Ch. 6, Sect. 4

War of 1812

Jefferson’s Second Term: 1804-18081804: Jefferson wins Electoral College, 162 to 141805: France and Britain at it again! Battles of

Austerlitz & Trafalgar change balance of power in Europe and at sea.

1806: London issues Orders in Council – an attempt to blockade the French. American merchants caught in middle

1807: USS Chesapeake attacked 10 miles off VA by GB

1808-1811: 6,000 Americans impressed by G.B.Will it mean war?

Chesapeake Encounter with the LeopardA painting of the British frigate Leopard firing its guns into the U.S.S. Chesapeake when the U.S. ship refused to be searched for British deserters. The British boarded the subdued Chesapeake and seized four deserters, three of them American citizens. Americans were humiliated and angered by the British violation of American rights. (Courtesy of William Gilkerson)

Chesapeake Encounter with the Leopard

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Manning the Navy, English engraving showing the impressment of American sailorsThe impressment of sailors into the British navy from American ships was one of the more prominent causes of the War of 1812. This 1790 engraving shows an American sailor being seized at gunpoint while those who might try to assist him are elbowed aside. (Library of Congress)

Manning the Navy, English engraving showing the impressment of American sailors

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Jefferson’s Embargo

SITUATION: US merchants marine is victim to both France and Britain, Americans calling for war

PROBLEM: Jefferson has a weak army, no navy (his own fault, too)

SOLUTION: Embargo Act of 1807RESULT: West and NE are devastated economically,

smuggling takes off, Embargo repealed 1809, except for w/ England & France.

Republicans’ popularity plummets, Federalists are revived.

Still no Navy!!!

Jefferson’s Embargo

Was it a success, or failure?

Think of:

Impact on England

Impact on Republicans & Federalists

Influence of New England’s Economy

Development of Industry in US

Western War Hawks

• Henry Clay of Kentucky (Speaker of the House) & John Calhoun of South Carolina lead call for war– “WAR HAWKS”

• Western Reps call for “Free Trade and Sailor’s Rights,” eagerly eye “free land” in British Canada, battle cry is “On to Canada”

• War Hawks see British support for Indian threat on Frontier

• William Henry Harrison persuades native chiefs in Indiana to cede 3 million acres – angers other tribes

Tecumseh and the Prophet

• Tecumseh and the Prophet create a pan-Indian alliance• They revitalize Indian culture and ways• They refuse to recognize land deals

– Stated that they would join US against Brits if they stopped “stealing” Indian lands

• Gen. Harrison destroys their village after The Battle of Tippecanoe Creek Nov. 7, 1811

• Form an alliance with British in War of 1812• Tecumseh killed at Battle of Thames, 1813• Andrew Jackson defeats Creeks at Battle of Horseshoe

Bend (Indian alliance collapses without Tecumseh)

WAR!!!• War Hawks engineer vote for war, 79 to 49 in

House, 19 to 13 in Senate• Vote shows growing sectionalism • IRONY: London repealed Orders in Council 2

days before war vote• New England violently opposed to war with

England - Secession is a real threat.• US enters the war unnecessarily and un-united

Second War for Independence:

War of 1812A Bad Idea, Poorly Executed

• America has no army, no navy

• New England (maritime states) oppose the war

• British and Canadians are ready to fight

• Americans have no strategy for Canada (forget the lessons of Montreal in the Fr. & Indian War)

• 1813 American invasions of Canada fail

Battle for Lake Erie“In short, our victory was due to our

heavy metal.” -Theodore Roosevelt

• Perry has more ships and more carronades –so he needs to get close and fight ship to ship.

• Perry’s flagship is destroyed and he rows, under heavy fire, to a second, smaller ship. He continues the fight and the British surrender.

• This puts all the British forts along the Great Lakes in peril.

http://reed.senate.gov/images/rhodeisland/erie_b.gif

• Oliver Hazard Perry has some success on Lake Erie• British forced to withdraw from Detroit, leading to Battle

of the Thames Oct. 1813• British return in 1814, with 4,000 troops• Washington DC is burned August 1814• Baltimore is attacked next, important port for privateers• Ft. McHenry holds, “Star Spangled Banner”

http://www.historycentral.com/1812/baltimore.html

Battle of Baltimore,

Battle for Baltimore• 9/12/1814: British first attack overland from North Point

(near Key Bridge today).• MD militia successfully delays British marines. Col.

Ross, their commander is “shot off his horse by two Baltimore teenagers (Henry McComas and Daniel Wells.”British withdraw.http://www.pattersonpark.com/Park%20Information/rodgersbastion.html

• 9/13/1814: 2nd attempt: Battle for Hampstead Hill and try again. Commodore John Rodgers, USN led 12,000 men in fighting off British, using 100 cannon on site of Pagoda in Patterson Park today.

• British Navy held at bay by Ft. McHenry and chained and sunken ships in inner harbor.

• British give up and retreat.• “Star Spangled Banner”

War at SeaSUMMARY: Americans win the battles,

But lose the war at sea

• Americans fight better ship for ship

• American ships are stronger, crews better, handled better by captains

• YET, British superiority in sheer #’s allow for a blockade that strangles American shipping, fishing, even banking (no customs or tariffs collected)

Old IronsidesCOMPARATIVE FORCE.

Tons. Guns. Broad-side. Men. Loss.

Constitution 1576 27 684 456 14

Guerrière 1338 25 556 272 79http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~beej/constguerr.html

The British commander should not have engaged. He was at a disadvantage.

The loss of the Guerriere to the Constitution was a huge humiliation to Britain. In the last two decades the British had NEVER lost as ship. This, probably more than any other battle, cemented the US as a world power because it could now project power beyond its borders.

http://www.ussconstitution.navy.mil/VirtualTour.htm

• Jackson wins Battle of Horseshoe Bend against the Creek• Next he fights Battle of New Orleans, last campaign of war• Andrew Jackson's 5,600 troops—including 2 companies of African American volunteers from New Orleans--defeat 8,000 better-trained British troops in January of 1815, •2K British lost in 30 min, Americans lose 70+. •The battle made Andrew Jackson a national hero, esp. in West and on the frontier.

Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans, artist unknown

Treaty of Ghent, 1814SAD IRONY: Signed 2 weeks before Battle for New Orleans

Armistice signed Christmas Eve 1814.

ORCHESTRATED by Tsar Alexander I, Russia b/c of Napoleon’s advances, needs England out of war w/ US

NEGOTIATED IN IGNORANCE by both sides.

English think they are winning the war, but news of Battles in NY and Baltimore, along with events in Europe, pressure GB to come to terms.

MYTH: Americans credit Battle of New Orleans with winning the war. TRUTH: More like a draw.

War of 1812 - The Scorecard• 6,000 Americans killed or wounded

• New respect for America abroad

• Sectionalism and Federalist Party defunct

• U.S. is now has a NATIONAL IDENTY

• Andrew Jackson & William Henry Harrison heroes

• Revives antagonism with Britain

• Establishes a border with Canada, wary peace

• Oregon Territory shared by Britain and U.S.

War of 1812

War breaks out b/w France and Britain

Orders in Council

Impressment -USS Chesapeake

Embargo of 1807

War Hawks

War of 1812