There was only so long that a nation-state as ambitious and economically viable as the United States could stay out of a major war between its two biggest trade partners. The climax came with the presidency of James Madison. Already in 1808, Madison’s inaugural speech had implored Britain and France to leave the United States alone in their violent dispute with each other; four years later, circumstances had changed dramatically enough that the United States declared war on Britain. As the war stepped up in Europe and Napoleon’s armies invaded Russia, the British navy expanded its practice of impressing American sailors. Worse, the British colony of Lower Canada maintained positive relations with Native American tribes in the territories of Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana. Under the leadership of the Shawnee chieftain Tecumseh, local tribes organized themselves into the Western Confederacy in opposition to U.S. expansion and fought a major battle against General William Henry Harrison at the Tippecanoe River in Indiana. While the territorial integrity of the United States was only questionably in trouble, the lives and ambitions of its agricultural and seafaring population— most of its citizenry—were undoubtedly at risk.