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When James Madison took office it brought high tensions with Britain. The act of Britain arming Native Americans in the Northwest made Americans mad. Britain continued impressing American sailors which the Americans resented.
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Henry Clay of Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina were two strong nationalists. They became leaders in the House of Representatives. War Hawks were people who were eager for war with Britain. Clay, Calhoun, and their supporters were War Hawks. An abundance of New Englanders thought war with Britain would harm American trade.
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The British informed the Americans they were going to continue impressing their sailors. Frontier settlements were being attacked by Native Americans in the Northwest. Congress declared war on Britain.
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When the war came the British were still at war in Europe. The Americans demanded they provide Native Americans with support, it was one way of protecting Canada against an American invasion. The British were not willing to meet the Americans demands to avoid war.
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When Jefferson had made his spending cuts it had weakened the American military. The American army had less than 7,000 men. The American Navy only had 16 warships while Great Britain had 135 warships.
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The British set up blockades of the American coast within the first few days or war. The British used 135 warships. The British were able to block every American Port at war's end after reinforcing their troops.
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American troops invaded Canada from Detroit under General William Hull. Hull was fearing he did not have enough soldiers, soon he retreated. General Isaac Brock, the British commander used Hull's confusion to his advantage. In his army was British soldiers and Native Americans. Rapidly they surrounded Hull's army, eventually they were forced to surrender. More than 2,000 American soldiers had been captured.
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The USS Constitution defeated Guerriere the British warship in an intense battle. American sailors nicknamed the Constitution "Old Iron Sides" according to tradition. It seemed to the Americans as if the Constitution were made of iron.
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Britain and America both knew how important it was to control Lake Erie. The American flagship was immensely damaged during the war. Oliver Hazard Perry, the American leader, changed to another ship and continued the war until he had the victory.
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A number of Southern American settlements had been attacked by Creek Warriors. In Georgia, American forces were led by Andrew Jackson. They had defeated the Creek Warriors at Horseshoe Bend. The Creeks were forced to give up millions of acres of land when they signed the treaty to end the war.
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The British had a strategy to attack the nation's capital. A British force advanced into Washington D.C. The American forces were not able to defend Washington, Americans were stunned. The British had set fire to the white House and several other government buildings.
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Francis Scott Key had watched the attack on Baltimore at Fort McHenry as a young American. Early the next morning flying over the fort was the American flag. The Americans had repelled the attack. "The Star Spangled Banner" was a poem written by Key on the back of an old envelope. The poem was about the story of his night's watch.
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In Hartford, Connecticut a group of Federalists had met. Some delegates wanted the New Englanders to secede from the United States. News of the Peace Treaty arrived while they were debating. The convention did not last long as a result of the war was over.
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On Christmas Eve, Britain and America signed the Treaty of Ghent. The signatures symbolized the end of the war. When they signed the treaty, everything went back to the way it was before the war.
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The United States never heard the news about the treaty until several weeks later. The American military beneath General Andrew Jackson defeated Britain. The Battle of New Orleans was the final major battle of the War of 1812.
