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James Madison becomes president
The Americans were angry with Britain. The British were arming Native Americans in the North West. Americans felt a new sense of nationalism. -
Period: to
the war of 1812
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War Hawks Take Power
The two strongest nationalists Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun became the leaders of the House of Representatives. Clay, Calhoun and their supporters were called the war hawks. Opposition to war was strongest in New England. Many New Englanders believed war with britain would harm American trade. -
Relations with Great Britain Worsen
The British told Americans that they're still going to impress the sailors. The Native Americans in the Northwest began their attacks on the frontier. In June Congress declared war on Britain. -
Congress Declares War on Britain
When the war began the Americans were sure that they would win, but after awhile they knew they wern't ready. Jerferson's spending cuts had weakend American militarys strength. They only had 16 warships ready to fight and only 7000 men. -
America is not Ready for War
The Americans were definitetly not ready for the was as they thought they were. They only had 16 warships and 7000 men ready to fight. Also Jefferson's spending cuts really weakened the American army. -
USS defeated Britain
The USS defeated Britain's warship Guerriere in a fierce battle. It were nicknamed "Old Ironside" because the British fire bounced off the thick wooden hull. It seemed that it was made of iron. -
Invasion of Canada
Even before the war began the war hawks were demading an invasion of Canada. General Hull invaded Canada from Detroit. Hull feared that they didn't have enough soldiers so they soon retreated.The British comander took advantage of Hull's confusion and forced Hull to surrender. The British captured 2,000 American soldiers. -
Battle of Lake Erie
American forces had better luck. Both sides were aware of controlling the lake. The battle was three-hours long and took place at Put-In-Bay in the Western part of the lake. Although the America flagship was badly damaged, the Commander Oliver Harzard Perry switched to another ship and won the battle, -
Battle of Thames
The British and their Native American allies retreated. The Americans under General William Henry Harrison pursued them. They followed the British into Canada, defeating them in the battle of the Thames. Tecumseh was among those killed in the battle. -
Second Battle of Sackets Harbor
The Americans won the battle of York. They then retreated to Fort Niagara.. preparing to attack Fort George. The Americans lost their chance to take Kingston because they thought the British had more troops than they did. -
Britain Blockades American Ports
The first day of the war the British set up a blockade of the American coat. The British had 135 warships blocking American ports. After reinforcing their troops, the Britain were able to close off all American ports by the end of the war. -
Battle of Fort Oswego
British General Sir Gordon Drummond and British Commodore Sir James Yeo mounted an attack from ships in the lake with about 1000 troops. They succeeded in capturing the fort.The British had hope to capture 21 cannons but the cannons had not yet arrived when the raid took place. The cannons later proved to be critical to the Americans gaining control of the lake. -
Washington, D.C Attacked & Burned
The new British strategy was to attack the nations capital, Washington D.C. The British marched into the city. The British set fire to some of the goverment buildings including the White House. -
Battle of Plattsburgh
A British army under Lieutenant General Sir George Prévost defended American troops under Brigadier General Alexander Macomb. But was defeated after a hard fight.Then Prévost abandoned the attacks by land against Macomb's defences and retreated to Canada. -
Harford Convention
Some delegates suggested the Hartford Convention, the New England states withdraw from the united states. While the delegates argued backa and forth the news of the peace treaty arrived. The war was over and the Harfors Convention ended. -
Treaty of Ghent
Britain was tired of war. Peace talks began in Ghent, Belgium. On Christmas Eve the two sides signed the treaty. They wanted to end the war. The treaty returned things back to the way they used to be before the war. -
Battle of Horsehoe Bend
The Creek warriors attacked tons of southeren American settlements. Andrew Jackson took command of American forces. Jackson defeated the Creeks at the battle of the horeshoe Bend. The treaty was ended and the Creeks had to give up millions of acres of land. -
Attack on Baltimore & the Writing of the Star Spangled Banner
The British moved to Baltimore. They first went to Fort McHenry which was defeated by the citys harbor. The British ships bombed the city all through the night. Francis Scott Key watched the whole thing. In the morning they saw that the American flag was still high in the sky and they knew they had won. That's when Key wrote a poem called "Star-Spangled banner". The congress made the anthem the national song of the United States. -
Battle of New Orleans
The news of the treaty took several weeks to reach the United States. In that time the two sides fought one more battle. In January American forces under General Andrew Jackson won the stunning victory over the British Battle of New Orlands.