War of 1812

Causes of the war

In the years following the American Revolutionary War, relations between Great Britain and the United States were often strained. When revolutionary France upon Great Britain in 1793, the United States sought to remain neutral while pursuing overseas commerce with both empires, which created much tension. Additionally, Great Britain had not abandoned fortifications in the Great Lakes region as called for in the 1783 Treaty of Paris, and was continuing to supply those Native Americans in the Northwest Territory who were at war with the United States. In 1795, the United States secured the Jay Treaty with Great Britain and the Treaty of Greenville with the Native Americans, and thus ended these conflicts for the time being.

Related Topics:
American Revolutionary War - 1793 - Great Lakes region - 1783 - Treaty of Paris - Northwest Territory - War with the United States - 1795 - Jay Treaty - Treaty of Greenville

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Great Britain and France went to war again in 1803, and the Royal Navy, short of manpower, began boarding American merchant ships in order to seize some of the many British seamen serving on American vessels. Although this policy of impressment was supposed to reclaim only British subjects, between 1806 and 1812 about 6,000 American citizens were taken against their will ("pressed") into the Royal Navy.{{fn|2}} One reason for this was that the British did not recognise American citizenship certificates issued to naturalised Britons and considered that anyone born a British subject remained a British subject. Great Britain did not want to stop impressment because it was seen as an effective way of combating desertion from the Royal Navy. The Monroe-Pinkney Treaty (1806) between the U.S. and Great Britain was not ratified in the United States because it did not end impressment.

Related Topics:
War again in 1803 - Royal Navy - Impressment - Desertion - Monroe-Pinkney Treaty - 1806

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This issue came to the forefront with the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair of 1807, when the British ship HMS Leopard fired on and boarded the American ship USS Chesapeake, killing three and carrying off four "deserters", of whom three were Americans thereby pressed into the Royal Navy. The American public was outraged by the incident, and many called for war in order to assert American sovereignty and national honor.

Related Topics:
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair - 1807 - HMS ''Leopard'' - USS ''Chesapeake'' - Sovereignty

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Meanwhile, Napoleon's Continental System (beginning 1806) and the British Orders in Council (1807) established embargoes that made international trade precarious. From 1807 to 1812, about 900 American ships were seized as a result.{{fn|3}} American President Thomas Jefferson responded with the Embargo Act of 1807, which prohibited American ships from sailing to any foreign ports and closed American ports to British ships. Jefferson's embargo was especially unpopular in New England, where merchants preferred the indignities of impressment to the halting of overseas commerce. This discontent contributed to the calling of the Hartford Convention during the war.

Related Topics:
Continental System - Orders in Council (1807) - Thomas Jefferson - Embargo Act of 1807 - New England - Hartford Convention

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The Embargo Act had no effect on Great Britain and France, and was replaced by the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809, which lifted all embargoes on American shipping except for those bound for British or French ports. As this proved to be unenforceable, the Non-Intercourse Act was replaced in 1810 by Macon's Bill Number 2. This lifted all embargoes, but offered that if either France or Great Britain were to cease their interference with American shipping, the United States would reinstate an embargo on the other nation. Napoleon, seeing an opportunity to make trouble for Great Britain, promised to leave American ships alone. He had no intention of honoring this promise, but the ruse de guerre worked, and the United States reinstated the embargo with Great Britain and moved closer to declaring war.{{fn|4}}

Related Topics:
Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 - 1810 - Macon's Bill Number 2 - Ruse de guerre

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In the United States House of Representatives, a group of young Democratic-Republicans known as the "War Hawks" came to the forefront in 1811, led by Speaker of the House Henry Clay of Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. The War Hawks advocated going to war against Great Britain for a variety of reasons, mostly related to the interference of the Royal Navy in American shipping, which the War Hawks believed hurt the American economy and injured American prestige. War Hawks from the western states also believed that the British were instigating Native Americans on the frontier to attack American settlements, and so they called for an invasion of British North America to end this threat.

Related Topics:
United States House of Representatives - Democratic-Republicans - War Hawk - 1811 - Speaker of the House - Henry Clay - Kentucky - John C. Calhoun - South Carolina

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On June 1, 1812 U.S. President James Madison gave a speech to the U.S. Congress, recounting American grievances against Great Britain, though not specifically calling for a declaration of war. After Madison's speech, the House of Representatives quickly voted (79 to 49) to declare war, and after much debate, the U.S. Senate also voted for war, 19 to 13. The conflict formally began on June 18, 1812 when Madison signed the measure into law. This was the first time that the United States had declared war on another nation, and the Congressional vote would prove to be the closest vote to declare war in American history. None of the 39 Federalists in Congress voted in favor of the war; critics of war would subsequently refer to it as "Mr. Madison's War."

Related Topics:
June 1 - 1812 - James Madison - U.S. Congress - U.S. Senate - June 18 - Federalist

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