War of 1812“Mr. Madison’s War”

Pre-War

• British previously in the Ohio Valley-supplying natives with weapons

• British and French are at war in Europe• British seizing American ships-Jay’s Treaty• French seizing American ships-XYZ Affair• Impressments-British forcing sailors to serve in their Navy to fight

Napoleon (cost of doing business on the high seas)• Chesapeake (U.S. warship) is fired on (1807)-3 Americans are

killed and 4 impressed in the British navy• Americans don’t have a navy to contend with the British; Jefferson

didn’t want to spend the money to build it up

Pre-War

• Embargo of 1807-No trade with anyone, “peaceable coercion)

• Non-Intercourse Act (1809)-trade with all but Britain and France; authorized the President to resume trade with whoever gave up their restrictions (Britain said they would, but don’t honor it)

• Macon’s Bill #2 (1810)-resumes trade with Britain and France but the first to formally recognize American neutrality, we’ll trade with them, but not their enemy (France said they would this time, but don’t honor it)

Pre-War

• June 18, 1812-war approved through Congress-rousing the natives to violence and supplying them

with weapons-attack on the Chesapeake-impressments-violation of neutral shipping rights

LAND???

War supporters & opponents

Supporters OpponentsDemocratic Republicans

Farmers in the South and West(desire to expand to Florida, Canada and the West-all controlled by Britain and her ally Spain)

War Hawks-people in Congress who clamor for war; Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun

Federalists

North-NE merchants who rely on trade, especially with Britain

Those who oppose the war call it “Mr. Madison’s War”

War

• 1812 & 1813-Americans make a 3-prong attack to try and capture Canada, 3 attempts, all fail

War

• Native concerns: William Henry Harrison (gov. in the Indiana territory)

• Tecumseh urges all natives to unite together in their fight vs. American expansion

• Tippecanoe-1811-American troops move in on Tecumseh’s brother’s village, Prophetstown; Tecumseh’s brother leads an attack on Harrison’s army of men, but is unsuccessful, Americans take the fort and later burn the village (fearing Tecumseh might return there); lasts about 2 hours

• 1813-Tecumseh will be killed at the Battle of Thames

War

• Naval battles• Late 1812-USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides,” raised

morale by defeating a British ship off the coast of Nova Scotia (in Boston today)

• 1813-a 3 hour naval battle at Lake Erie paved the way for Harrison’s victory at the Battle of Thames near the Detroit frontier/present-day Ontario, a decisive battle in the war where Tecumseh is also killed

War

• August 24-25, 1814• British march into D.C. and set fire to the capitol and

White House (British come in and eat presidential dinner before burning it)

• Dolly Madison saves the picture of Washington by cutting it out of the frame before fleeing

War

• September 1814• Battle of Fort McHenry• British march from D.C. north to Baltimore harbor where

they try to take Fort McHenry• Americans under the command of General Armistead are

victorious, 4 die• Significance-Star-Spangled Banner

Star-Spangled Banner

• Francis Scott Key, a local lawyer, goes to the British to negotiate the release of his friend, Dr. Beans

• He is successful in the negotiation, but because he was on the ship and heard the strategy, he and 2 others are kept on the ship until the battle is over

• Watched and wrote a poem about what he observed-4 stanzas• But to a drinking song “To a Nacrium in Heaven”-1st played in a

tavern; made the anthem in 1931 by President Hoover• The flag that was still waving-30x42 flag, hand sewn by Mary

Pickersgill, she was paid $405.90 to make it, 1/3 the cost of her home

War

• December 1814• Treaty of Ghent: disputes back and forth eroded, the will to fight was

gone, demands on both sides dropped• The treaty ends the war, returns all prisoners, restores all boundaries and

settles nothing else-returns it to the status quo

• December 1814-January 1815• Hartford Convention: NE opposition (Federalists) reaches a point where

they discuss having a separate treaty with Britain, also discuss secession• Word of Federalists gathering together comes in at the same time the

Treaty of Ghent is being concluded and the Battle of New Orleans occurs-results in a loss of power for the Federalists (leads to their demise)

War

• Battle of New Orleans-Jan. 1815• Andrew Jackson• Word about the treaty had not reached them yet• 71 Americans dead vs. 2,036 British• Significant American victory-results in great

pride/nationalism following the war• Jackson emerges as a war hero

War

• June 1815-Battle of Waterloo=Napoleon’s defeat• With Napoleon’s defeat, the seizing of ships and

impressments stop, tensions die down

Questions to ponder

• The War of 1812 is often referred to as Mr. Madison’s War-Is this a fair reference?

• What do you feel is the true reason for going to war? Was American justified in going to war with Britain?

• Were Americans smart in declaring war?• Was this America’s Second War for Independence?• What is the war’s legacy?• Why is this one of the forgotten wars?