Very rare: this pro-war circular was printed just three days after the declaration of the War of 1812, this copy is addressed to the Selectmen of Harvard Massachusetts.
Whole-hearted endorsements of, and oppositions to, the war appeared across New England at the outbreak. “On July, 14, 1812, for example, the town of Northampton, Massachusetts held a peace convention attended by fifty-seven local representatives. One week later, the same town held a convention for those supporting the war. The latter passed a series of resolutions, including one that condemned the previous convention, stating that ‘all meetings and conventions for the purpose of opposing the general government and the laws of the union [are] dangerous during the existence of the present war and highly criminal.’ President Madison articulated a similar message in his refined language” (Peace).
The text reads in part: “Your committee are fully convinced that the present war is not only just but necessary and unavoidable … If the war of the revolution was just, this war is not less so. That was a war against arbitrary taxation of the British Parliament. It was a war for Independence. It was a war for liberty and equal rights. It was begun in honor and ended in glory … The present war is a contest undertaken in defence of rights not less essential, and for priviledges [sic] not less dear … With perseverance, union and courage on the party of our citizens, the result we may predict will be equally glorious … Your committee have no doubt that there is a settled determination on the part of certain leading and influential federal men in New-England to dissolve the union of the United States … The transactions of the leaders [sic] of the opposition, since the declaration of war, prove that this plan of division had not been abandoned …”
A seemingly short-lived publication, the first issue of the Northampton Democrat was issued on 12 March, 1811, and the last recorded example is that of 17 August, 1813.
Not located on OCLC.
Peace, R., “The War of 1812” in United States Foreign Policy: History and Resource Guide accessed online 9 August, 2026
