
  • Rutland, Robert Allen. The Presidency of James Madison. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1990.
  • Skeen, C Edward. John Armstrong, Jr. 1758-1843: A Biography. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1981.

Featured Images:

  • "Robert Smith" by Freeman Thorpe, courtesy of Wikipedia
  • "Spencer Perceval" by George Francis Joseph [c. 1812], courtesy of Wikipedia

Intro and Outro Music: Selections from “Jefferson and Liberty” as performed by The Itinerant Band