The British government resisted this demand, on the ground that there was no official evidence of the repeal of the French decrees, and the act of non-intercourse was accordingly declared in full force against Great Britain. In March, 1811, the Emperor Napoleon disavowed the statement of the Duke of Cadore, and declared that "the decrees of Berlin and Milan were the fundamental laws of the empire." American vessels had been seized and held by France even after the president's proclamation, and every overture on the part of the American minister at Paris toward the re-establishment of friendly relations between the two countries was viewed with indifference and utterly failed. The country was slowly but surely drifting toward a war, which no exertions on the part of the administration seemed adequate to prevent.
Madison pushed his pacific views to an extent that proved displeasing to many of the most prominent men of the Republican party. Bills were passed for augmenting the army, repairing and equipping ships of war, organizing and arming the militia, and placing the country in an attitude to resist an enemy; for all which congress appropriated $1,000,000.
Madison acquiesced in this policy with extreme reluctance, but on June 1, 1812, transmitted a special message to congress in which he reviewed the whole controversy, and spoke in strong terms of the aggressions of Great Britain upon commercial rights. The act declaring war between Great Britain and America speedily followed. The president gave it his approval on June 18, and promptly issued his proclamation calling upon the people to prepare for the struggle, and to support the government.
A short delay would probably have defeated the policy of the war party, and re-opened the old negotiations. A decree of the French emperor had been exhibited to the United States minister to France, dated April 28, 1811, which declared the definite revocation of the Berlin and Milan decrees, from and after November 1, 1810. In consequence of this, Great Britain, on June 23, within five days after the declaration of war, repealed the obnoxious orders in council in relation to the rights of neutrals, and thus removed one of the main grounds of complaint on the part of the American government.