War Of 1812 Dbq Essay

Fellow Americans, there has been a debate of weather or not the War of 1812 was a defense for our sovereignty, or a risk of our Liberty. I am here to tell you, that it was without a doubt waged in defense of our sovereignty. We the United States went to war with Great Britain in June of 1812, we did this because Britain was trampling on our sovereignty. Britain still thinks of the United States as one of their colonies that they can control, they are wrong. In 1807, the British H.M.S. Leopard forced their way onto the U.S.S. Chesapeake off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia. The British forced British-born U.S. citizens into the British navy, stating that they were deserters. We as free Americans could not let the British walk all over us, we had to fight to prove our Sovereignty.

If circumstances had been altered, June 18, 1812, could well have ended up going much differently. James Madison was the president at the time and under much stress and pressure. Already under attack by France, President Madison had to make a huge decision. The decision would either result in war with Great Britain, or would result in many Americans continuously outraged with Great Britain. This big decision rested in Madison’s hands. Under a lot of pressure from the War Hawks, Madison reluctantly called for Congress to declare war against Britain. The declaration was passed on June 18, 1812. This war, later known as the War of 1812, lasted around two years and the end was extremely surprising to many Americans and even Britain. With the help

The war did bring on patriotism to Americans. This was the second war that America had fought and had won. The American Revolution was much longer than the 2 year war of 1812, but each brought great success and patriotism to Americans. Even though there was no true clear victory won, America did succeed in the war and came out ahead. The war also showed other nations that America was obviously capable of fighting for their country.

However, the United States was able to show Great Britain that we were not giving up very easily, and we were not willing to give up Canada, which we had recently received. Even though the British had burned down Washington D.C, “there was also hurricanes, tornadoes, and fire” , Americans were still able to push through it against them, and eventually we agreed to sign to a truce with the Treaty of Gent. The war also led to the “era of good feelings” and it created a sense of unity for the nation. It also “destroyed the Federalist Party and proved to the world that the United States was not just an experiment” but that it was the real deal. The effect that the war of 1812 had on United States politics was there was a growth in the United States manufacturing. When the war interrupted American trade, Americans had no choice but to start making the goods that they were previously importing here in the United States. So, we ended up making more goods here then we were importing. Therefore, the United States making more goods led us to believe in the stability of our country. Another effect was that the United States finally proved that we could defend ourselves against the world’s strongest military

Madison ended up passing the Non-Intercourse Act which allowed foreign trade with all countries, except France and Great Britain to try and stimulate the economy. This move was still not the answer, as the war between the two countries was still affecting American trade, ending in Madison declaring war. The war of 1812 occurred for several reasons; to protect free trade and sailors’ rights, put an end to British- inspired Indian attacks on American settlements, and to gain the territory of Canada. Although war was declared, the military and the country were not adequately prepared for the fight. The economy was weak and would become weaker as the British blocked American ports, hindering trade. The military did not have enough soldiers, and the soldiers they did have were not properly trained for war. Finally, the naval ships were vastly outnumbered by the British. The war ended up being fought in three separate areas; Chesapeake Bay, the South, and the North as a strategy to aid the lacking American

Federalist states in New England opposed the war by not assisting in financing the war effort through their banks and by not letting their militias fight in battle surrounding areas in the New England/Canada area. A tragic loss for the Americans was in 1814 when British sailors sailed into Chesapeake Bay and attacked Washington City. This attack was revenge for the burning of the capital of York in Canada. To add fuel to the fire, no pun intended, the British took matters into their own hands and inflicted similar attacks on the U.S. Capitol building. They burned the Capitol building to the ground in retaliation for burning down the capital of York in Canada and the Battle of Thames. After several battle such as the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and others, the U.S. was making some progress, but not making much progress in its victories against Britain. The Nation itself was in military turmoil in fighting battles in the northwest and south and in political turmoil because it was divided between two major conflicting parties. Luckily for the U.S., Great Britain had been fighting against Napoleonic France for over twenty years and was willing to negotiate a treaty that would end the war. This treaty was known as the Treaty of Ghent and was signed in 1814. Before the peace treaty was ratified in Congress, British came back to America and attacked New Orleans. General Andrew Jackson and his army emerged victorious in this battle in astronomical numbers. “The British lost 700 men, and 2,000 more were wounded or taken prisoner; just 13 Americans died, and only 58 suffered wounds” (Chapter 7, pp. 230). This was a victory in the simplest of terms if I ever saw one. General Jackson re-ignited America’s pride that was depressed due to economic, political, and

The War of 1812 was pretty eventful. Some of the main reasons it started was because the British were capturing American sailors and making them work for them, and they wanted American ships to stop in Britain and pay a tax if they wanted to share merchandise with any other European countries. This obviously made James Madison, the president at the time, mad so then he told Congress that he wanted to declare war. At first congress said no, but eventually Madison got his war.

