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The War of 1812
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President Madison Takes Office
When James Madison took office, tensions were high with Britain. Americans were furious with Britain for arming Native Americans in the Northwest. The Americans also resented the impressment of American sailors by the British. -
War Hawks Take Power
At this time, Americans started to feel a new sense of American nationalism. Two strong nationalists, Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun became leaders in the House of Representatives. They and their followers were called war hawks for they were eager to go at war with Britain. But the New Englanders opposed having a war, for they believed it would hurt their trade. -
Relations with Great Britain worsen.
The Americans relationship with Britain just kept getting worse and worse. For instance, in the spring of 1812, Britain told the Americans that they would keep impressing sailors. Along with that, the Native Americans of the Northwest began new attacks on the frontier settlements. -
Congress Declares War on Britain
The year of 1812 brought cruel attacks on America from Great Britain. The Americans were fed up with these attacks that just keep coming and coming. So on June 18, 1812, Congress declared war on Britain. -
America is Not Ready for War
The Americans were first very confident that they would win this war. But they soon found that winning wasnt going to be as easy as they had expected. Jefferson's spending cuts had weakened the military and the navy only had 16 warships ready for action. To make matters worse, the army was very small with fewer than 7,000 men. -
Britain Blockades American Ports
In the first few days of the war, Britain was already showing that they weren't going down without a fight. The British had set up had set up a blockade on the American coast. By 1814, the British had 135 warships blockading American ports. After reinforcing their troops, Britain was able to close off all American ports by wars end. -
Invasion of Canada
American troops led by General Willian Hull invaded Canada. Hull was unsure of his plan so British general Isaac Brock, took advantage of it. Brock's army surrounded Hull's army, forcing him to surrender. In the end, the British captured over 2,000 American soldiers. This put the Americans at a great disadvantage. -
USS Constitution Scores a Victory
In the beginning of the war, a major sea battle was fought. In this battle, their was an American ship named the USS Constitution. In August of 1812, this ship defeated the British warship, Guerriere in a cutthroat battle. The USS Constitution was nicknamed " Old Ironsides" for British artillery fire literally bounced right off the ships thick wooden hull. It seemed as if the ship were made of rock hard iron! -
Battle of Lake Erie
Both Britain and America knew the importance of having control of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. So, a three-hour battle took place at Put-in-Bay. During the battle, and American flagship that Commander Oliver Hazard Perry fought on was badly damaged. But this didn't stop him from fighting for this lake. He decided to switch ships and keep on fighting until the end, when America one. -
Battle of Horseshoe Bend
In the summer of 1813, Creek warriors attacked several southern American settlements. But that didnt stop the Americans. Andrew Jackson stood up and took command of American forces in Georgia. He then defeatd the Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in March of 1814. The treaty that ended the battle forced the Creeks to give up millions of acres of land. -
Washington D.C. Attacked and Burned
Britians next move was to attack the nations capital:Washington D.C.. In August, 1814, a British force stepped into the city. They set fire to several government buildings including the White House. -
Writing of the Star Spangled Banner
After Washington D.C., the British force moved to Baltimore. British warships bombarded Fort McHenry all throughout the night of September 13, 1814. A young American named Francis Scott Key, watched the attack. At dawn, he saw the American flag still flying overhead the fort, the Americans had won. On the back on an old envelope, Key wrote a poem he called "The Star- Spangled Banner" which told the story of his nights watch. The poem became quite popular and became our national anthem in 1931. -
Hartford Convention
The war of 1812 was strongly disliked by the New Englanders for it had strongly hurt their trading system. As a result, a group of Federalists came together in Hartford, Connecticut. Some delegates at the convention put forth the idea that they should break away from the United States. Then news of the peace treaty came around and the Hartford Convention quickly ended. -
Treaty of Ghent
By 1814, Britian had started getting tired of the war. Peace talks began in Ghent, Belgium. On Christmas Eve, 1814, both sides signed the Treaty of Ghents, ending the war. The treaty turned things back to the way things were before the war. -
Battle of New Orleans
The news of the Treaty of Ghent took several weeks to reach the United States. During that time, Britian and America fought one last battle - the Battle of New Orleans. At this battle, American forces under Andrew Jackson's command won a pleasurable victory over the British.
