A History of the War of 1812 Between the United States and Great Britain

The War of 1812 was from June 18, 1812 to February 18, 1815. The war was fought by the United States against Great Britain and surrounding North American Colonies. A couple important cause of this war was Great Britain trying to limit the United States trade system and U.S. trying to expand their territories. The War of 1812, also known as “The Second War of Independence,” had many casualties, mostly from the burning of Washington, D.C. in 1814. With the war ending the following year, it had a major impact on the nation, creating national pride.

There are very many causes of the War of 1812. For example, Americans were very upset over the captures of American Sailors by the British Navy. On top of that, they wanted to stop the United States from trading goods with European countries, including France. Right before the war started, President James Madison wrote to the Congress stating complaints that he had towards the British. Some of the complaints were Harassment towards Americans, Impressment, and blockades against American ships headed to ports in Europe.

After he sent those messages to the Congress, The House of Representatives and the United States Senate had a meeting where they all voted weather going to war was a smart idea or not. More than half of the votes from the House of Representatives on June 4th, 1812 were in agreement to go off to war. When the Senate voted, it ruled out to be 19 to 13, in favor of going to war. All 13 votes came from Senate members who lived in the Northeast because why relied on the trade with Britain.

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On June 12th, 1812, James Madison signed a Declaration of War what read, “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That war be and is hereby declared to exist between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America and their territories; and the President of the United States is hereby authorized to use the whole land and naval force of the United States, to carry the same into effect, and to issue private armed vessels of the United States commissions or letters of marque and general reprisal, in such form as he shall think proper, and under the seal of the United States, against the vessels, goods, and effects of the government of the said United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the subjects thereof.”

Americans first act of war was to invade Canada and then British colonies, led by William Hull. The forces were prepared to attack by the time war was declared. They were so fast to act, that the naval forces attacked British ships who did not get the chance to hear about the declare of war yet. Which all this success that Americans were getting, all of a sudden Sir Isaac Brock (British administrator) led his forces to chase the Americans out of Canada. Forcing William Hull to surrender Detroit without Brock firing any shots.

When 1813 rolled around, the Americans were still being very successful, especially in the Great Lakes area. But that all changed when Great Britain blockaded the eastern seaboard and took control of the sea. By 1814, the British started to gain more and more control over the United States. This was because they had more military resources to take over Washington, D.C. On top of that, they burned the White House to the ground along with the Capitol. This was payback for when the U.S. burnt down government buildings in Canada. When the British attacked Baltimore, that was what inspired Francis Scott Key to compose the song, “Star Spangled Banner.” One of the most famous songs ever written.

In September of that year, the United States started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Their naval forces had a victory at the Battle of Plattsburg bay on Lake Champlain. This caused the British to flee back to Canada. This U.S. win is was caused the peace between then and the British. Three months later, the Treaty of Ghent was signed stating an end of war. The United states consider this war to be a successful one because it opened up the Great Lakes for Americans to expand like they wanted to. Just because the treaty to stop all fire was signed in December, it took a very long time to reach the British army across the Atlantic Ocean. Since they didn’t know about the end of the war, they still were hostile in the center of the Mississippi River. On January 18th, 1815, British attempted to attack New Orleans territory but failed because they couldn’t stand up to the Americans who were led by General Andrew Jackson; causing the war to completely end in the Americans favor.