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The Battle Of 1812
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President Madison Takes Office
Madison's main goal was to keep the US out of war. Some people were mad because they thought they should stand up to the Native Americans and other foreigh countrys. In the early 1800's US finally went to war with several Native Nations, including Britain. -
War Hawks Take Power
President Madison didnt want war with Britain. New England didnt want war either because they wanted their trade back with Britain. Members of Congress from South and West called for war with Britain. They were known as the War Hawks. The War Hawks felt that the British was treating the US as if it was still a British colony. -
Relations With Great Britain Worsen
The fighting with Native Americans caused this friction. Britsh were supplying guns and ammunition to the Natives on the frontier. British encouraged Natives to attack the US. In this time, Britain and the US were fighting about trade. The US made an offer, if either the British or the French would stop seizing American ships, than the US would halt trade with the other nation. French agreed so the US stopped trade with Britain. -
Congress Declares War on Great Britain
The war was because Americans didnt want British to be interested with our Indian neighbors. Also for more land. New England was worried because they thought the British were going to attack their sea ports. The House voted 79 to 49 in favor of war. The Senate vote was 19 to 13 in favor of war. Americans soon found out that winning the war wont be as easy as declaring the war. -
America Is Unready For War
America was unready for war because Jefferson believed in a small federal government, and he reduced spending on deffenses. The Navy had 16 warships against a whole British fleet. The army was poorly trained and ill equipped. Since there was few troops, the government relied on volunteers, and they would pay the volunteers $124 and 360 acres of land. -
Britain Blockades American Ports
One hundred and thirty five British warships were blockading the ports. After reinforcement troops, the British were able to close off all ports by wars end. The American army was weak due to the military cuts, they had 16 warships and under 7,000 men. -
Invasion Of Canada
William Hull moved American forces from Detroit to Canada. Canada had very few, untrained troops, however they were led by a skillful British commander, General Isaac Brock. Brock put his soldiers in redcoats to look lith the British are helping them. Brock sent out a false letter exagerating how many troops, and Native Americans they had on their side. The letter worked and the Americans retreated. -
USS Constitution Scores A Victory
The USS Constitution defeated the British warship Gueriere, in a bad battle. The USS Constitution was nicknamed "Old Ironsides" because British artillery fire bounced off the wooden hull. To the Americans, the USS Constitution was made of iron. -
Battle Of Laker Erie
The Americans wanted to take control of Lake Erie. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry had no fleet, so he designed and built his own ships. The British took down Perry's ship, so Perry then rowed over to another American ship and started to fight again. Finally the Americans won the battle. Perry wrote a message "We have met the enemy and they are ours." -
Battle Of Thames
British and their Native American allies retreated. General William Henry Harrison followed British into Canada. Then the Americans defeated them. -
Horseshoe Bend
British and their ally Tecumseh retreated to Canada after the loss of Lake Erie. The Indian leader Tecumseh died to the Americans in the Battle Of Thames. After this, the Indian Confederation fell apart. Tecumseh's allies in the South, kept fighting against the settlers. Soon the Indians had to give up their land too white settlers. -
Washington, D.C. Attacked and Burned
Margret Smith recalled the scene. "Who would have thought a mass so solid, so magnificent, so grand, be thus irreparably destroyed." The White House wasnt destroyed, just burnt. A thunderstorm put out the flames and saved the structure. -
Battle Of Baltimore
Birtish first objective was fort McHenry, which defended the cities harbor. British bombarded the harbor with rockets. After the fight, Scott Key still saw the American flag held high. Americans fought off the attack. -
Writing The Star Spangled Banner
On the back of an old envelope, Scott Key wrote a poem called "The Star Spangled Banner". It told the story of what he saw over the night. In 1931 Congress made it the National Anthem. -
Hartford Convention
The British blockade ruined New Englands sea trade. New England was worried because they thought the South and the West were going to be more influential than them because the US might get Florida and Canada. Federalists from New England met in Hartford Conneticut. Hartford Convention threatened to leave the union if the war continued. While they debated, a peace treaty arrived and the protest was meaningless. -
Treaty Of Ghent
This treaty was signed in the city of Ghent, Belgium. One American summed up the treaty in one sentence. "Nothing was adjusted, nothing was settled." The treaty said nothing about impressment or neutrality. These issues faded because of the end of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. Later, some issues were settled like the dispute over the border between Canada and the United States. Some Americans thought this war was a mistake, other thought they would get more respect from the British. -
Battle of New Orleans
British was taken off guard, Andrew Jaskon was waiting for them. Jackson turned his frontier fighters into an army, he had thousands of men. Many random citizens joined in to protect their home from the British. The Americans dug trenches for protection. British kept attacking but failed, over 2,000 British soldiers died. The Americans won!
