Military History - War of 1812

Military History – War of 1812

The War of 1812 resulted from the conflicts between the Great Britain and the United States. According to Tucker, Arnold, Wiener, Pierpaoli, et al (2012), President James Madison requested a war declaration to prevent the Britain from capturing the US sailors and protect the American ships on the seas. Prior to the war, both France and the Great Britain who were fighting in Europe used to stop and search the US ships. However, some people referred to the War of 1812 as Mr. Madison’s while others perceived such war as a second independence war that presented an opportunity for the US to protect its honor and freedom in the face of European disregard (Tucker, et al, 2012). The war resulted into increased US patriotism, loss of land among Native Americans, increased confidence in the US military, and interruption of trade. Therefore, the paper outlines the causes and major outcomes of the War of 1812.

The war resulted from a number of issues. First and foremost, the Europe’s two powerful nations, Britain and France often found themselves in conflict since 1793 (Marsico, 2011). Such warfare affected the United States’ trade directly. Marsico (2011) reported that the conflict between the Britain and France began during the French Revolution when England and other European nations attempted to unsuccessfully restore French monarchy. The conflict persistent as Britain led the efforts to prevent French from expanding under Napoleon I. Although the United States’ presidents from Madison to Washington tried to remain impartial during such conflicts, both Britain and France ignored the neutral countries’ rights by interfering with US shipments.

The US was particularly annoyed by the Britain impressments’ practices; capturing the US sailors and forcing them into Britain navy services. The British government asserted that it captured Crown’s subjects who sailed under the US flag to avoid wartime service in the Britain’s navy (Marsico, 2011). Indeed, the Britain government restrained not only the British’s deserters, but also frightened more than 6, 000 U.S citizens. As a result, the United States was annoyed and decided to intervene.

The US annoyance over Britain’s impressments increased after a clash between the British vessel, the Leopard and the U.S naval frigate Chesapeake. According to Heidler and Heidler’s (2002), in June 1807, Leopard approached the Chesapeake that was a few miles from the US coastline and demanded to search for British deserters on the ship. However, the Chesapeake commander, James Barron refused. Consequently, Leopard opened fire, killed several Americans, and wounded others thereby forcing Chesapeake to surrender (Heidler & Heidler, 2002). Additionally, the Great Britain sent a team abroad and pulled about four crewmen from the US vessel. After the June 1807 incident, Jefferson ordered all Britain’s warships to leave the U.S coastline and demanded the Britain to end their inhumane treatment to US seamen (Heidler & Heidler, 2002). However, Britain neither apologized nor compensated for the (Chesapeake-Leopard) incident, but continued to claim that they were justified to capture the US ships and search them for deserters.

Additionally, the president (Madison) wanted to stop Native Americans from creating alliances with Britain especially on the American frontier (Tucker, Arnold, Wiener, Pierpaoli, et al, 2012). However, the Americans in the South and West who wanted to increase the America’s territory by capturing both Florida and Canada influenced the president’s decision. According to Tucker, et al, (2012), the western members of the House of Representative wanted to expand the US’s territory into Canada. As such, the Congressmen including Henry Clay demanded war against Britain. Similarly, the US leaders wanted Britain to stop its aid to Native Americans and also demanded Britain forces to leave Canada. Most Americans believed that, Britain gave aid to entice the Native Americans to resist to frontier settlement.

Ideally the war ended after the Great Britain and the US representatives signed the Ghent Treaty on 24^th December, 1814 (Tucker, et al, 2012). However, the war had various outcomes. First and foremost, America’s Military heroism increased Americans patriotism. Tucker, et al, (2012) cites that, after the war, American men gained courage and did good things for the country. Similarly, the war led to the US renewed faith and confidence in its military to defend the country’s honor and freedom. Tucker, et al, (2012) argue that although neither the US nor the British clearly won the war, the Americans perceived the war of 1812 as a proof to their democratic experiment. That is, the war resulted to a period in American history where most US citizens felt united for a common agenda. In other words, the war convinced most Americans that they could then defeat any foreign threat and thus the country’s focus should be on its development and growth.

Moreover, the war of 1812 interrupted trade between the US and the Britain (Marsico, 2011). For instance, the war led to enactment of the Embargo Act which barred the American ships from sailing to British ports. However, after the war, the US manufacture increased. Marsico (2011) cites that, the war boosted the US manufactures due to demand for goods that resulted from trade interruption. Similarly, after the war, the US independence on imports declined. Consequently, the country was forced to manufacture most of the goods which it previously imported (Marsico, 2011). Nonetheless, this encouraged growth of the US manufacturing industry thereby making the country self sufficient.

Furthermore, the war of 1812 broke the Native American’s (who supported British) strength (Marsico, 2011). For instance, many Native Americans lost their land and certain races refused to join the Tecumseh’s confederacy that Native American formed to stop the growing numbers of settlers who were moving into their (Native American) territory. Marsico (2011) asserts that, the US forces completely weakened the Native American’s power by destroying Tecumseh’s confederacy including the Creek and the old Northwest Confederacy. Similarly, the US forces eliminated the Native America’s supply from Britain.

In conclusion, the war of 1812 resulted from the continued conflicts between France and the Great Britain which later affected the US shipping activities. Britain Navy began stopping and forcibly recruiting the US seamen into Britain’s navy service. The US responded by sending its troops and finally the war ended in December 24, 1814. The war resulted into increased US patriotism, increased confidence among U.S citizens, interrupted trade, and destabilization of Native America territory.

References

Heidler, D. S., & Heidler, J. T. (2002). The War of 1812. Westport (Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

Marsico, K. (2011). The War of 1812. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub. Co.

Tucker, S., Arnold, J. R., Wiener, R., Pierpaoli, P. G., & Fredriksen, J. C. (2012). The encyclopedia of the War of 1812: A political, social, and military history. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.

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