The War of 1812
The Second War for Independence
Chesapeake Incident
 Napoleon renewed his war with Britain
 1806 – Britain passes Orders in Council

Closed European ports under French control
 Britain impressed 6000 American sailors
 Chesapeake – American frigate off the coast of
Virginia
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Confronted by British who demanded the
surrender of deserters – Americans say no
British fire on the Chesapeake
 Infuriated Americans
Embargo Act of 1807
 Attempt to use economic pressure to force
Britain and France to remove restrictions on
American trade
 British and French continued to seize
American ships and steal their cargo
Non-Intercourse Act of 1809
 Replaced the Embargo Act

US could trade with world except Br and Fr
 Remained US policy until 1812
 Unexpected Consequences
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New England was forced to become selfsufficient again (reopen factories)
Laid the groundwork for US industrialism
Jefferson, who was a critic of an industrial
America, ironically contributed to Hamilton’s view
of America
Madison’s Gamble
 Madison wins election of 1808

Crippled by factions in party
 Macon’s Bill No. 2

If one country stopped attacks upon American
shipping, the United States would cease trade
with the other, unless that country agreed to
recognize the rights of the neutral American
ships as well.
 Gamble failed
Britain instigates the Indians
 Tecumseh and the Prophet
 Movement of Indian unity and cultural renewal
 Tecumseh meets with
British General Brock
 British armed the hostile
Indians
Battle of Tippecanoe - 1811
 General William Henry Harrison – Governor of
Indiana Territory
 Harrison gathered an army and advanced on
Tecumseh’s headquarters
 Prophet attacked Harrison and was routed
 Battle of Tippecanoe made Harrison a national
hero and solidified Tecumseh’s alliance with
Britain
Mr. Madison’s War
 War Hawks – wanted war
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Wipe out the menace of the Indians
Restore confidence in the republican experiment
Felix Grundy – Tennessee
Henry Clay of Kentucky
 Madison asks Congress for War on June 1,
1812
 Federalists from New England opposed the
conflict
War of 1812
 American Problems:
 US was unprepared militarily

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Had only a 12 ship Navy versus 800 British
ships
Americans disliked the draft – preferred instead
to enlist disorganized state militias
 Financially unprepared
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Flood of paper money
Revenue from import tariffs declined
 Regional disagreements
War of 1812 – Canadian Campaign
 British forces were weakest in Canada
 US used a 3 pronged attack instead of focusing on
Montreal
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Invaded from Detroit, Niagara, and Lake Champlain
Each was beaten back
 American Navy performed better
 Won control of the Great Lakes
 Oliver Perry built a fleet and defeated the Brits
 Retreating Brits were then defeated by Harrison at Thames
 Macdonough led Americans to defeat Brits at Plattsburgh
 Redcoats forced to retreat
War of 1812
 Napoleon was destroyed and Brits focused on US
 Troops landed in Chesapeake and advanced on
Washington DC – set fire to White House and
Capitol – Aug 1814
 Fort McHenry – British fleet hammered fort, but
couldn’t capture Baltimore

Francis Scott Key writes National Anthem
 British aimed at New Orleans – 1814-5
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Brits launched a frontal assault on Andrew Jackson
Americans were victorious and Jackson became a
national hero
Treaty of Ghent
 1812 - Tsar Alexander of Russia proposed
mediation

Allied with British and wanted them to focus on Fr
 Met in Ghent, Belgium in 1814
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John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay
British made sweeping demands, Americans
rejected them
 Treaty of Ghent was an armistice/ceasefire

Neither side won
Hartford Convention – late 1814
 Secret meeting of Federalists
 New England considers secession
 Convention demanded financial assistance
from Washington to compensate for lost trade

2/3 of Congress to approve embargo
 The members were disgraced when the news
of the victory at New Orleans came
Lasting Effects of the War
 Globally unimportant, but had huge
consequences for US
 Other nations gained respect for US

Perry and Macdonough as naval officers
 Federalist Party lost all power
 War heroes emerged – Jackson and Harrison
 Manufacturing prospered in NE
 Nationalism – shown in literature

Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper
 Bank of US was revived
The American System
 After the war, the British dumped goods on
US at really low costs

US factories wanted protection
 Tariff of 1816
 First tariff for protection, not revenue
The American System
 Clay’s American System – 1824
Strong banking system to provide credit
 Protective tariff for manufacturing to flourish
 Network of roads and canals
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Especially in Ohio Valley
Knit the country together economically and
politically
 States often had to fund these measures by
themselves
The American System -develop a home market
 Tariff of 1816- protect US
business - manufacturing would
flourish
 Second Bank of the
U. S.
Henry Clay,
“The Great
Compromiser”
 Internal improvements
at federal expense.
- National Road
The American System –
 Madison vetoed the federal funding –
states had to venture ahead on their own
WEST  got roads, canals, and
federal aid.
 EAST  got the backing of
protective tariffs from the
West.
 SOUTH  ??