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By this time, Congress had repealed the Embargo Act of 1803. Madison's solution to the problem was a law that allowed merchants to trade with any country except France and Great Britain. Trade with them would resume when they agreed to respect U.S. ships.
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In late 1811, while Tecumseh was away recruiting for his alliance, Harrison's forces defeated the Shawnee at the Battle of Tippecanoe. Following this defeat, Tecumseh sided with the British in Canada. Tecumseh's welcome in Canada increased anti-British feelings in the West.
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Two US attacks into Canada from New York ended quickly. They tried again from Detroit, Michigan, but failed because of the general in charge, William Hull. He was too careful and slow. He failed to capture a British fort and had to surrender the American fort, Fort Detroit. The Americans decided to attack. Canada again in 1813, but their attempts went nowhere, because it was not well planned, and they had low supplies.
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In September 1813, a small British force on the lake set out to attack a new fleet of American ships. Perry's ship, the Lawrence, flew a banner reading, "Don't give up the ship." Perry's ship was demolished and the guns put out of action. Under British fire, Perry grabbed the banner as he and four companions escaped and rowed to another ship. Commanding the second ship, Perry soon forced the British to surrender.
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When Harrison transported his army across Lake Erie to Detroit, he discovered that the British already had retreated into Canada. Harrison pursued the British and defeated their forces at the Battle of the Thames in October 1813. This American victory put an end to the British threat to the Northwest- and took the life of Tecumseh, who died in the battle, fighting for the British.
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The second phase of the War of 1812 began after the British defeated Napoleon in Europe in April 1814. Britain's army and navy were then free to attack the United States.
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In August 1814, President Madison and other officials fled Washington, D.C., as British forces neared the nation's capitol. Dolley Madison, the president's wife, stayed behind to rescue important objects from the White House. She barely escaped before the British burned the White House and the Capitol building.
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The commander of Fort McHenry had earlier requested a flag "so large that the British will have no difficulty in seeing it." Detained on a British ship, a Washington lawyer named Francis Scott Key watched the all-night battle. At dawn, Key saw that the flag was still flying. He expressed his pride in a poem that is now known as "The Star-Spangled Banner," which became the American national anthem.
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In the North, the British sent a force from Canada across Lake Champlain. Its goal was to push south and cut off New England. The plan failed when the American fleet defeated the British in the Battle of Lake Champlain in September 1814.
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In December 1814, dozens of ships carrying some 7,500 British troops approached the coastline of Louisiana. To defend themselves, the Americans patched together an army under the command of General Andrew Jackson. The British attacked Jackson's forces on January 8, 1815. American riflemen, who had protected themselves by building defenses out of earth, shot at advancing British troops. It was a great victory for Jackson; only 71 American casualties to Britain's 2,000.