A History of the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain

The times of Jefferson and Madison were a turbulent time for the United States. Many events took places that eventually lead to the War of 1812 with Britain. Many of the causes of the war happened in North America, but some reasons why we fought happened on the open seas or in Europe itself. The US was looking for a fight, and it got one.

The causes of the War of 1812 are many and varied. A big problem was the practice of “impressment”, it was supposed to find sailors that had deserted their respective navies. Most of the time though, it was just an excuse to steal goods and men. An incident that came about of this was the Chesapeake – Leopard fight. The Leopard had stopped the Chesapeake because of suspicions of deserters. The Chesapeake refused to stop; the Leopard fired its guns. The Chesapeake had no choice but to surrender, four men were dragged off The Chesapeake. If Congress would have been in session, war would have been declared right then. Another reason why we went to war was the Indian problem. Most of the time when Indians attacked, they were either supplied or incited by the British. The battle of Tippecanoe was an example of British agents working to incite and supply the Indians. A leader that emerged from this battle was William Henry Harrison. Harrison was the governor of Indiana, and was the leader of the force that crushed the Indians at Tippecanoe. Although Harrison lost as many men as the Indians did, he drove the Indians out and burned the Indian town of Prophetstown to the ground. William Henry Harrison became famous because of this battle. Many people in the United States wanted to go to drive the English from North America because of the constant Indian raids. The “War Hawks” wanted to go to war with England because of the Indian threat, the troubles on the open seas, and other reasons. The “War Hawks” were led by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, both would play a large role in politics for years to come. The “War hawks” wanted to go to war as soon as possible, because Napoleon was currently fighting the English. It seemed like a good idea, because the best English troops and ships would be off fighting Napoleon. James Madison asked both England and France to stop stopping our ships. France said they would stop, but kept on doing it, England waited, but eventually agreed to stop. When news of England deciding to stop stopping our ships reached Madison, it was too late, he had already sent a the declaration of war to England.

The War of 1812 began with much optimism and excitement by the US. This was soon to change. The three attempts at invading Canada all but failed. The battle on the waters went much better though. The naval battle of The Constitution (nicknamed “old ironsides” because of the metal on its sides) and The Guerrire was a success for the United States. The Constitution captured the Guerriere and only lost 14 men! The US navy was also successful in controlling all of the great lakes. This control allowed the US to raid the English at York. York was the capital of Canada, and the burning of it was a downer for Canadian morale.

The battle of Thames was a big blow to the Indians. William Henry Harrison killed Tecumseh, and made the Indians of the Northwest weaker and ineffective. Another battle with Indians was the fought by Andrew Jackson. Jackson fought at the battle of Horseshoe Bend. Jackson’s men demoralized the Creek Indians by slaughtering women and children along with the Creek warriors. The battle of Chippawa was an example of the cost of British arrogance. The British commander thought the US lines would break, so he made a head long attack. This failed and they had to pull back. Using their intimate knowledge of the land, General Scott and General brown attacked the British using a little known road. This ploy worked, the US won the battle.

The low point of the war came in August 1814. The English landed near Washington, pushed some hastily assembled militia out of the way, and burned Washington to the ground. According to legend, the president had to hide in a chicken coupe while he was fleeing. Thanks to quick thinking of the presidents wife, we still have artifacts from the pre burned White House. The burning of DC was supposedly in retaliation to the burning of York. The British fleet continued to Baltimore. Baltimore was prepared; they had sunk ships in the harbor, so the British had to bombard the enemy from afar. An interesting thing about Fort McHenry was that it had the biggest flag ever made flying above it.

During the whole bombardment, the British could not hit the flag. Inspired by this was a man named Francis Scott Key, who penned what would later become the national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. At the battle of Plattsburg, US forces repelled yet another invasion attempt by the English. The smaller US force held off the superior British force.

The battle of New Orleans actually was not fought during the War of 1812. The Treaty of Ghent was actually negotiated and agreed upon before the battle. Andrew Jackson had a varied force to defend New Orleans with, but he had the benefit of being able to prepare fortifications. With his fortifications, Jackson’s men were able to defeat the British, and make sure the war would stay ended.

The news of this battle reached New England during a very treasonous time. A convention had been called about secession, nullification, and amendments to the constitution. When the news of Jackson’s victory was heard though, all talk of secession ceased. An interesting bit of folklore sprouted up during the War of 1812. The source of the legend of “Uncle Sam” came from a meat packer during the war, named Sam, who embodied all of the characteristics of the fabled “Uncle Sam”.

The US should have lost this war, but again England could not fully commit to the fight. If the war had continued, the United States would have lost. The thing that saved us was that the English treasury was strapped for cash once again.

Many events took place before and after the War of 1812. It seems that we were justified in our fight, but the United States should have not endangered itself like it did. Thanks to good leaders, and quite a bit of luck, our country made it through the war.

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