Unit 8: The Louisiana Purchase & The War of 1812 Lesson 4: The U.S. Tries to Stay Out of War

Thomas Jefferson started his presidency committed to Washington’s policy of neutrality: not taking sides in a conflict

Unfortunately, England was trying to use its trading relationship with the U.S. as a weapon against France, & France was trying to use theirs as a weapon against England

Why weren’t England & France getting along? Since Napoleon had come to power in France, he’d been steadily expanding France’s empire Because this growing French empire was a threat to British trade & sea power, by 1803, England & France were at war

The Napoleonic Wars Jefferson declared that the U.S. would remain neutral, but England & France wouldn’t leave the U.S. alone

Why involve the U.S.? Each country said they’d stop American ships headed for the other country’s ports Each was hoping to hurt the other country’s trade & deprive it of needed food & supplies

left British warships to sail on American ships During this time, some British sailors, called deserters, were so fed up with terrible living conditions in the British Royal Navy that they… left British warships to sail on American ships

In June, 1807, the American warship Chesapeake left its base in Virginia British sailors on another ship ordered the Chesapeake to stop so they could search the ship for deserters When the commander of the Chesapeake refused, the British opened fire

The British boarded the ship & took 4 suspected deserters 3 of the Chesapeake’s crewmen were killed, many others were wounded, & the ship was badly damaged The British boarded the ship & took 4 suspected deserters 3 of them were actually Americans

This practice was called impressment: The British had a history of forcing their own countrymen to join the British Navy This practice was called impressment: forcing of people into service (in the British Navy) During the late-1700s & early-1800s, the British Navy was in more desperate need of sailors than ever As a result, the British Navy’s impressments extended beyond just the British, and to American sailors as well

This particular incidence of the British Navy taking American sailors from the Chesapeake may or may not have been accidental Either way, it was a very public example of British impressment, which had affected thousands of American sailors

Americans were so angered by this that many of them demanded war with England

Would Jefferson agree to that? No Instead he put an embargo on all foreign trade embargo: : an order prohibiting trade with another country He hoped to hurt England & France’s war efforts enough to force them to stop seizing American ships & sailors

The Embargo Act actually ended up hurting the Americans more than it did the British or the French American harbors were crowded with ships & cargo with no place to go Many sailors & other workers lost their jobs, causing many American businesses to fail

Through all of this, Jefferson decided not to run for a third term In the election of 1808, his fellow Republican James Madison was voted President

Just before Jefferson left office, Congress cancelled the Embargo Act Jefferson approved the Non-Intercourse Act to be put in its place

The Non-Intercourse Act allowed Americans to trade with any countries except France & England It turned out to be no better than the Embargo Act at getting France & England to respect the U.S.’s neutrality

So Madison became President in 1809 & planned to follow Jefferson’s neutrality policy It didn’t last long

America would cut off trade with France In 1810, Congress passed a new law that reopened trade with all nations The law also said that if England lifted the restrictions it had put on American trade, America would cut off trade with France If France lifted its restrictions, America would cut off trade with England

Ooo! Opportunity! but the British refused Napoleon saw this as an opportunity to hurt England & agreed to end its restrictions on American trade Madison offered England a last chance to do the same, but the British refused In March, 1811, Madison cut off trade with England

Are the U.S. & England at war yet? Nope First we have to add another piece to the situation

The Native Americans fought back, & oftentimes the British helped As more Americans moved west, they knocked Native Americans who lived there off of their land The Native Americans fought back, & oftentimes the British helped Americans trying to move west thus resented the Natives & the British

Americans now had 2 reasons to be angry at England 1. continuing trouble at sea, with trade difficulties and impressment of American sailors, insulted American pride & hurt trade 2. conflicts on the frontier, with the British supporting Native Americans, hurt westward expansion

Republicans who favored war with Britain became known as war hawks The angriest war hawks were in the West & the South

Those in the West knew there couldn’t be peace on the frontier until the British were pushed out of North America They wanted them off the frontier and out of British Canada

Those in the South wanted to obtain Florida from Spain, England’s ally Southerners didn’t like that many runaway slaves were retreating to Florida Some Southerners also liked the simple idea of obtaining Florida to add land to the U.S.

So how did we end up at war? The harsh winter of 1811-1812, along with the American embargo, made life difficult for the British Food was scarce, and they couldn’t make money by selling manufactured goods to Americans

Desperate for help, the British decided to stop interfering with American ships But before President Madison learned about this decision, he gave in to the demands of the war hawks On June 18, 1812, he asked Congress to declare war against England