WAR OF 1812
…the WarS of 1812
CHAPTER 6 – SECTION 4
The War of 1812 is often remembered for some iconic moments:
the heroism and success of the United States Navy
the burning of Washington, D.C. by the British
the writing of The Star Spangled Banner
Andrew Jackson winning the Battle of New Orleans
Terms and People
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Tecumseh
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Battle of Tippecanoe
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War Hawks
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War of 1812
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Andrew Jackson
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Battle of New Orleans
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Treaty of Ghent
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Hartford Convention
Gearing Up for War
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Hostilities growing toward England
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Dem. Republicans humiliated by the failure of the 1807 embargo against Britain.
Continued British abuses on the oceans, and
Native American resistance in the West
Americans increasingly blamed the British
Non-intercourse Act1809
 Replaced the Embargo
 Aimed at Britain and France
 The US would resume trade with whichever of those countries lifted their restrictions on
American shipping
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Macon’s Bill No. 2
 restored trade with both Britain and France
 if either country actively recognized American neutrality the US would resume trading
sanctions against the other country.
 France agreed to withdraw decrees against American shipping, however, France
continued to seize American ships.
 President Madison ordered sanctions against the British. In the meantime
Battling Native Americans
• On
the western frontier,
 Shawnee Indian brothers,
the prophet Tenskwatawa
the warrior Tecumseh
to preserve Native American culture
unite the Indian nations in armed resistance against
American expansion.
 angered by the government’s repeated use of dishonest treaties to
take their lands.
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 Battle of Tippecanoe 1811, while
 Tecumseh was seeking allies in the South,
 Gov. William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory led troops
into Prophetstown, along the Tippecanoe River.
 Americans burned Prophetstown
 most Native Americans escaped to fight again.
The War Hawks Demand War
•
In 1811 aggressive young politicians, the War Hawks, took the
lead in Congress.
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Representing farmers and settlers from the southern and western states,
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina
Henry Clay of Kentucky.
Strong nationalist,
 denounced the impressments of American sailors and
 British support for Native Americans.
 The War Hawks pushed for a war against Britain to restore national honor.
 They insisted that invading British-held Canada would deprive the Indians
of their main source of arms and drive the British out of North America.
 The War Hawks also believed that the British would make maritime
concessions to get Canada back from the Americans.
 They underestimated the value that the British put on their domination of
world trade.
War Breaks Out
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President Madison urged Congress to declare war on Britain in June
of 1812.
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Although the War of 1812 deeply divided the nation, Madison
narrowly won reelection later that year.
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Disunited, unprepared, and with only a small army and navy, the
United States went to war once again with the world’s greatest
power.
The Invasion of Canada Fails
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Thomas Jefferson acted as
 adviser to Madison
 argued that with a population of 8 million, the US could easily conquer Canada, only
250,000people.
 argued that the United States did not even need a professional army.
 The citizen militia could do the job quickly and with little expense.
 He called the conquest of Canada “a mere matter of marching.”
 Jefferson’s assumptions proved to be wrong.
 the small British and Indian forces in Canada repeatedly defeated the American invasion
 Reliance on the state militias proved a disaster.
 no professional training, many militiamen broke rank and ran when attacked.
 The American regular army performed almost as poorly.
 Instead of bolstering American pride, the attempted invasion of Canada only further
embarrassed the nation.
Defeating the Native Americans
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British—the little American navy performed well
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To the surprise of many Americans— and
to the shock of the British,
captured four British ships during 1812.
Oliver Hazard Perry
 Lake Erie, defeated a British flotilla in 1813,
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little progress in conquering Canada
 defeat Britain’s Indian allies within the US.
 In October 1813, the army killed Tecumseh and scattered his supporters.
 Andrew Jackson
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1814 crushed the Creek Indians of Alabama
To make peace, the survivors surrendered most of their lands.
Jackson then invaded the Spanish colony of Florida,
defeating the Seminole Indians and seizing the Spanish fort at Pensacola.
The British Invade
• 1812
and 1813 most of the British forces were in Europe
fighting Napoleon.
• 1814
the defeat of Napoleon freed thousands of British
troops to fight in North America.
 British took the offensive
 British navy blockaded the coast,
 British forces invaded the US
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occupied eastern Maine,
easily brushing aside the weak defense by local militia.
a second army invaded northern New York,
a third British force landed in Maryland and marched on Washington, D.C.
a fourth army into the Gulf of Mexico to attack New Orleans.
War’s Aftermath and Effects
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Battle of New Orleans in January 1815
 The Americans won their greatest victory
 From a strong and entrenched position, General Andrew Jackson routed
the British attack.
 the Americans suffered only 71 casualties, compared to 2,036 British casualties.
 New Orleans was especially tragic
 two weeks after the Americans and the British had signed a peace treaty at Ghent in
Belgium.
 notifying the soldiers in North America took over a month because of the slow pace of
sailing ships.
The Treaty of Ghent
•
both sides agreed to a peace treaty that restored prewar boundaries.
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The Americans had failed to conquer Canada,
British had failed in their American invasions.
set up a commission to discuss any boundary disputes
The treaty did not address the issues of neutrality or impressments.
 But after Napoleon’s defeat, the British no longer needed to impress American
sailors or to stop American trade with the French.
 The Americans interpreted the Treaty of Ghent as a triumph
 they learned of it shortly after hearing of Jackson’s great victory.
 That sequence of events created the illusion that Jackson had forced the British
to make peace.
 Americans preferred to think of the conflict as a noble defense of the United
States against British aggression.
The Hartford Convention
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Demise of the Federalists
 After the War of 1812, Jackson’s victory in New Orleans, surge of nationalism
 Federalists discredited
 opposing a war that became popular once it was over
 The Hartford Conventions
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December 1814, Federalist delegates from the New England states met at
Hartford, Connecticut
to consider secession
make a separate peace with Britain
Settled for constitutional amendments designed to strengthen New England’s political power.
Unfortunately their demands reached Washington, D.C., at the same time as news of the
peace treaty and Jackson’s victory.
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embarrassed the Federalists
mocked as defeatists and traitors.
Madison ignored their demands, lost votes in next election
By 1820 the Federalist Party was dead—a sad fate for the party that had created the federal
government only to lose faith in it during the War of 1812.
The Nation Continues to Grow
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the War of 1812 ended most Indian resistance east of the Mississippi River
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As a result millions of acres of southern land opened up for settlement.
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the establishment of the new states
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Indiana (1816),
Mississippi (1817),
Illinois (1818),
Alabama (1819).
American settlers had been pouring into Spanish Florida,
 cross-border conflict
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Seminole Indians,
Americans, and the
Spanish.
Fugitive slaves seeking sanctuary in Florida, added to the tensions.
Adams-Onís Treaty signed in
 Spain’s gave Florida and Oregon territory to the US
 US renounced its claims to Texas
 US paid $5 million
Causes & Effects The War of 1812
Analyze Cause and Effect Despite ending in stalemate, the War of 1812 had a
major impact on the United States. How did it affect American settlers?
Cause
• British interfere with American shipping
• British interfere with American expansion into the western frontier
• Southerners want Florida, which is owned by Britain’s ally Spain
• War Hawks want to expel Britain completely from North America
Effect
• Revealed need for a strong standing army
• Encouraged US nationalism & US sovereignty was firmly established
• Brought end to the Federalist Party - from 1816 to 1828 a single party, the National
Republicans had control
• Shattered the strength of Native American resistance
• Paved the way for American acquisition of Florida
• land boom in the west led to the PANIC OF 1819; land prices escalated through wild
speculation until the bottom dropped out of the market driving thousands into bankruptcy.