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Jefferson did not want to get involved in foreign affairs…like
Washington, wanted to remain neutral...
…But this was impossible:

1. American merchants were engaged in trade all over the
world

2. Louisiana Purchase opened the country to westward
expansion

3. US had little control over the actions of other nations
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1805 the British began to clamp down on
American shipping
 They did not want Americans
supplying food to their enemies (i.e., the French!),
so…
British set up a partial blockade
 only some American ships could bring
provisions to Europe
•
British set up a partial blockade of ships, then also…

Britain began impressing (kidnapping)
American sailors to work on British
ships.


1803-1812: British impressed about 6,000
Americans
British ship Leopard attacked the
USS Chesapeake and caused 3 American
deaths and aroused anger!

If Congress was in session war might have
been declared

Congress passed the
Embargo Act of 1807
 American
ships were no longer
allowed to sail to foreign ports
 American ports were closed to
British ships

THIS WAS A
DISASTER!!!
More harmful to U.S
than to the British and
French
 American farmers and
merchants,
Southerners,
Westerners, shippers,
New Englanders all
suffered!

The British were also blockading the American coast—which
stopped shipping from coming in or going out—and really
hurt the small and fledgling American businesses.
Members of the Federalist Party, based
primarily in New England, were against the war
because they thought it would disrupt their
business and shipping interests even more.
They were so angry at the discussion of war
that they held the Hartford Convention where
New England threatened to secede!



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To allow reopening of trade
National Pride
To stop the impressment of sailors
CANADA!!!


Not everyone in the US wanted to go to war
Military was small




Standing Army was small
Militia comprised most of our forces, and they did
not like to fight outside of their state borders
Navy was quite small only 22 ships
Britain was a great Superpower and could
crush us like a bug and we could lose territory
that was gained in the Treaty of Paris or the
Louisiana Purchase



June of 1812
Madison asked
Congress for
declaration of war
Vote was split
along regional
lines
War started with
Invasion of Canada
Dolly Madison, however, became a hero when she saved the
famous portrait of George Washington by the artist Gilbert Stuart.

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Unlike Washington, D.C.,
Baltimore was ready for the British.
After bombarding Fort McHenry on
September 13, 1814, the British
abandoned the attack.
Francis Scott Key was being held
prisoner on a British ship in the
harbor and witnessed the
bombardment all night long unable
to tell who was winning and who
was losing the battle. As the night
wore on, only through the light of
bursting bombshells could he see the
American flag at times. As the sun
rose, he could see the American flag
still flying above the fort! He later
wrote a poem about the moment
which became our National Anthem.
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Fought after the treaty
was signed (but not ratified)
Why was New Orleans
important?
Pirates and
Frontiersman fought
alongside US troops
Made Andrew Jackson
a national hero and
household name
Ensured treaty
ratification
The Treaty of Ghent, signed on Christmas Eve, 1814,
declared an armistice, or end to the fighting.
First, it led to the end of the Federalist party,
whose members generally opposed the war.
The British blockade and the War of 1812 led to the creation of a
cotton-manufacturing industry and numerous manufacturing
establishments were founded (particularly in the North), leaving the
United States industrially independent of Europe!
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/revolutionary_war/spirit.jpg