Eliseo Lugo III

 After James Madison’s election into office in 1808, tensions between the United States and England would continue to deteriorate.  Prior to 1812, the United States did everything possible to remain neutral in the War between Britain and France  However, continued fighting between Britain and France had threatened American shipping.  American shipping was threatened by both British and French Impressment.  Americans were also angry that the British had been arming the Native- Americans in the Northwest against them.  Four years later, Madison would lead the nation into the War of 1812 against Great Britain.

 Although both France and Britain threatened U.S. ships between 1805 and 1814, Americans focused their anger on the British.

 One reason was the British policy of Impressment, the practice of seizing Americans at sea and “impressing,” or drafting them into the British navy.  In other words, the British were seizing American ships and forcing the sailors to work for the British.

 Americans grew even angrier after learning that officials in British Canada were supplying arms to Native Americans in support of their ongoing battle against American settlers.

 A group of young congressmen from the South and the West, known as the Warhawks, demanded war against England.  These Warhawks included Henry Clay of Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina

 Not everyone supported war against Britain.  The strongest opposition to the War came from the New England states who argued that it would hurt American trade.  However, by the spring of 1812, President Madison had decided to commit America to war against the British, and Congress approved the war declaration in mid-June.

 Spending cuts made by Thomas Jefferson earlier in history and a lack of popular support had left the American military with few volunteers and not very well prepared for war.  At the start of the war, the nation only had 16 warships and an army of fewer than 7,000 men.  In other words, the United States was in no shape militarily to fight a war against what was then the world’s strongest military.

 At the start of the war, Britain, was too preoccupied with Napoleon in Europe to pay much attention to the Americans.  Britain’s initial strategy was to establish a blockade of the American coast.  A blockade is the action of shutting a port to prevent people or supplies from coming into an area or leaving it.  This blockade was successful because by the end of the war, the British were able to close off all American ports.  This blockade was possible because contrary to the 16 total warships that the United States had, the British were able to send 135 ships to form their blockade.

 In July of 1812, the United States sent troops into Canada.  The Warhawks believed that Canadians would welcome the Americans as their liberators from British rule.  The war campaign in Canada was a dismal failure as over 2,000 American soldiers were captured in a humiliating defeat.

 By 1814, the British had defeated Napoleon.  This victory would allow the British to send many more troops to the United States.  As a result, the British scored a stunning victory in August of 1814, when they brushed aside American troops and sacked Washington, D.C.  The British set fire to several government buildings including the White House.  Madison and other federal officers fled the city as the British burned the Capitol, the Presidential Mansion, and other public buildings.  Americans were shocked when they found out that their army could not defend Washington.  The British would then focus their attentions on Baltimore

 It was during the Battle of Fort McHenry in Baltimore that Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star Spangled Banner”

 The British had grown tired of fighting and peace talks began in the city of Ghent, Belgium.  On December 24 th of 1814, the two sides signed the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war.  The treaty stipulated that all things were to return to the way that they were prior to the war. So…. who won ???  Ironically, news of the Treaty took several weeks to reach the United States and during that time, the United States had won a stunning victory at the Battle of New Orleans.

 The Treaty of Ghent, signed on Christmas Eve of 1814, declared an armistice, or end to the fighting.

 The war had three important consequences.  First, it led to the end of the Federalist party, whose members generally opposed the war.  Second, it encouraged the growth of American industries to manufacture products no longer available from Britain because of the war.  Third, it confirmed the status of the United States as a free and independent nation and created a great sense of Nationalism in the Nation.  Nationalism is devotion to ones own country ; pride in ones own nation or ethnic group.