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Tension with Britain was high when James Maddison took office. Americans were angry with Great Britain for arming Native Americans in the Northwest. They also hated the continued impressents of American sailors. Most people throught their country's honor was at stake.
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Many New Englanders thought war with Britain would hurt American trade. Opposition to war was strongest in New England. (They didn't want war.) Clay, Calhoun, and their supports were called war hawks. (They wanted to go to war.)
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In the spring Britain told America they would continue impressing American sailors. Also Native Americans began attacking fortier settlements. Americans were angry witrh Britain becaues they supplied the Native Americans with the weapons they used to attack the frontier settlements.
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Congress Declares war on Britain in June of 1812. They declared war because Britain was impressing sailors and arming Native Americans in the Northwest.This is not the first time either of these things have happened.
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Jefferson's cut to the military weaked the Americans. The American navy only has 16 warships ready for war. The army had less than 7,000 men, which was pretty small compared to Britain.
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In the first few days of war, the British set up a blockade along the American coast. By 1814, the British navy had 135 ships blocking American ports. By the end of the war Britain blocked all American ports.
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American troops under General William Hull invaded Canada from Detroit. He retreated because he did not think he had enough soldiers.The British commander General Issac Brock soon took advantage of Hull's confusion and surrounded him, forcing him to surrender. Britain captured more than 2,000 American soldiers.
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A major sea battle was fought in the war.The USS Contitution defeated the British warship Guerriere in a fierce battle. The USS Contitution was nicknamed "Old Ironsides" because British artillery fire bounced off the ship's thick wooden hull.
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A three hour battle took place at Put-in-Bay, in the western part of Lake Erie. During the battle the American warship was badly damaged so American commander Oliver Hazard Perry switched to another ship and continued to fight until they won. With Americans in control of the lake, the British were forced to leave Detroit and retreat back to Canada.
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In March of 1814, Andrew Jackson took command of American forces in Georgia. He defeated the Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The treaty forced the Creeks to give up millions of acers of land.
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The new British strategy was to attack the nations capital. In Augest 1814, a British troop marched into Washington D.C. They set fire to many government buildings. Americans were shocked that their army could not defend Washington D.C.
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Britain had moved on to Baltimore.Their first objective was Fort Mcltenery, which defeaned the city's harbor. Through out the night of September 13, 1814 British warships bombarded the fort. Francis Scott Key watched the attack and at dawn he saw the American flag still flying over the fort. The U.S. had beaten off the attack.Later he wrote a famous poem called
"The Star-Spangled Banner." This was later made into the country's national anthem. -
The Hartford Convention suggested that the New England states should withdraw from the U.S. While the delegates debated, news of the peace treaty arrived. With the war over the Hartford Convention soon ended.
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By 1814 Britain was tired of war. Peace talk began in Ghent. On Christmas Eve 1814, the two sides signed the treaty of Ghent. The treaty retured things the the way they were before the war.
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News of the treaty took several weeks to reach the United States. In that time the Americans and the British fought one more battle. In Januray 1815 the Americans won against the British, under General Andrew George.
