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Context/Background British maintained low opinion of fledgling US
US still had a 82 million war debt owed to Britain
Travel was arduous and expensive 1) Stagecoaches traveled at an average of 4 miles per hour 2) Travel from Bal to NY cost $21, a month's average wages
1/3 of Britain's exports were shipped to US, namely textiles
Urban Population in 1800London 1 million
Philadelphia 70,000
New York 60,000
Boston 25,000
Charlestown 18,000
Baltimore 13,000
Perilous Fight
"The upraised columns of the Capitol were a symbol NOT of national affirmation but of
a people given to grandiose and loudly proclaimed plans incapable of fulfillment."
- Stephen Budiansky Perilous Fight (p34)
U.S. Maritime TradeBy 1805 $100 million a year, quadruple the
previous decade
Customs Duties were governments only reliable source of income
Trade becomes major employer- 1807 50,000 men employed on merchant ships
Shipped Britain two vital commodities Wheat Cotton
Immediate Cause of WarMaritime Issues
"Free Trade and Sailors' rights"
Seizure of Ships Impressment of Sailors
Potential $10 million loss with each seized ship
British officials seeking British-Born sailors often impressed Americans
Privateers demanded $500-$1000 ransom for passage
6,257 American sailors requested release from British Royal Navy
1803-1812
Insurances rates tripled for cargo British need for sailors/soldiers
The Courier
"The sea is ours, and we must maintain the doctrine that no nation, no fleet shall sail upon it without our permission."
- The Courier, London Newspaper
Britain wanted to maintain their hegemony of the seas
U.S. Threat to Britain
It was hard to tell what the British resented more, the money Americans
were making or the aid they were giving their enemies...
- Stephen Budiansky Perilous Fight (p38)
Other Minor Causes
British influence of Native Americans
American need to win respect abroad
Desire to conquer British Canada for additional farmland
Encouragement/supply of attack of western
settlers
Disrespected by both British and French since Washington
Constant desire to expand
Westerners Dem- Republicans (War-Hawks) Westerners
Chesapeake/Leopard 1807, Leopard fires on Chesapeake because the ship refused to allow British officials aboard to retrieve
British deserters
Incident created "War Hawk" fervor for war. Jefferson sponsors Embargo
Act (Revolutionary strategy)
3 of 4 impressed sailors were African- American
Restrictive SystemEmbargo Act, 1807 Shut down trade with
everyone Ruinous to New England
economy
Non-Intercourse Act, 1809Opened up trade with
everyone but Britain and France
Economy still needed trade of either Britain or France
Macon's Bill No. 2
Reopened trade with Britain and France but promised if either respected our rights at sea, we'd ban trade with
the other
French accepted our offer but later continued harassment of ships
British angered by new embargo
US exports in 1807 $108 Million
US exports in 1808 $22 Million
"War Hawks"
Henry Clay John C. Calhoun
"War Hawks" from South and West encourage war with Britain
Eager to build their reputation via war
"Mr. Madison's War"
• Madison sends War Message to Congress
• Frustrated New Englanders referred to the war as "Mr. Madison's War"
James Madison
Recall that the presidencies of Washington, Adams and Jefferson had been dealing with the violation of our rights at sea
Divided CountryDemocratic-Republicans
(War-Hawks)
Federalists
South and West North
"War will uphold America's rights at sea and secure the West
against Indian raids."
"A war against the world's strongest naval power will disrupt
profitable trade."
Senate Vote 19-13
House Vote 79-49
British cruisers have been in the continued practice of violating the American flag on the great highway of nations, and of seizing and
carrying off persons sailing under it...our commerce has been plundered in every sea, the great staples of our country have been cut off from their legitimate markets, and a destructive blow aimed at our
agricultural and maritime interests....
- President Madison's war message, 1812
Military PreparednessBRITISH
UNITED STATES
0 250 500 750 1000
Only 18
Over 1000
Amount of ships in Navy
Quality of ShipUS had higher quality ships
built of Live Oak wood, which is native to the
southern US
24 inches thick walls
33-0 in battle including victory against British
frigate Guerriere
USS Constitution "Old Ironsides"
The FightingUS attacks British Canada without much success
The British attack Washington DC and burn public buildings including the President's House
US defense of Fort McHenry produces "Star Spangled Banner"
Victory at Battle of New Orleans
Tecumseh and his brother the Prophet organize Indians to fight with the British
Anecdote from Battle of Lake Erie
"We had pease boiling for dinner -- our place for cooking was on deck, and during the action a shot had penetrated the boiler, and the peas were rolling all over the deck, - we had several pigs loose on deck, and I actually saw one of them eating peas that had both his hind legs shot off..."
Defense of Fort McHenry
Inspired by the successful defense of Fort McHenry- Francis Scott Key
writes poem that is adopted as our National Anthem in 1931
Indian participation in War of 1812
Tecumseh
Tecumseh and his brother The Prophet organize Indians to resist US movement
into Indiana and Illinois
Battle of Tippacanoe William Henry Harrison
Abandoned by French in 1763 and British in 1815
Indians are the war's biggest losers as they cannot halt US expansion into their land
Tecumseh,1810"You are continually driving the red people, when at
last you will drive them onto the great lake, where they can neither stand nor work...If you will not give up the
land and do cross the boundary of our present settlement, it will be very hard, and produce great
trouble between us...Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the great sea, as well as the earth? Did not the
Great Spirit make them for all the use of his children?How can we have confidence in the white people?"
Brutality of War
"Indians beheaded one officer, carved out his heart and ate it raw" (Hickey, p25)
"Many were tomahawked and many were burned alive..." (Hickey, p25)
Lt Boyd tied to a tree by his intestines and forced to run around it till dead, 1779
Treaty of Ghent, 1814
Signed on Christmas Eve, 1814
War ended in a stalemate
Britain- exhausted from multiple wars
United States- content to end divisive war
Battle of New Orleans, January 8th, 1815
Andrew Jackson
Battle boosts American Morale/Patriotism
General Jackson leads American troops to unlikely but decisive victory
Victory is politically insignificant as it occurs after Peace Treaty
Hartford ConventionSuggested amendments by New England Federalist
One term limit for office of president
Presidents should not hail from same state is successive elections
Two-thirds vote for embargo or declaration of war
End of Three-Fifths Compromise
News of the Hartford Convention comes out at the the same time as the victory at the Battle of New Orleans = Death of the Federalist Party
The War's LegacyByproducts of The War of 1812
Gained respect around the world
Increase in Patriotism- Francis Scott Key, Star- Spangled Banner
Rise of war heroes- Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison
Death of Federalist Party
Birth of 1st Industrial Revolution- war forced self-sufficiency