In his speech, Madison argues that the U.S. went to war with Great Britain in 1812 in order to A. rid the continent of British soldiers. B. defend itself from imminent attack. C. clearly assert that it was independent. D. satisfy its new imperial ambitions.
Here is the passage:
Excerpt from a presidential address by James Madison, November, 1812
Above all, we have the inestimable consolation of knowing that the war in which we are actually engaged is a war neither of ambition nor of vain glory; that it is waged not in violation of the rights of others, but in the maintenance of our own; that it was preceded by a patience without example under wrongs accumulating without end, and that it was finally not declared until every hope of averting it was extinguished by the transfer of the British scepter into new hands clinging to former councils, and until declarations were reiterated to the last hour, through the British envoy here, that the hostile edicts against our commercial rights and our maritime independence would not be revoked; nay, that they could not be revoked without violating the obligations of Great Britain to other powers, as well as to her own interests.
To have shrunk under such circumstances from manly resistance would have been a degradation blasting our best and proudest hopes; it would have struck us from the high rank where the virtuous struggles of our fathers had placed us, and have betrayed the magnificent legacy which we hold in trust for future generations. It would have acknowledged that on the element which forms three-fourth of the globe we inhabit, and where all independent nations have equal and common rights, the American people were not an independent people, but colonists and vassals.
Here is the question:
In his speech, Madison argues that the U.S. went to war with Great Britain in 1812 in order to
-
A.
rid the continent of British soldiers.
-
B.
defend itself from imminent attack.
-
C.
clearly assert that it was independent.
-
D.
satisfy its new imperial ambitions.
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