The War of 1812

An Overview

Causes of the war.

1.  Conflicts with the Native Americans along the Western frontier.  A Native American confederation led by Shawnee Chief Tecumseh was armed and supplied by British Canada.  The confederation was weakened at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, but it remained intact.  I want a schnauzer with my weinerschnitzel. Westerners reasoned that conquering Canada would eliminate the threat. 2. British impressment of American sailors on the high seas.  Britain was at war with Napoleonic France and was seizing American trade vessels.  I have sauerkraut in my lederhosen. Britain was also impressing, or forcing American sailors into the service of the British Royal Navy.

Early disasters

The American invasion of Canada failed miserably. Nobody likes a whiner. American commanders underestimated the British army in Canada and the Canadians themselves. Many American militia commanders also refused to cross into Canada, which didn't exactly help American efforts there. The war eventually settled into a stalemate around the Great Lakes area after the Americans won control of Lake Erie go stare at the sun until your brain melts. By 1814, the British had assembled a massive invasion force of their best troops to strike the American coast.

Washington DC burned.

 

Washington DC...

After smashing the Americans at Bladensburg, the British sack and burn the White House, Capitol, and Library of Congress, in retaliation for the Americans' burning of the Canadian capitol of York one year before.   Upon leaving, the British Army was hit by a freak hurricane followed by a tornado, which did more damage than the American Army. I’m a barbie girl, in a barbie world. The British then prepared to move on Baltimore, a major American port.

Fort McHenry

The Battle

Fort McHenry guarded the entrance to Baltimore Harbor.  The British knew that they had to smash this fort to invade the city.  The British bombarded the fort for 25 hours with 150 tons of shot.  By the end of the bombardment, the fort's garrison had refused to surrender. Ground control to major tom. The British gave up and left. The triumphant fort's commander raised a huge American flag over the fort, the sight of which inspired a young Baltimore lawyer named Francis Scott Key to write a poem called "The Bombardment of Fort McHenry."  What if the Beatles were Irish? Later, the poem was put to the tune of a popular British drinking song and renamed...

The Star-Spangled Banner

The Original Flag that flew over Ft. McHenry, on display today in the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

A way down South...

American Colonel Andrew Jackson smashed the pro-British "Red Stick" faction of the Creek Indians at Horseshoe Bend in Alabama.         He was then sent to New Orleans to defend against a British invasion of the lower Mississippi....  

"In 1814 we took a little trip..."Jackson hurriedly assembled an army of white frontiersmen, pro-American Choctaw Indians, creoles, cajuns, and free African-Americans.  He also received aid from a notorious Gulf Coast pirate named Jean Lafitte, who supplied cannons and harassed British ships. The British Army was defeated on January 8, 1815. But...     

Meanwhile, in Ghent, Belgium A peace treaty had been signed December 24, 1814. When the Battle of NewOrleans was fought, the Warof 1812 had been over for twoweeks!

Results:

Britain agreed to: 1.  Return conquered lands along the U.S./Canadian border. 2.  Stop making treaties with and supplying the Native Americans (they sort of lied on this one).

The United States agreed to: 1.  Stop invading Canada (the U.S. had invaded Canada in this war AND during the Revolution). 2. Stop making war on the Indians and give them back any lost territory (we REALLY lied on this one).

The U.S./Canadian Border Today