War On Great Britain On June 12 example essay topic

The United States declared War on Great Britain on June 12, 1812. The war was declared as an end result of extended and aggressive clashes with Great Britain. The War of 1812 was not founded on a single reason; it was started for political, commercial and patriotic reasons. "It was always unpopular with a great number of the American people and it went badly for the Americans on the whole, but that was settled finally in 1814 on terms at least mildly favorable to the United States".

1 The key events and causes of the War of 1812 all started in 1803. In Europe The Napoleonic war put Britain and France at war that affected trade with the United States. Napolean kept out British goods from "fortress Europe". 2 American ships were caught in the middle as the British responded with a blockade. "American ships were seized by both sides, Great Britain seized 1,000 United States ships and France seized 500 U.S. ships, and American sailors were impressed into the British navy" 3. From 1803-1812 British impressed American sailors on the high seas.

British captains took up to 14,000 American citizens to man British ships. In June 1807, just three miles off Norfolk, Virginia, the British ship H.M.S. Leopard stopped the U.S.S. Chesapeake in search of British deserters. The Leopard fired on the U.S.S. Chesapeake after refusing to be boarded. "The American commander, James Barron had no choice but to surrender". 4 Four alleged British deserters were taken off the ship. After it was all over, three Americans were killed and eighteen were wounded.

There was a great public outcry for war when the news reached the United States. The action of the British Navy was more than enough grounds for war and "if Congress had been in session it might have declared war". 5 President Thomas Jefferson could not remain neutral. The President barred all British warships from United States waters and demanded Great Britain to abandon impressment.

Great Britain in an overdue admission of guilt apologized and offered reparations for what happened, but refused to renounce impressment. President Thomas Jefferson, in December of 1807, introduced to law the Embargo Act. The law prohibited American ships from leaving port for any foreign destination. This was Jefferson's attempt at "peaceful coercion", 6 that resulted in economic disaster for United States merchants. War Hawks were elected to Congress in 1810. The War Hawks were a group of young men who dominated Congress before the start of the "The Second War for Independence".

7 Henry Clay of Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina were the outstanding leaders of the group. Jon C. Clay was then Speaker of the House of Representatives. Clay and Calhoun were anti-British and pro war. Most of the War Hawks came from western and southern states, where many of the people were in favor of going to war with Great Britain. "The people of New England generally opposed going to war, because war with Great Britain would entirely wipe out the New England shipping trade, which had already been heavily damaged. Many historians believe that a leading motive of the War Hawks was a desire for expansion.

The people of the Northwest were meeting armed resistance in their attempt to take more land from the Indians, and they believed that the Indians had considerable British support". 8 The Battle of Tippecanoe took place in the Was bash Valley on November 7th 1811, when Indians attacked Governor William Henry Harrison's Army of 1,000 men. Most of the attacks along the western borders were by Indian's with there own plans. After the battle, British guns were found on the battlefield. This was proof that "Britain's agents in Canada had encouraged and helped supply the uprising". 9 The Westerners saw only one way to have peace, "drive the British out of Canada and annex that province to the United States".

10 Southerners looked at Florida, which belonged to Great Britain's ally, Spain, and wanted the United States to acquire it. "The South had also suffered a serious loss of markets. But the deciding motive for war seems to have been a strong desire for more territory". 11 Southern frontiersmen desired the Spanish Florida. The Spanish Florida was made up of southern ranges of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The Southerners hated Spanish support of Indian ravage against the borders.

Southern frontiersmen also believed Great Britain was cause of their troubles because they had allies with Spain. The Congress of 1811, with its strong pro war group War Hawks, achieved control of both houses and "formed a powerful coalition in favor of a war with the British". 12 The three main issues that The War Hawks pushed in support of a war against Great Britain were, Land hunger, British impressment and Indian violence. President James Madison wanted peace, but he also had concerns about American trade and losing control of Congress.

Finally, despite pleas from New England to remain calm, President James Madison, on June 18, 1812 asked Congress for a declaration of war. 1. Brinkley, Alan. American History: A Survey, Volume I: To 1877.11th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2003, p. 214 2. Feldmeth, Greg D.U.S. History Resources" web (31 March 1998).

3. Fogies, M. Dr. History of the Untied States I: Early Colonization to 1877. New Jersey: Research & Education Association, 2001, p. 70 4. Brinkley, Alan. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2003, p. 205 5. Brinkley, Alan.

New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2003, p. 205 6. 7 Johnston, Robert D. Ph. D Historian. The Making of America: A History of the United States from 1492 to the Present. Washington, D.C. : National Geographic Society, 2002, p. 213 8. Brinkley, Alan. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2003, p. 208 9.

Brinkley, Alan. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2003, p. 208 10. Brinkley, Alan. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2003, p. 209 11 The World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 20, p. 27 12. Brinkley, Alan. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2003, p. 209.