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Between 1793 and 1812, the British Navy seized American trade vessels, and "impressed" sailors. Impressment/"gang press" was a common method used by the British in order to keep their Navy strong. They would break into ships, in this case, American trade vessels, kidnap their sailors and force them into the British Navy. This was more or less, an act of war. -
This was a formal announcement made by George Washington, declaring that the US would stay neutral in conflicts between France and Great Britain, as he felt that the young nation was not prepared for another war. -
The despised Jay Treaty was a desperate attempt to prevent war with Great Britain. This treaty ultimately did nothing to solve disputes, it only held back the inevitability of war. -
Washington formally announced that he would not be running for a third term in the upcoming elections. But before leaving the presidency, Washington wanted to leave the American people with a few words of wisdom. He warned Americans of the dangers brought about due to political parties and alliances with other nations. He urged for a neutral and isolated United States in his farewell address. -
While patrolling off the coast of Virginia, the British Navy prepared to inspect an American vessel, but when the American commodore of this ship, James Barron refused the inspection, the British responded violently, killing three Americans and injuring 18. Once the smoke had settled, the British got what they had come for, suspected British deserters. This enraged the American public and really showed the urge for war. -
This was an act passed by Thomas Jefferson that cut all trade with France, Great Britain, and their allies in order to peacefully get these nations to comply with their demands of not stealing their trade vessels. This ended up backfiring, as the only economy hurt by this was the US economy, rather than affecting the France and British economies which this embargo targeted. -
In the summer of 1811, Chief Tecumseh met with Governor William Henry Harrison to discuss westward expansion. At this point in time, Tecumseh had gathered the support of multiple native tribes and formed Tecumseh's confederacy. He warned Harrison that if the US were to cross the current borderline, then there would be major consequences. No solutions were made and ultimately led to Tecumseh allying with Britain in 1812 and playing a major role in the War of 1812 -
Some members of the Twelfth Congress grew frustrated with Jefferson's approach to French and British conflicts, so they banded together, with their head being the new Speaker of the House Henry Clay, and presented their grievances. This group became known as the "War Hawks", and was composed of Jeffersonian Republicans. They argued that although both France and Britain were wronging them, Britain was the greater offender. Their plea eventually convinced Congress to wage war against Britain. -
On June 18, 1812, after rising tensions between the Americans and the British, President James Madison officially declared war on Great Britain. -
After allying with the British, Tecumseh fought by their side during the War of 1812. However, after the Battle of Lake Erie in September of 1813, the British and Tecumseh were forced to retreat north to Canada. American forces led by William Harrison continued to chase them until they defeated the British-Native American force at the Battle of Thames River on October 5th, 1813. This was the battle in which Tecumseh met his end, disbanding his confederacy, and ending the native alliance with GB. -
From December 15th 1814-January 5th 1815, Federalist delegates from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusets, New Hampshire, and Vermont who were dissatisfied with the War of 1812 (dubbed "Mr. Madison's War") held secret meetings in Hartford, Connecticut to discuss solutions for what they deemed an unbalance of power. They believed that the South, specifically Virginia held too much federal power, so they proposed 7 Amendments to the Constitution in order to limit the South's power. -
By 1814, both the American and the British sought to negotiate a resolution to their disputes. In Belgium, on December 24, 1814, American delegates and British commissioners signed the Treaty of Ghent, in which Great Britain released their territory holds in North America, and both nations agreed to work together in order to end the slave trade. This treaty was quiet and spread slowly, the news of peace didn't reach troops until sometime after. -
Although peace had already been officially reached, neither American nor British troops were informed of it, so naturally, fighting continued. That was until Andrew Jackson won the Battle of New Orleans, ending British hostilities.