The War of 1812
In the dawn of the American Revolution against the British government, many reasons have been cited for the rebellion and mini-wars that drove the British troops away from the key cities of the colonies. Aside from the political freedom of the country from the British government, America’s young republic had issues in assuring the protection of their citizens from English troops who took them to their ships and the return of control in territories claimed by tribes and Indians. There was also a threat of hostility between the tribes and the American colonies, adding to the problems in security. Although some of the Native Americans joined the British side in the midst of the Revolutionary War, the Americans were still eager to regain their freedom from the British oppression, which they earned after the war.
However, despite the aftermath of the Revolutionary War and their loss against the American Revolutionaries, the British Empire still found means to pressure the American territories indirectly while in the midst of a war between Britain and France. Most of the British ports are closed in the threat of naval attacks and trade interference by the French government, immediately affecting the United States and the neutral territories trading with the British Empire. Napoleon in 1806 excluded British goods from the remainder of the European countries, seeing Britain as a separate entity from the rest of Europe. In turn, Britain saw the blockade as a means to hit Napoleon directly, while benefiting from their attacks on ships entering the British territory. Some naval forces of the Empire were also stopping the American ships, forgoing the fact that the American territory is no longer a colony of the British Empire. Many American exported materials were confiscated and used by the British Empire for their own gains. France also seized some of the American cargo; however, they only took half of the cargo. There was also the British policy known as impressment or forced enlistment of American naval crew to the British navy which took the ire of the American government, as well as the Chesapeake incident wherein a British warship commander demanded access to the American frigate ship Chesapeake in suspicion that the ship had British deserters on board. The captain of the Chesapeake declined such request, earning the anger of the British troops. The incident took 3 American lives, and 18 others were wounded. These constant pressures from the British government paved the way for the United States to declare war in June 1812 with President James Madison noting that his decision to undergo to war was due to the continuous effects of Britain’s attempts to bind American trade and commerce .
For the Americans, declaring another war against the British government seems easy, but the fighting part of the war was crucial given the Americans’ means to sustain the war. With the recent Revolution taking a toll on the American military, as well as the retirement of some of the Revolutionaries, the current American military force is not prepared to enter in any type of war. The borders of North America and British Canada became the battleground for the War of 1812 as Canada was seen as the next frontier to enable America to expand and reclaim additional food supplies for the nation. With Canada’s large territory, as well as its British affiliation, America can immediately hit the British Empire at its core for losing its largest territory. The Americans had called for a three-way front attack in Canada: in the Champlain corridor, in the Niagara frontier, and in the Detroit entries. The three-way front attack in Canada was met in disaster as the British troops managed to claim Detroit in August 1812, Niagara in October 1812 in the Battle of Queenstown Heights, and the Champlain corridor was taken without conflict between the two sides. By 1813, the Americans soon reclaimed the territories and won the battles in Lake Erie and the Battle of the Thames.
Most of the victories of the American force were more concentrated in their victories against the British Navy. In comparison with the newly designed and battle ready British ships, the American ships were mostly old and tattered as they were used in the Revolution and were hand-me-downs from the British government. By August 1812, U.S.S Constitution managed to defeat the Guerriere; and soon afterwards, the Constitution defeated the Java. As 1814 came close, the Franco-British conflict was slowly dwindling down, enabling the British troops to go back into the offensive against the American troops. In July 1814, the Niagara frontier was placed under siege by the British troops in an attempt to remove the morale of the American troops. By August, Washington was captured and burned by the British troops. Britain would have opted to claim Baltimore around September 1914, but, the American counter-attack began as they won the Battle of Plattsburg Bay, halting the British invasion.
With the European war already in close and the negotiations between the Americans and British were taking place as the Battle of Plattsburg Bay was taking in place, the British thought it is no longer beneficial for them to continue fighting and settled in a compromise with the American forces. The two countries signed the Treaty of Ghent on December 24th 1814, wherein all captured territories are to be returned to their original owners, as well as the return of peace between the two countries. Although the Treaty of Ghent was immediately done, Britain still tried to invade New Orleans since the Greater America still did not know the contents of the treaty. However, the British troops eventually lost New Orleans on January 15, 1815 as the American troops were led by Andrew Jackson. The victory in New Orleans immediately spread throughout the region, leaving many Americans satisfied that the War of 1812-1815 was one of America’s greatest moments .
Bibliography
Bowman, John Stewart, and Miriam Greenblatt. War of 1812. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2003.
Cogliano, Francis. Revolutionary America 1763-1815. New York: Routledge, 2009.
