War of 1812
How did the War of 1812 transform the nation?
In the 19th century Britain was in a long conflict with Napoleon Bonaparte's France. Both sides didn't want supplies to reach the enemy, so they attempted to stop the United States from trading with the other. Britain passed the Orders In Council, which ordered neutral countries to secure a license from it's authorities before they traded with French colonies or French. The Royal Navy infuriated the Americans by attacking their ships and practicing impressment, which is taking U.S. seamen and making them serve for the British. The Americans wanted Indian land but the British were friends with the Indians and British wouldn't leave U.S. territory. In 1809, the Embargo Act was repealed, it was to restrict trade but it hurt Americans more than Britain and France. Therefore it was replaced with an act that distinctively limited trade with just Britain and France, which was known as the Intercourse Act. It also was unsuccessful and was replaced with a bill that stated if either power discarded trade restrictions against the United States, Congress would proceed with non-intercourse with the opposing power. This was the May 1810 bill. James Madison discontinued all trade with Britain after Napoleon showed he would stop all restrictions. In the meantime new members of congress were elected, Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay. They were people leaders that wanted to go to war, they were known as War Hawks. In 1811 William Henry Harrison led U.S. troops to victory, this convinced Indians they needed Britain's support to stop Americans from pushing them out of their land. The War Hawks kept insisting on war, and in 1812 the president signed a declaration of war against Britain. There was a big debate if there should be war or not. U.S. forces attacked Canada and a British colony, American officials were overly confident about the first invasions success. United States endured a humiliating defeat, soldiers were chased by Brock and Tecumseh’s forces which led them to surrender Detroit with not one shot fired. Things got better for Americans, they had many victories. However on August 24, 1814 British forces invaded the Chesapeake Bay and seized Washington, D.C.,and burned government buildings that included the Capitol and the White House. On September 14, 1814 Baltimore's Fort McHenry withstood a very long attack by British Navy. British forces left the Chesapeake Bay and began to group their efforts for a campaign against New Orleans. The United States back down on insisting to end impressment, while Britain promised to leave Canada's borders unchanged and disregard efforts to construct an Indian state in the Northwest. On December 24, 1814 commissions signed the Treaty of Ghent, which mean't that all territory would be returned and commissions were planned to set boundaries between United States and Canada. The war's end result raised national self-confidence and inspired the growth of American expansionism that would create the better part of the 19th century. The War of 1812 was a decisive turning pointing their losing battle to govern themselves. It concluded decades of bitter conflicts in government.