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

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

3. 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

4. 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

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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

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

17. 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

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

19. 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

20. 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

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

22. 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

23. 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

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

25. 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

26. 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.

27. So how did we end up at war?
The harsh winter of , 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

28. 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