Chapter 8, Section 3
The Coming of War
Violations of Neutrality

Trading overseas was profitable but very risky
for American merchants
 Ships
had to travel vast distances often through
violent storms
 Risk of capture by pirates from the Barbary States of
North Africa in the Mediterranean

USS Constitution
 Large
United States warship sent to end Barbary
Pirate attacks
Violations of Neutrality

France and Great Britain go to war in 1803
 Each
side wants to stop the United States
from supplying the enemy with goods
 Each government designed laws to prevent
American merchants from trading with the
other
 British and French navies captured American
merchant ships searching for war supplies
Violations of Neutrality

Great Britain began searching American ships
for British sailors who had run away from the
British navy
 Sometimes American
sailors were captured by
mistake and forced to fight in the British navy


Impressment
Attack on the Chesapeake
 British
ship Leopard stopped the United States ship
Chesapeake and tried to remove sailors
 The American captain of the Chesapeake refused
 British took the sailors by force
The Embargo Act

Americans were unsure of how to react to Great
Britain’s violation of United States’s neutrality
 Some
called for war while others favored an
embargo


Banning of trade
Embargo Act
 Banned
all trade with other countries
 American ships could not sail to foreign ports
 American ports were closed to British ships
The Embargo Act

The effect of the law was devastating to
American merchants
 Northern

states hit especially hard
The embargo damaged President Thomas
Jefferson’s popularity
 Strengthened the Federalist party
 Angry merchants petitioned Jefferson
to repeal the
embargo

The Embargo had very little effect on Great
Britain or France
Non-Intercourse Act
Banned trade only with Britain, France,
and their colonies
 Stated that America would resume trading
with the first side that stopping violating
US Neutrality
 No more successful than the embargo act

Conflict in the West
Disagreements between Great Britain and
the United States went beyond the
shenanigans on the high seas
 On the western frontier, British and Native
Americans clashed with American settlers
over land

The Conflict Over Land

In the early 1800’s, Native Americans in the old
Northwest territory continued to lost their land as
thousands of settlers poured into the region



United States gained this land in the Treaty of Greenville, but
Native American leaders who did not agree to the treaty
protested the settler’s arrival
Frustrated Native American groups considered what to
do next
Britain saw an opportunity to slow American westward
expansion

British agents supplied Native Americans with arms
Tecumseh Resists U.S. Settlers

Tecumseh
 Shawnee
Chief
 Brilliant Speaker
 Warned other Native Americans about the
dangers of settlers
 Promoted unification of Native American
peoples to resist settlers
The Battle of Tippecanoe

William Henry Harrison




Governor of Indiana Territory
Alarmed with Tecumseh’s activities
Was convinced that Tecumseh had British backing
William Henry Harrison and Tecumseh met face to face
in 1810



Harrison insisted that Tecumseh follow the Treaty of Greenville
Tecumseh argued that the white settlers had no rights to Native
American lands
Harrison warned Tecumseh not to resist the power of the United
States
The Battle of Tippecanoe

Tecumseh journeyed south seeking the support
of the Creek nation
 During

his absence, William Henry Harrison attacked
Battle of Tippecanoe
 Native Americans
launched an attack on Harrison’s
camp on November 7, 1811
 After an all day battle, Harrison’s soldiers forced the
Native Americans to retreat and then destroyed
Tecumseh’s village
 The Native American defeat destroyed Tecumseh’s
dream of a great Native American confederation

Tecumseh fled to Canada
Tecumseh’s Curse



Legend has it that after his defeat at the Battle of
Tippecanoe in 1811, Tecumseh placed a curse on the
United States that every president elected in a year
ending in “0” would perish in office
This curse came true when William Henry Harrison died
in office in 1841 (elected in 1840) of pneumonia (also the
nation’s shortest presidency)
From this point forward, every president elected in a year
ending in “0”died in office, terminating with Ronald
Regan (elected in 1980), who survived an assassination
attempt
Call For War
Evidence of British support to Native
Americans angered Americans
 Many felt that Great Britain encouraged
Tecumseh’s actions in the west

The War Hawks

War Hawks
 Young
members of Congress who took the lead in
calling for war against Britain
 Given the nickname by their political opponents
 Many from the South and the West




Henry Clay (of Kentucky)
John C. Calhoun (of South Carolina)
Felix Grundy (of Tennessee)
Calls for war increased
 Leaders
wanted to put a stop to British influence
among Native Americans
 Wanted to invade Canada and obtain more land for
settlement
 Others angered by British trade restrictions
The Opposition

New England Federalists were the strongest
opponents to the war
 Business
people and merchants there wanted to
renew friendly business ties with Great Britain for
economic purposes

Others argued that a war against Great Britain
would be foolish
 United States not yet ready
 Small army and navy
 Inability
to mass produce military supplies
Declaring War

James Madison (father of the Bill of
Rights) was elected President in 1808
 In
1812, he decided that Congress must vote
on the war

War Hawks won in Congress
 War
was declared against Great Britain (and
for the first time ever in the nation)
 War of 1812