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In 1809, James Madison became president. Tension was high in Britian and the Americans were mad at Great Britian for arming Native Americans in the Northwest. Americans also resented the continued impressment of American soldiers by the British.
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War Hawks were those whowere eager for war with Britain. Opposition to war was strongest in New England. Many people in New England believed war with Britain would hurt America.
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In the early months of 1812, relations with Britain got worse. In the spring, the British told the United States they would continue impressing sailors. Meanwhile, Native Americans began new attacks on frontier settlements.
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In June, Congress declared war on Britain. The Americans thought that they could win the war but even though Britain was still at war with Europe, they were still more prepared than the Americans. The Native Americans kept the Americans from invading Canada because Britain had given them weapons.
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America was not prepared for war because Thomas Jefferson's spending cuts had weakened the American military. The navy only had 16 warships and the army had fewer than 7,000 men. The Britsh army was alot bigger.
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During the beginning of the war the British set up a blockade of the American coast. By 1814, the British had 135 warships blockading American ports.By the end of the war, Britain had closed off all American ports.
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Before the war began, war hawks wanted to invade Canada. They wanted Canadians to welcome the chance to throw off British rule. American troops under General William Hull invaded Canada from Detroit but Hull was unsure and he didn't think there were enough American soilders so he retreated. The British commander, General Isaac Brock, took advatage of the confusion and captured more than 2,000 soilders.
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In August 1812, the USS Constitution defeated a British warship named the Guerriere. American sailors nicknamed the USS Constitution "Old Ironsides" because British artillery fire bounced off the ships thick wooden hull. To the Americans, it seemed like the ship was made of iron.
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The battle of Sacketts Harbor took plce in May 1813. A British force was transported across Lake Ontario and attempted to capture the town. They were repulsed by American regulars and the militia.
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The Battle of Lake Erie was a 3 hour long battle that took place at Put-In-Bay which was in the western part of the lake. During the battle the Amerian flagship was badly damaged so the American commander, Oliver Hazard Perry, switched to another ship and continued the fight until it was won. He announced the American's victory with a dramatic message "We have met the enemy and they are ours".
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The Americans won the Battle of Thames. It resulted in the death of a Shawnee cheif Tecumsah and the Native American coalition that he led. The battle took place in Ontario which is in upper Canada.
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The Native Americans also suffered a defeat. During the summer of 1814, Creek warriors attacked American settlements. So Andrew Jackson took command of the American forces in Georgia and they defeated the Creeks. The treaty that ended the fighting forced the Creeks to give up millions of acres of land.
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The Battle of Oswego was a sort of successful raid by the British. The Americans didn't really stand a chance because Great Britain had 200 sailors, 400 marines, 550 soilders and 8 warships. The Americans only had 242 regulars, 25 U.S. Navy members and 200 soilders in the militia.
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In August of 1814, Britsh soldiers marched into Washington D.C. and completely burned the White House. Dolley Madison, the president's wife, took any important papers and left the house. After burning the White House, Great Britain felt very confident.
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The Battle of Plattsburgh, also called the Battle of Lake Champlain was the last invasion of the northern states during the War of 1812. The British army which was being commanded by George Prevost, converged on the lakeside town of Plattsburgh which was defended by Alexander Macomb and the ships were commanded by Thomas Macdonough.
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After attacking Washington D.C. the British decided to attack Baltimore. Their first objective was Fort McHenry, which defended the city's harbor. British warships bombarded the fort throughout the night. Francis Scott Key, a young American watched the attack. At dawn he saw that the flag was still flying over the fort. On the back of an old envelope, he wrote the poem "The Star Spangled Banner" which became popular and was eventuallt set to music. In 1931 it became the national anthem.
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In December 1814, a group of federalists met in Hartford, Connecticut. Some delegates suggested that the New England states secede from the Unitd States. While the delegates debated, news of the peace treaty arrived and the convention ended quickly.
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By 1814, Britain got tired of war. They began to talk about peace in Ghent, Belgium. So on Christmas Eve, 1814 the two sides signed the Treaty of Ghent that ended the war. News of the treaty took many weeks to reach America. In that time, the two sides fought another battle in January 1815. The Americans won a stunning victory in the Battle of New Orleans.
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The Battle of New Orleans ws the last battle in the War of 1812. It was fought after the Treaty of Ghent was signed, which was supposed to end the war, but before the Americans knew about the treaty. So in January 1815, Andrew Jackson commanded the American forces and they won a stunning victory.
