Henry Clay’s Speech on the Bill to Raise an Additional Military Force, given in January 1813, stresses the theme of a united national interest in continuing to oppose the British in the War of 1812. In December of 1812, James Madison delivered his annual message to Congress, outlining the events of the war up to that point and appealing to Congress to continue their support of the war. Later that month, Congress adopted a bill to raise an additional force of 20,000 men for the period of a year. Passage of the bill was hotly debated. The Massachusetts congressman Josiah Quincy delivered a scathing speech against passage of the bill, prompting Clay to offer an eloquent and wide-ranging rebuttal, refuting Quincy’s charges and encouraging Congress and the country to stand behind the troops.