America’s Second War
for Independence?
• Identify and explain the causes and
events occurring during the War of
1812:
– What were the conflicts with Britain,
France, and Natives?
– What was the impact of political factions
on international diplomacy?
– What was the outcome of the War of 1812
• French Revolutionary Wars continue
– American merchants making large profits
• Britain and France looking for ways to
weaken one another…easiest way was to cut
off supplies
• The French and British continued seizing
ships and supplies
– 1803-1807
• France seized 500 ships
• Britain seized 1,000 ships
1. What was the Embargo Act? What was its
impact?
2. What legislation replaced the Embargo
Act?
3. Who was Tecumseh?
4. Why might the US WANT to declare war on
Britain? What actions were inciting the
US?
• By 1809: Many
American’s super angry at
Britain
– Rise of the WARHAWKS!
– Led by Henry Clay of
Kentucky and John C.
Calhoun of S. Carolina
• John C. Calhoun is Miss
Weaver’s least favorite person
in American History; she
hates him…more on that later!
Florida and the War of 1812?
• Frontiersman in the “North” wanted the US to acquire
Canada, while the South wanted the United States to
acquire Spanish Florida
– Indians would raid north into white settlements
– Slaves would escape
• In 1810, American settlers in West Florida( Mississippi
and Louisiana) seized the Spanish fort at Baton Rouge
and asked federal government to annex territory to
the United States
• President Madison happily agreed and began planning
rest of Florida too.
• Another motivation for war with Britain. Spain
was Britain’s ally.
John C.
Calhoun
Henry Clay
• Things have devolved even further:
– Britain is continuing impressment and a rash of
attacks on American frontier settlements
surged
– June 18, 1812: Congress declares war!
– Britain’s response: Whatever…we’ll focus on
you later
• British occupied with Napoleon and France
• By 1813, France was weakened, so the British turned
their attention to America.
Ho hum…here
we go again.
Those whiney
Americans.
Hmmmm…We’ll
show you! We
DECLARE
WAR!!!
Washington
London
The War of 1812
• Ooops…remember Jefferson cut the
military?
– Only 16 warships and fewer than 7,000 men
• Britain's main strategy: Blockade of
America’s coast
– Shutting down a port or road to prevent people
or supplies from coming into an area or leaving
it.
– By 1814, 135 British warships blockading
American ports
• US plans quick invasion of Canada…assume
that Canadians will welcome “liberation”
– Quick & Dirty:
• July 1812: We invade Canada with about 1,000 men
and have our butts kicked by British regulars
• We lose Detroit and most of Michigan Territory
• October 1813: We redouble our efforts and engage
British and Natives on Lake Erie and then at the
Battle of Thames
• USS Constitution and HMS Guerrire battled 400
miles off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia on
August 19, 1812.
• Short barrage of gunfire by both sides led to
the Guerriere becoming damaged beyond
repair.
• The battle with Guerriere earned her the
nickname of "Old Ironsides“.
• This battle, the first of several U.S. Navy
victories in ship-to-ship contests, encouraged
Americans and chagrined the British
• October 5, 1813, British and Indian forces
are defeated by American forces in Canada
• Tecumseh’s death ends Indian resistance in
the Ohio River Valley Methinks
one day I
will be
President!
WHH is the General
commanding all US troops in
the Northwest Territory
William Henry
Harrison
• August 1814, the British Army invades the
United States and marches on Washington
D.C.
• After a brief fight the city surrenders and
nearly all government buildings are razed
by fire including the White House & Capital
• Madison rallies the American public after
this defeat
HATE
• British bombarded the fort through the
night on September 13,1814
– Francis Scott Key, a prisoner on a British barge
witnessed the British bombardment of Fort
McHenry, near Baltimore for 12 hours
– In the morning he observed that the American
flag still flew over the fort and writes a poem
called “The Defense of Ft McHenry” it eventually
becomes a song “The Star Spangled Banner”
• Unsuccessful at Baltimore,
damaged fleet limped to
Jamaica for repairs, and
made preparations for an
invasion of New Orleans,
hoping to cut off American
use of the Mississippi River.
I’m on island
time now!
Admiral
Cochran
• The Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814
ends the War of 1812
• The war is considered staus quo ante bellum,
which means everything goes back to the
way it had been before the war…
• BUT, it took weeks for the news to actually
reach the US…
– In the mean time: The war continues to rage on!
John, why didn’t you
update your
facebook status…Or
at least Tweet that
the war was over?!?
Sorry, I was playing
Words with Friends
with the Secretary of
War
• January, 1815: The American forces are a
multicultural, motley band of experienced
soldiers and warriors
• The British, a trained army, are virtually
mauled by American forces hiding behind
earthworks and cannons
• American forces led by General Andrew
Jackson, inflicts great casualties on the
British army
• Andrew Jackson becomes synonymous with
America’s winning the war.
This is the best
moment of my
life…
You realize this victory
is completely
meaningless…
British Casualties
American Casualties
• 291 killed
• 1,267 wounded
• 484 captured or
missing
• 13 dead
• 39 wounded
• 19 missing
– Major General Edward
Pakenham killed in action
• War of 1812 unpopular in New England
– Believed commercial interests were being sacrificed
by the Southern and new Western states
– Mostly Federalists from Massachusetts, Connecticut
and Rhode Island
– Discussed secession
• While the convention was being held, the ship
carrying news of the Treaty of Ghent was on its
way from Belgium
1. A sense of nationalism sweeps America.
–
Nationalism is a belief and sense of pride in
one’s country based on it’s achievements.
2. The nation will embark on foreign trade
and begin to build a transportation system
in the United States.
3. Native American resistance will be
removed from the Ohio River Valley
permanently opening the Midwest for
expansion.