What Are The Causes Of The War Of 1812 Essay

The war of 1812 is considered by some as "the second war for independence."1 The United States had won its independence in 1783, but the British still treated the Americans as though they still had control of them. Americans resented the treatment they received from the British. They felt they were a free country and the British would not recognize them as so. This is believed by many to be the cause of the War of 1812, but no one act can be contributed as such. There were many events leading up to the War of 1812 they built up to the final explosion. These causes range from the Chesapeake to the Non-intercourse act. Although no one act can be contributed as starting the War of 1812, when all the events

The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and Great Britain from June 1812 to the spring of 1815 (Findling, 15). When the war began, it was being fought by the Americans to address their grievances toward the British, though toward the end, the issues eventually were unjustified and reasons manipulated. There is no single cause for the War of 1812 but instead, several related causes, such the influence of the War Hawks, the impressments as well as the Embargo and Non-Intercourse acts, and the British's possible interference with the Indian Nations, and land ownership disputes between the Natives and Americans, ultimately leading to the Battle of Tippecanoe.

In the early 19th century, Britain and France were engaged in a life-or-death struggle. After much war through the years, France dominated a lot of Europe, though Britain was the ruler of the seas. When it became obvious that neither side was likely to win a decisive military contest, the warring nations turned to commercial warfare: Britain tried to blockade all of Europe, and France attempted to prevent the sale of British goods in their possession(http://gatewayno.com/history/War1812.html, War of 1812). During the 1790s, French and British maritime policies produced several crises with the United States, but after 1803 the difficulties became much more serious. In November of 1807, Britain issued a trade regulation called an Order in Council, which compelled all neutral ships to either call at British ports or be subject to a search by British authorities. A month later, Napoleon decreed

The War of 1812 has always been a part of American history not very exiting to learn about for most Americans. It was a tumultuous time for the New Republic and some of the battles of the war shamed the new nation. The War of 1812 did not have the same glorious, honorable, and just cause of the American Revolution. The British made fools of the American people and even burned the Capitol and the White House, the centers of American politics, to the ground. However as shameful as the war was, it also had some good benefits and it demonstrated to Great Britain and the rest of the world that the United States of America was its own sovereign nation, and not some British Sphere of Influence. Although the treaty of Ghent failed to address

One cause of the War of 1812 was Britain’s impressment of American soldiers and incapability to acknowledge American neutrality rights. Impressment was the act of Britain’s Royal Navy of sending officers to U.S. ships, inspecting the crew, and seizing sailors who were accused of being escapees from British ships. The British used impressment because the Royal Navy was on a war footing and need all the sailors it could obtain. Impressment was more commonly known as “press gangs” and was regularly recruitment by force. Between 1803 and 1812, around 6,000

The War of 1812 was started by America due to British encroachment on three fronts, trade restrictions imposed by the British, the increasing alliances of the British with Indian tribes blocking American expansion West, and due to British interference with merchant class ships in the Atlantic. The war was fought in the Great Lakes region between America and Canada, near New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Atlantic trade routes, and around Washington DC. The British had always considered the American insurrection in the 1770s to be a temporary event, their continued battles within the European continent as well as the rest of the British empire had proven to be too distracting to keep a solid check on North America. The British also had not anticipated a war in North America in the lead up to the war of 1812 due to the fragility of the American states, leading to the hubris Britain retained in its relations with the young United States of America.

On July 18, 1812, the United States declared war on Britain which resulted in the beginning of The War of 1812. The War of 1812 was a military conflict between the United States and Great Britain. The war lasted from 1812 to 1814. The War started when the colony of Great Britain and Canada, was invaded by the Americans. The war was fought in Upper Canada, Lower Canada, on the Great Lakes, the Atlantic, and in the United States. The War of 1812 was a big dispute between the United States and the British Empire. The British limited the American trade system because they were afraid it would be damaging to their war with France. They also wanted to arrange for an Indian state in the Midwest. They wanted to do this to maintain their influence in the region. That’s why 10,000 Native Americans fought for the British in the war of 1812. Because Canada was a British colony at this time, Canadians were considered as British allies. Americans just wanted to prove their independence from the British Empire once and for all.

