Macon's Bill Number 1 was introduced in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

on December 19, 1809, by

Nathaniel Macon Nathaniel Macon (December 17, 1757June 29, 1837) was an American politician who represented North Carolina in both houses of United States Congress, Congress. He was the fifth Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, speaker of the ...

from the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Relations. The bill was drawn up by

Albert Gallatin Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Genevan-American politician, diplomat, ethnologist, and linguist. Often described as "America's Swiss Founding Father", he was a leading figure in the early years ...

and prohibited public vessels of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

or private vessels owned by subjects of either power from entering American ports; forbade the importation of goods from either country or its colonies; and provided that whenever either country should revoke or modify her edicts so that they would cease to violate the neutral commerce of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

should issue a proclamation announcing the cessation of the prohibitions of the act towards the revoking power. He afterwards moved an amendment to make the act expire with the present session of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, when by its terms it would not go into effect till April 15, his object being to make it useless. It finally passed by the unsatisfactory vote of 73 to 52. The

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

amended it by striking out all but the sections prohibiting British and French public vessels from entering American ports and limiting the act to the next session of Congress. The House of Representatives refused to recede and the bill was lost. On April 8, 1810, Congress brought in another bill, commonly known as

Macon's Bill Number 2 Macon's Bill Number 2, which became law in the United States on May 14, 1810, was intended to force Britain and France to cease intercepting American merchant ships during the Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = ...

even though Nathaniel Macon had nothing to do with this bill and did not support it, providing that if France or Great Britain should revoke her edicts before March 3 of the next year, the President should proclaim the fact, and if within three months thereafter the other nation did not repeal its edicts, the non-intercourse regulations should be effective against it. This bill, after undergoing various amendments, passed the House of Representatives on April 19, 1810, by a vote of 61 to 40. It was sent back to the Senate with further amendments and finally passed on the last day of the session, May 1, 1810, being approved on the same day.

References

*Hunt, Gaillard.
The Writings of James Madison
', University of Virginia Library. Charlottesville, Virginia, 2003. 1810 in American law United States federal legislation United States federal trade legislation {{US-fed-statute-stub