Transcript The War of 1812

USVA History
Unit 4: The Early Republic
SOL: VUS.6
Great Britain and
France at war in 1803
 America proclaimed
neutrality
 The British and French
both announce that
they will confiscate any
goods aboard ships
coming to trade with
their enemy.
 What should the United
States do?

The British Navy began
stopping American
trade ships and forcing
the men to enlist.
 This is known as
impressment.
 Tensions escalated
further when a British
ship opened fire on an
American vessel
killing 3 Americans for
refusing to allow them
to search their ship.

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President Jefferson did
not want to go to war.
Instead, he asked
Congress to place an
embargo which was a
government ban on
trading with European
nations.
The embargo was
repealed in 1809 after it
began to hurt the
economy in both the
north (trade/manuf.) and
the south (agriculture).

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Our fourth President is
elected: James Madison,
also a DemocraticRepublican
Madison wants to avoid
war at all costs as well.
He passes the NonIntercourse Act which
banned trade with both
Britain and France and
would reopen trade with
whichever country
dropped its trade
restrictions against the
United States first.


In 1810, Congress replaces
the Non-Intercourse Act
with Macon’s Bill No. 2
which opened trade with
both Britain and France. It
went further to say that
whichever nation put down
trade restrictions that an
embargo would be placed
on the other nation.
French leader, Napoleon,
agrees and the United
States stopped trading with
Britain.
 The
British economy
was hurt by the
Americans refusal to
trade.
 By 1812 the British
attempted to drop
trade restrictions but
it was too late.
 The United States had
declared war on
Great Britain.

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Influences…
Impressment of sailors
“War Hawks”
• Congressmen from the South
and Western regions
pushing for war.
• Southern planters hurt
tremendously by the British
stealing their cash crops
sent to Europe.

Clashes with Native
Americans in the west were
blamed on the British for
giving them guns and
encouraging them to attack
the Americans.

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Heavy division among
people either supporting
the war or against it.
(Federalist vs. Dem-Repub)
Army only had 7,000 troops
who were poorly equipped.
The national bank charter
had run out and Dem.Republicans wouldn’t recharter it so the
government couldn’t take
out loans.
• Most banks were in the NE
and they didn’t support the
war.

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The United States
invades Canada
unsuccessfully on three
different occasions.
With the focus on
Canada and the defeat of
Napoleon’s French
military the British
focused on Washington,
D.C.
They invaded D.C. and
burned it to the ground
and headed for
Baltimore.

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The Americans were
ready for the British
when they arrived at Fort
McHenry in Baltimore.
The Americans
successfully defended
the fort and pushed back
the British.
Francis Scott Key, an
American prisoner
aboard a British ship
watching the battle wrote
a poem which would
later become our
national anthem.
The British were also
defeated in New
Orleans at the mouth of
the Mississippi by
General Andrew
Jackson.
 The war drew to a
close with both sides
agreeing to an
armistice (cease-fire).
 Neither side
surrendered nor
claimed victory.

The war was ended
with the Treaty of
Ghent signed on
December 24th, 1814.
 Prewar boundary lines
were restored between
the United States and
British Canada.
 They both did agree to
claim the Oregon
territory in the
Northwest jointly.

Increased prestige and
respect for the United
States military
throughout the world
 Renewed spirit of
patriotism and
nationalism in the
country.
 The Federalists party
greatly weakened by
their lack of support
for the war.
