Van Buren, Martin; Forsyth, John; Fox, H. S.; et al. Steamboat Caroline : Message from the President of the United States, transmitting The information required by a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 21st ultimo, respecting the Capture and Destruction of the Steamboat Caroline, on the night of the 29th December last, &c. Washington: US Congress, 1838. First Edition. [12335]
Removed, no wrapper, 9 x 5 1/2 inches, 63 pages. Good. Pamphlet.
25th Congress, 2nd Session; House of Representatives, Doc. No. 302.
Letters from various eye-witnesses regarding the rebellion in Canada and the destruction of the Caroline. Includes sworn testimonies given in Erie County court.
"The Caroline was an American steamboat destroyed on December 29, 1837, by British Canadian forces during the Rebellion of 1837. The vessel was chartered by American sympathizers to transport supplies and reinforcements to Canadian rebels led by William Lyon Mackenzie, who had established a provisional government on Navy Island in the Niagara River.
"Under the command of Commander Andrew Drew of the Royal Navy and Colonel Allan MacNab of the Upper Canada militia, a force crossed the border to Fort Schlosser in New York. They engaged in a skirmish in which one American, Amos Durfee, was killed, before setting the Caroline on fire and towing it into the current. The burning steamboat drifted over Niagara Falls, causing significant diplomatic tension between the United States and Great Britain.
"The incident, known as the Caroline Affair, established key precedents in customary international law regarding self-defense. U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster’s correspondence with Lord Ashburton defined the standard that self-defense must be 'instant, vehement, and leaving no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation.' The affair nearly plunged the two nations into war but was eventually resolved through diplomacy, leading to the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842. " - online AI research result.
