to affect us; it is
not for us to quarrel for forms. Britain may pretend to any right she
pleases, provided she does not exercise it to our injury." The moral
effect of the war was, however, favorable to the United States. American
naval victories and the battle of New Orleans taught England that America
was not an enemy to be despised on either sea or land. The War of 1812 has
sometimes been called the second War of Independence, and its effect
certainly was to establish for the United States a respectable position
among independent powers. Even England's satellites in the confederacy
against Napoleon could not but admire the courage of the American people
in bearding the British lion, and the chief magistrate of Ghent voiced the
feeling of Europe when he offered the sentiment, at a dinner to the
American Commissioners--"May they succeed in making an honorable peace to
secure the liberty and independence of their country."

England had to give up her demand for special terms for the Indians who
had assisted her in the war. The scheme to create an Indian nation in the
Northwest, with permanent boundaries, not to be trespassed by the United
States, was abandoned, although at first declared by the British
Commissioners to be a _sine qua non_ and the Indians had to accept terms
dictated by the United States. The British had made lavish promises to the
Indians when seeking them for allies, but the red men were deserted, as
the loyalists of the Revolution had been deserted, at the close of
hostilities. The Indians felt this keenly, especially as the Americans
treated them as generously as if no hostilities had interrupted former
relations.

* * *

Peace with England gave the United States opportunity to chastise the
Algerians, whose Dey, Hadgi Ali, a sanguinary tyrant, had been committing
outrages on American commerce ever since the beginning of the war with
the British. Commodore Decatur was sent to the Mediterranean in May,
1815, with a squadron to chastise the Dey. He had no difficulty in
encountering the Algerian corsairs, who supposed that the American navy
no longer existed. Decatur, after a brief engagement, captured the Dey's
flagship, and this was followed by the capture of another man-of-war
belonging to the pirates. Decatur then sailed for Algiers with his
squadron and prizes. The terrified despot appeared on the quarter-deck of
Decatur's flagship, the Guerriere, gave u