The War of 1812, though often forgotten within the vast context of American history, truly helped forge a new image of the young nation during an era of revolution and expansion. The conflict largely resulted from a series of international incidents and poor communication amongst the world’s powers. From the last decade of the 18th century and leading up to the year 1812, the two imperial powerhouses of Britain and France were embroiled in near-continuous warfare across Europe and throughout the seas. Over time, American sailors, traders, and their goods could not help but become collateral damage amidst these conflicts. French vessels continued to raid U. S. commerce ships for any goods useful to their economy or war efforts. Meanwhile, the British Navy exceeded these actions by seizing not only materiel, but American sailors themselves – impressing them into Royal service and delegitimizing the significance of American victory in the Revolutionary War.
Embargo and Discontent
Embargo and Discontent
Naturally, this precarious situation became a great concern for America’s president: Thomas Jefferson. In the hopes of eluding war with either Britain or France, Jefferson released the Embargo Act of 1807 as a peaceful substitute for armed hostilities. This act would have prohibited America’s trade with the two warring European nations. What resulted, however, harmed American business far more than any others. International trade decreased, thousands of jobs were lost, and Jefferson was condemned by many for taking a supposedly weak stance on foreign relations. Repealed in 1809, the Embargo Act was a great failure for American business. Despite repeal, problems on the high seas persisted. With James Madison becoming president that same year, the responsibilities of correcting the dilemma were bequeathed to his administration. Trade was soon reestablished with Britain and France but tensions remained. Desiring to ensnare America into warfare with England, Napoleon backed off to a degree while British raiding continued. Incensed by continual harassment, Madison (by the pressure of hawks in Congress) asked for a declaration of war on Great Britain. (Unknown to the president at the time, Britain repealed their restrictions with America only weeks before.) The War of 1812 had begun.
The Conflict Ignites
America became entangled in a conflict they were in no way prepared for. This inexperience was exhibited at the country’s numerous defeats in the early stages of the war. American General William Hull unsuccessfully attempted to invade Canada and subsequently surrendered Detroit, Michigan to a far smaller body of British troops. The U.S.S. Chesapeake was later captured and her captain, James Lawrence, was killed in action. Furthermore, the British instituted a naval blockade of multiple America ports to prevent trade and military transportation. These actions were part of a larger strategy to lay waste to commercial and military assets to weaken the nation as a whole. A three-pronged British invasion was to target Canada and New York, the Chesapeake Region, and the lower Mississippi.
America became entangled in a conflict they were in no way prepared for. This inexperience was exhibited at the country’s numerous defeats in the early stages of the war. American General William Hull unsuccessfully attempted to invade Canada and subsequently surrendered Detroit, Michigan to a far smaller body of British troops. The U.S.S. Chesapeake was later captured and her captain, James Lawrence, was killed in action. Furthermore, the British instituted a naval blockade of multiple America ports to prevent trade and military transportation. These actions were part of a larger strategy to lay waste to commercial and military assets to weaken the nation as a whole. A three-pronged British invasion was to target Canada and New York, the Chesapeake Region, and the lower Mississippi.
The British plan met mixed success. On August 24, 1814, the British entered Washington, D.C. largely unopposed and laid waste to the White House, Capitol Building, and most government structures. The city was left in ruin following a massive fire initiated by the British force under Generals Robert Ross and George Cockburn. However, the American forces achieved two decisive victories in Plattsburgh, New York and Baltimore within a month of the capitol burning. In the latter engagement, Fort McHenry was defended against a vast British armada seeking to capture the city. The successful defense of the fortification inspired Baltimore lawyer Francis Scott Key to pen “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” which later became “The Star Spangled Banner” and the National Anthem.
New Frontiers
New Frontiers
Naval warfare played an especially significant role in the war’s outcome. In addition to the British blockade and the quest to capture Baltimore, much of this aquatic combat took place in the Great Lakes Regions and along the St. Lawrence River. These locations were due to the geographical importance the lakes and the rivers connected to them possessed in the goal of British conquest. These battles included Erie, Sackett’s Harbor, Plattsburgh and a multiple number of other ports and river ways. The control of the Great Lakes and their tributaries were a vital component in gaining control of the western frontiers.
