Unit 8: The Louisiana Purchase & The War of 1812 Lesson 5: The War of 1812

The U.S. entered the War of 1812 at a huge disadvantage The military was weak & unprepared The regular army had a small force of soldiers led by inexperienced officers It had to depend on help from state militias

Because the U.S. had less than 20 ships to face the powerful British navy, they paid privateers to fight Privateers: armed ships owned by individuals  Weird houseboat

The privateers couldn’t stand up to the British warships, but they captured more than 1,300 British merchant ships In turn, the British blockaded the U.S. coast, stopping American shipping Another kind of blockade 

Trying to get Canada One major goal of the war was to gain control of Canada, which was England’s last holding in North America

The first plan to conquer Canada involved a three- way invasion from Detroit, Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario, & Lake Champlain

All 3 invasions failed On top of that, the U.S. suffered many defeats in the West As a result, the British had control of much of the Northwest Territory (Great Lakes region)

At sea, the small American navy & privateers were no match for the British navy, but a few individual ships made names for themselves

The Constitution won a major battle against the British ship Guerriere Its crew called the Constitution “Old Ironsides” because its oak hull resisted British guns

Things start looking up for the Americans In April 1813, the U.S. captured Upper Canada’s capital city of York (present-day Toronto) While there, they burned some official buildings

A few months later, a fleet of 10 small American ships attacked & defeated British warships on Lake Erie

Why were these victories on the Great Lakes important? 1) The Lake Erie victory forced the British to leave Detroit 2) It won back U.S. control of Michigan 3) It gave Americans a much- needed boost in spirits

Time for another invasion of Canada In October 1813, General William Henry Harrison led about 3,500 soldiers across Lake Erie in pursuit of the British forces fleeing from Detroit

This pursuit led to the Battle of the Thames River In this battle, the 3,500 American troops defeated the smaller force of about 600 British & 1,000 Native Americans

Shoot! Just when everything was looking up for the Americans, England sent a ton more troops to the U.S. Where did these troops come from? They had been fighting Napoleon in Europe, & finally defeated him in the spring of 1814

The newcomers included thousands of England’s best troops While fighting continued in the Great Lakes area, another British army arrived in the Chesapeake Bay

Washington D.C. only had about 1,000 badly equipped Americans defending it When 6,000 British troops approached, President Madison & his cabinet fled to avoid being captured

As payback for the burning of the British capital York, the British set Washington on fire Among other buildings, the fire gutted the Capitol building & the White House

The British thought that, with the burning of Washington, they had won the war In early September, they moved on to attack Baltimore Harbor

Much to the British troops’ surprise, though, the American troops stationed in Baltimore eventually forced the British to retreat

So the British hadn’t won yet In late 1814, they planned to invade the U.S. from the south at New Orleans Lucky for us, General Andrew Jackson & his backwoods sharpshooters were ready for them

The Battle of New Orleans On January 8, 1815, the sharpshooters hid behind bales of cotton Their guns were aimed at the 8,000 British soldiers sent to capture the city

In the battle, over 2,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded, compared to the Americans’ 20 casualties

Interestingly, neither side knew that the Battle of New Orleans wasn’t necessary Because communications were slow, they were unaware that more than 2 weeks earlier, the U.S. & England had signed a peace treaty in Ghent, Belgium

The Treaty of Ghent It was signed on Christmas Eve of 1814 & ended the fighting, but actually settled nothing Why, again, had the U.S. gone to war with England?

The treaty didn’t deal with leaving neutral American ships alone, and neither side gained or lost any territory

So was there anything good about the War of 1812? It made many Americans feel proud & self- confident They had gained new respect from other countries, and felt a new sense of patriotism & a strong national identity