The War of 1812 was declared by United States on Great Britain because they were impressing American Sailors and blocked any trade with France. Canada and the Native Americans joined the British in the war. Donald Fixico, an Arizona State Professor wrote “A Native's Perspective on the War of 1812” where he states how the death of the leader of the Native American confederation and war icon Tecumseh, ruined any chance of the Native Americans pushing the US back in expanding into their territory. After Tecumseh died, the British abandoned the Natives which really gave them no chance to defending themselves against the American push west. Fixico goes on about how a strong leader like Tecumseh played a huge role for the Natives. After he died the Americans kept expanding west and the Natives couldn’t handle it. Donald Hickey a professor at Wayne State College writes “An American Perspective on the War of 1812” where he states that the war was started over how the US couldn’t trade with any European country and Great Britain kept impressing American sailors. Hickey explains how the foreign policy of Great Britain irritated the US and caused a declaration of war which helped the US gain land at the end of the

For many years Great Britain and France violated the United States’ neutral shipping rights by confiscating American ships and impressing American sailors. Impressment was the practice of removing sailors and requiring them to serve the Royal Navy by force. The Chesapeake incident on June 22, 1807 made America realize something had to be done. The HMS Leopard, an English naval vessel, requested permission to board the Chesapeake, a smaller American naval vessel, to search the sailors for Royal Navy. The commander of the Chesapeake denied permission to the HMS Leopard, at which point the HMS Leopard opened fire on the Chesapeake resulting in killing three, injuring eighteen and impressing four American soldiers. Because of this incident U.S President Thomas Jefferson, announce the Embargo Act.

The War of 1812 had a strange lack of victors, but to fully comprehend its effects, one must first evaluate the causes of the war. Each nation involved in the war had a very specific set of goals they wished to accomplish. Initially, the United States aimed to stay neutral in the affairs of Britain and France during the Napoleonic Wars until the two rivals attempted to restrict American trade. In an effort to combat this, President Jefferson passed the Embargo Act of 1807, which banned trade with all foreign countries. The act, intending to deprive the world of American trade, backfired and was later replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act to instead ban trade with only Britain and France. America's unwillingness to trade with the two caused tension that was intensified by the British policy of impressment.2 The resulting “anti-British sentiment” was greatly encouraged by the War Hawks, a group led by Henry Clay that supported war with Britain. They ardently pursued the end of impressment due to the Chesapeake-Leopard Incident in which the HMS Leopard boarded the USS Chesapeake, took four prisoners, and executed one thinking that they were British deserters. Once discovering that they were not, Britain returned the

The harm of trading rights and citizens were one major cause of the War of 1812. Great Britain was known to have been interfering with U.S rights to use the sea. “Great Britain, in defiance of this incontestable right, captures every American vessel bound to, or returning from, a port where her commerce is not favored; enslaves our seamen, and in spite of our, perseveres in these aggressions.” (Document 1) The Americans feared that they would lose all their trading rights to Great Britain. If the American leaders did not do something soon, then Great Britain would take over American trading ports. “… Which shall we do, abandon or defend our own commercial and maritime rights, and the personal liberties of our own citizens employed in exercising them? These rights are essentially attacked, and war is the only means of redress.” (Document 2) For Americans to regain their freedom of trading they had to declare the War of 1812.

In fact, during the European embargoes, thousands of American sailors were forcibly impressed by the British because Royal Navy life was so awful and unrewarding it caused British men to desert their own country en masse for the better-paying, better quality life of American maritime. In response to the Chesapeake affair, Jefferson, U.S. president at the time, made the Embargo Act which prevented Americans from trading with any ports outside the United States. The act really hurt American economics and trade and created such uproar in people that it was soon replaced with a more sensible act. The Non-Intercourse act forbade American trade with Britain, France and their colonial allies until their own embargoes were dissolved.

The War of 1812, the United States took on Great Britain who had the greatest naval power in the world. The causes of

Even before America was a country, the United States and Britain had risen conflicts that would many years ahead. Out of all of the wars and disagreements that have taken place between these two nations, the War of 1812 was no exception. The tension between the United States and Britain had increased in great measure throughout the years as British forces took advantage of the U.S and violated its rights. As a result, the War of 1812 broke out in hopes to end the tension between the two lands. The forces that led Americans to declare war on Britain in 1812 were the impressment of American sailors, the yearning of a stronger country, and the different opinions of the people.

With the new President also came a Congress filled with new congressmen. The new Congress appeared to be in favor of war and authorized the construction of ships of war. In 1810, the new members of Congress began seeking war against the British Empire. Innocent Americans were being killed or taken off of American ships, Britain’s encouragement of Native American hostility against American expansion in the West, and the mere fact that the British were still on American soil attempting to instill their influence had finally reached the limit and on June 18, 1812, Congress declared war.