Jefferson and Madison,
British Impressment of
American seamen, Settlers'
conflicts with the Native
Ameircans and the
Expansionist goals of the
War Hawks
Thesis
• The influencing factors that made the US participate
in the War of 1812 were the British impressment of
American seamen, settlers's conflicts with the Native
Americans, and the expansionist goals of the War
Hawks.
British Impressment of
American Seamen
• Impressment was the practice of forcing men into
service with the navy
• The 1806 Orders of Council included orders to
blockade French and allied ports which included
America
• Nearly 9,000 men claiming American citizenship were
impressed leading up to and including the War of 1812
Impressment
• The Chesapeake affair was an
important factor that started the
War of 1812. 3 American crew
members were killed by a
British ship attempting to
impress deserters aboard the
ship.
• Impressment was important
because it turned public opinion
against Britain and it humiliated
America because they couldn't
protect American ships or
sailors.
Settlers' conflicts with
Native Americans
• The British wanted to stir up trouble among the
Native Americans and keep the Americans from
settling past the Appalachian Mountains.
• Frontiersmen and war-hawks believed that "scalp
buyers" in Canada were strengthening an Indian
movement.
• Regardless, Americans continued to move into the
trans-Allegheny wilderness, which pushed the
Native Americans further West.
• Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa ("the
Prophet") formed a confederacy of tribes east of the
Mississippi.
• Followers gave up alcohol and went back to
traditional style of dress.
• The confederacy vowed never to cede land to whites
unless all of the Indians agreed.
• In 1811, William Henry Harrison, governor of the
Indiana Territory, gathered an army and advanced on
Tecumseh's headquarters at the junction of the
Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers. Tecumseh was
elsewhere, gathering support, when Tenskwatawa
attacked Harrison's army with a small group of
Shawnees.
Battle of Tippecanoe
• Harrison won the battle and became a national hero.
• Discredited Tenskwatawa and drove Tecumseh into
an alliance with the British.
Created
further resentment for British, who hindered
••Battle
of Tippecanoe,
western
expansion.
chromolithograph by Kurz &
Allison, 1889.
• http://www.stephensonhouse.org
/BenWar1812.asp
Expansionist goals of the
War Hawks
role in the participation; they were the primary
force that accounted for Madison's decision to enter
the War of 1812.
• The War Hawks were a
political group that felt that
the US should become imperialistic and gain as
much foreign land as possible.
• The War Hawks pushed for the US to add Canada
and Florida to its territory. They were mainly
interested in westward expansion and were angry
with the British for closing trade channels with
America and considered the treatment British
treatment of American sailors to be illegal.
• They also wanted the US military to take further
What eventually happened
• The 11th Congress met in December of 1811- they selected Henry Clay
to be the speaker.
• President James Monroe reluctantly supported the Congress's desire
to go to war against Great Britain, meaning that they encouraged the
US to participate in the War of 1812
• The War of 1812 turned out to be a disaster- Clay was in Belgium
trying to negotiate a peace treaty; British troops overran Washington
and burned down the Capitol.
• Clay's Peace treaty did no good and eventually, the war hawks' goals
weren't achieved.
Conclusion
• In conclusion, these influencing factors of
impressment, native conflicts, and the expansionist
goals of the War Hawks forced the United States into
war. They had to defend themselves from Britain,
which suited the War Hawks who wanted to expand
the nation's borders.