The War of 1812 a war that was forgotten by most and admired by very little. For this was the War that we showed that we can stand on our own as a nation and make a name for yourself. Many know the war of 1812 as just a 2nd round of the US vs UK. James Madisons the president at the time which this war is also known as Madisons War he said about the war. "To have shrunk, under such circumstances, from manly resistance, would have been a degradation blasting our best and proudest hopes; it would have struck us from the high ranks where

on 6/18/1812 because the U.S. was tired of what the British were doing with their navy and all the threats they were giving the U.S. Britain did not know why the U.S. declared war because the British had stopped impressing United States citizens. The reason the British were confused about the United States declaring war was because the British had sent a message over to the U.S., but since there were no telephones in 1812 the United States didn’t get the message in time and then they declared war because of this major inconvenience. There were to major battle locations one was on the Canada and United States border and the other location was on the eastern coast of the United States in the Atlantic Ocean. General William Hull invaded Canada had met with initial success as he crossed into Canada and he and his troops had threatened Britain's position. Since Britain had control of Lake Erie they kept threatening to cut General Hulls supply lines and they could isolate his forces. So he had surrendered in Detroit and which he and his troops left the whole entire area because Britain was in major control. Later on Britain had burned down most of washington D.C.. Britain had burned down the white house and some other government

The cause of the war of 1812 was the attempts of British to stop our U.S trade and they were impressing our seamen and just our men.Also Americans were trying to expand their land and Britain didn't like that.Then also big thing was the British were stopping our navy ships.

The United States nearly lost the War of 1812 as it practically was the demise of America both militarily and politically. The war proved to be difficult for America as the federal government struggled to find financial backers to support the war. “In fact, New England Federalist opposed the war and forbidden their militias from attacking British Canada” (Henretta 216). “America suffered several defeats at the fate of British, Canadian, and Native American troops, including an overwhelming victory that “lead to the capture and burning of Washington, DC” (History.com). However, despite the losses American troops were able resist invasions of New York, Baltimore, and New Orleans, battles that turned the tables in the war. This restored America’s

Prior to the war, there were two characteristically different parties that engulf the political spectrum in America: the Federalist party and the Republican Party. Amongst their disagreements was the quarrel over the War of 1812. On one side, the Federalist Party pushed congress not to engage in war with the most powerful country at the time, saying that, according to Rufus King, the war was a “war of parties” rather than a war of international struggle. The Federalists believed that the war was merely pushed by political motives, calling the war “Mr. Madison’s war”, alluding to the premise that James Madison was expanding his political influence past his allotted boundary and fighting only on the behalf of his own hubris, not for tangible, rational reasons. On the other side, the Republican Party stood for the opposite. Thomas Jefferson, the credited founder of the Republican Party, was timid about war with the British, but stood for the inevitable. Passing the Embargo Act of 1807 solidified this path to war and began the coercion of the British; moreover, Jefferson was quoted as saying: “an immediate embargo is necessary in order to retrieve our lost honor & to bring the mad King to his senses”, which proved that Jefferson not only thought of the War of 1812 as a war to be wary about, but as a necessity for the

29 years after America won its freedom from Britain, they declared war on Britain once again in 1812. Conflict between the two countries have threatened the peace in past years, but when tensions rose too high despite the attempts for peaceful negotiations, President Madison drafted a declaration of war and sent it to Congress, where it was voted for. In the declaration, it talked about protecting the U.S. sailors from the British, who were impressing them and taking their cargo, but really, the declaration was speaking of a bigger picture; earning respect from the world as a country. However, there was also an unwritten reason on Madison’s declaration of war. The people of America wanted more land, and with Canada just above them, they believed

The immediate causes of the War of 1812 were a sequence of economic consent removed by the British and French opposed to the United States as piece of the Napoleonic Wars and the Americans upset at the British impressment operation mainly from the Chesapeake event during 1807. “In 1807, British warships attacked the U.S. Navy vessel Chesapeake, killing three, wounding eighteen, and seizing four alleged deserters.” (Henretta, 215) In 1809, the United States’ Congress revoked Thomas Jefferson’s much disliked Embargo Act. In 1806, the Embargo Act paralyzed the American marketing, during this time the United States tried many retaliation type embargoes. These embargoes did not really hurt Britain that as much it the United States, vexing the American citizens and supplying aid to War Hawks in Congress.

The War of 1812 was a major conflict in American history which completely altered the country’s future. Based on previous wars, America gained respect from opponents as a major military power. There were many factors that led to the outbreak of the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain. A major factor was the seizure of American ships and the impressment of sailors by Great Britain. Essentially the impressment of sailors was the seizure of the sailors and forcing them into the British military. The sailors were forced to work in the British navy and were often whipped or beaten if they were disobedient. To the British, this was justifiable because they believed that these people were still subjects of the British. This act