JAMES MADISON AND THE WAR OF 1812

THE ELECTION OF 1808 Jefferson decided he would not be a candidate for president in 1808, following the precedent set by George Washington.

ELECTION OF 1808 The Republican party chose James Madison and the Federalists chose Charles Pinckney as their candidates for president. Madison won with 122 electoral votes.

CAUSES OF THE WAR OF 1812 Madison took office at a troubled time. The embargo crisis still posed problems, and Britain and France continued to violate America’s freedom of the seas.

CAUSES OF THE WAR OF 1812 1. American neutral rights were violated. Britain blockaded the French coast and France searched and seized American ships caught trading with Britain.

CAUSES OF THE WAR OF 1812 Britain continued to impress American sailors. Britain attacked an American ship (Chesapeake), killing Americans and spreading anti-British sentiment.

CAUSES OF THE WAR OF 1812 2. The Embargo Act (prohibiting trade with all foreign nations) continued to hurt Americans more than the British, severely damaging the American economy.

CAUSES OF THE WAR OF 1812 3. As American settlers moved and took land that had been promised to the Native population, the Natives began planning alliances with the British.

CAUSES OF THE WAR OF 1812 4. Young Republicans elected to Congress in 1810 from the South and West called WARHAWKS pressured President Madison to declare war because of their strong sense of nationalism.

THE WARHAWKS Who: Young Republicans elected to Congress in 1810 from the South and West What: called for war and quadrupled the size of the army. Leaders: Henry Clay and John Calhoun.

MEANWHILE, ON THE FRONTIER… American settlers began moving on to lands in the Ohio valley that had been guaranteed to the Indians through treaty agreements.

A powerful Shawnee chief named TECUMSEH built a Native confederacy (alliance) to stop the American advance. He hoped to receive help from the British.

Tecumseh’s brother, known as the Prophet, urged Native Americans to give up practices learned from white invaders and return to their old ways and customs. The Prophet founded a village called Prophetstown near the Tippecanoe River.

BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE In 1811, General William Henry Harrison attacked Prophetstown and defeated the Indians there. Because of this attack, Tecumseh now formed an alliance with the British against the Americans.

WAR OF 1812 Madison declared war on Britain in the spring of 1812, but the U.S. was unprepared to fight. Several factors led to problems for the Americans.

AMERICAN PROBLEMS Regular army consisted of less than 7000 troops. Militias were poorly trained and many did not support the war. Military commanders were too old for warfare.

PROBLEMS, CONT. Lack of leadership in Washington D.C. Americans underestimated the strength of the British and Native Americans.

IMPORTANT EVENTS August 1814—the British attacked Washington D.C. and burned the Capitol and the White House.

September 13-14---the British attacked Baltimore, which was defended by Fort McHenry in the harbor. Francis Scott Key wrote the poem The Star Spangled Banner in response (it became the national anthem in 1931).

December 1814—the Treaty of Ghent ended the war.

January 1815—British troops attacked, starting the Battle of New Orleans (word of the treaty had not reached the U.S.). The city was being defended by American soldiers led by Andrew Jackson.

The Americans won the battle. Andrew Jackson became a big war hero, and eventually president of the U.S.

RESULTS OF THE WAR OF 1812 Federalists lost support because their objections to the war now sounded unpatriotic.

Warhawks (part of the Republican party) carried on the Federalist philosophy of a strong national government, favoring trade, western expansion, economic development, and a strong army and navy.

The American people gained confidence and the respect of foreign nations. They felt a strong sense of patriotism and a strong national identity (NATIONALISM).

Finally, the American people were finally free of the control of Great Britain. The War of 1812 is sometimes called the Second American War for Independence.