This frontier war proved to be as expansive and significant as those on the waves. General (and later president) William Henry Harrison’s campaign against Chief Tecumseh’s Shawnee Confederation met success with victories over the Native Americans at the Battles of Tippecanoe and Thames – effectively securing the northern frontiers. Meanwhile, a civil war among the Creeks Indians emerged as a component of the larger war being conducted against Great Britain. In retaliation for the intrusion of settlers in their lands in addition to the torching of several of their villages, Chief Red Eagle of the Creeks launched an assault on the pioneer stockade at Fort Mims near modern Mobile, Alabama. Over 250 settlers were massacred in the ensuing fight. The fury over the attack of Fort Mims echoed throughout the South. As a result, Tennessee Governor William Blount called forth General Andrew Jackson and his militia to seek retribution. The two forces collided with each other at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on March 27, 1814. The five hour battle reached a climax when U. S. forces scaled the barricades of Red Eagle’s defenses. Despite losing the majority of his command, the chief and many of his men escaped to Florida, then owned by the Spanish. The ever-tenacious Jackson pursued them until they were totally defeated.
Shortly thereafter, Jackson soon learned the British were preparing for a major offensive aimed at capturing the vital Mississippi River. To achieve such a feat, the invaders would need to capture the City of New Orleans. Jackson relocated his forces there by December 1814 and began to prepare fortifications and recruit local citizenry to defend the city against a British force more than double the size of their own. Culminating in a January 8, 1815 assault on “Line Jackson,” the immense column of seasoned British troops was unable to penetrate the Americans’ solid earthworks. Little did either force realize it at that time, but the war had officially ended with the Treaty of Ghent signed two only weeks previously. The war had finally come to a close – yet few immediately realized this fact.
Aftermath & Legacy
For months prior to the closing of hostilities, American and British diplomats struggled to reach a negotiated settlement to the war in North America. Finally, on Christmas Eve of 1814, diplomats in the Belgian city of Ghent worked out a treaty to end the war. The treaty is known in the annals of history as the Treaty of Ghent and was comprised of several parts:
- Relations between Britain and the United States were restored to what they had been prior to the outbreak of war.
- All prisoners were released and captured property was to be returned.
- Britain agreed to return escaped American slaves; however, subsequent to the treaty Britain renegotiated this stipulation—paying the United States for the slaves’ value.
- Territory boundaries were restored from prior to the war, including land in Maine and Ontario.
One of the main issues that provoked the war—impressment of American sailors—went ignored in the treaty since the Napoleonic War was a thing of the past and the Royal Navy had ended its policy of seizing sailors. Furthermore, Indian claims to land in the American West were ignored in the negotiations, because Britain was anxious to conclude negotiations even at the expense of ignoring the claims of its Native American allies.
The war had many abstract outcomes for the United States beyond the terms and conditions of the Treaty of Ghent. The conflict taught the young nation that it was sorely vulnerable to attack and invasion. Following the war, the United States military began building up coastal defenses in the form of forts and barracks. However, despite the humiliation experienced at various moments during the conflict, the United States also came out of the war with a sense of patriotism and identity. The nation had successfully withstood an armed conflict with the largest military force in the world for a second time, and military successes such as the lopsided U.S. victory at New Orleans and the defense of Baltimore gave the country a renewed sense of national pride.
The late 1814 gathering of Federalist, antiwar New Englanders in Hartford, Connecticut—known in history as the Hartford Convention—spelled disaster for the once-powerful Federalist party, establishing the longstanding precedent in American politics of it being political suicide to show open disloyalty during a time of war.
Perhaps most notably, the War of 1812 brought to Washington, D.C. military heroes who shaped the politics of the nation during the subsequent decades. Military personage William Henry Harrison became the first Whig president, Zachary Taylor too would claim the presidency, but it was General Andrew Jackson who would rise from fame during the war to define an entire era in American History—the Age of Jackson.
Bibliography
Heidler, David Stephen, and Jeanne T. Heidler. The War of 1812. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2002.
Remini, Robert Vincent. The Battle of New Orleans. New York: Viking, 1999.
Roosevelt, Theodore. The Naval War of 1812 or the History of the United States Navy during the Last War with Great Britain to Which Is Appended an Account of The Battle of New Orleans. N.Y.: G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1907.
Taylor, Alan. The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
Heidler, David Stephen, and Jeanne T. Heidler. The War of 1812. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2002.
Remini, Robert Vincent. The Battle of New Orleans. New York: Viking, 1999.
Roosevelt, Theodore. The Naval War of 1812 or the History of the United States Navy during the Last War with Great Britain to Which Is Appended an Account of The Battle of New Orleans. N.Y.: G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1907.
Taylor, Alan. The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
