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Impressment
From 1803 to 1810, British ships captured American ships and forced their crews to work on British ships. -
Britain and France go to War
After Britain and France went to war, this made people in the US want to support different sides. This eventually leads to the US going to war in 1812. -
Lousiana Purchase
Jefferson bought the Lousiana territory which doubled the size of the United States. This bothered Britain because they wanted to eventuallly take back North America but this made it harder to reconquer the area in the future. -
Jefferson Re-elected
Jefferson was re-elected as president which means that he would be able to make decisions regarding hostilities with Britain. -
Battle of Trafalgar
In this battle of the coast of Spain, the British navy was able to destroy the fleets of both the French and the Spanish. This meant that the British navy essentially controlled the Atlantic for a long time to come. -
Blockade
The British set up a blockade off the coast of Europe which prevented any goods from going in or out of Britain. -
The Chesapeake Incident
British soldiers on board the Leopard wanted to search for British deserters on board the Chesapeake. The British opened fire on the Chesapeake which angered the Americans. -
Embargo
The Embargo Act of 1807 banned the export of goods to all other coutries. This was to combat impressment to avoid American sailors from being taken. This Embargo hurt Euroopean nations but it also hurt American buisnesses in the process. -
War Hawks
This group of Congressmen, led by John Calhoun and Henry Clay, wanted to have wars. This put pressure on the government to start a war to fix issues. -
War Declared
President James Madison passed a bill to the senate asking to declare war on Britain. The bill was passed and the US officially went to war.
