Causes and Outcomes of War

Causes and Outcomes of War of 1812

Peace after the Revolutionary War of Independence did not resolve all tension between the United States and Great Britain. This became evident on June 6, 1812 as the United States declared war on Great Britain. There are numerous reasons that led to the war, which primarily involve in some form Great Britain's involvement in war with Napoleon in Europe to the young United State's expansionist ambitions. This war that would become known as the War of 1812 was fought in North America from 1812 - 1815. Neither Great Britain nor the United States achieved their immediate objectives. However, the United States did, especially after the Battle of New Orleans succeed in its pre-war aim of maintaining independence, and although the war did not change any borders on the map, it did reinforce United States independence and permanently end British influence on its former colonies. The War of 1812 was largely caused by British encroachment on the rights of American neutral merchants, and thus a reflection on British attitudes towards America's sovereignty and the outcome of the war responded to these British attitudes as American sovereignty was established. The roots of the War of 1812 lie in European inter-continental politics in the early 19th century. Britain and France opened a war in 1803, yet Britain was incapable of fighting on land and Napoleon on the sea (Harney, 1989). By 1806 Napoleon excluded British goods from Europe, and this lead to a sticky situation for American ships looking to remain neutral in this continental conflict (Feldmeth, 1988). The British goals were to defeat France through commercial restriction, and this meant American merchant ships would be caught in the European War. Britain instituted a policy in the Orders of Council which stated that neutral ships would have to get a license in a British port before going to Europe meaning neutral ships such as American ships would be forced to choose one side or the other (Thinkquest, 1998). America relied on European trade and continued to engage in commerce over the seas; yet America's commercial interests would be a factor in leading to the War of 1812 as it was involved in the bitter struggle between Great Britain and France. To counter American merchants and hoping to hinder their positive trade with France, Britain began to take command of the seas. As a result, between 1803 and 1812, the British took 10,000 American citizens as prisoners, thus reflecting on increased tension between the United States and Great Britain (Feldmeth, 1988). According to Horsman (1962), "The period 1804 to 1807 had produced a British policy of increasing strictness and a steadily growing American irritation, particularly in regard to impressment" (p. 123). This policy of impressment, meaning that the British could boar American vessels to search for deserters, can be seen as an infringement on American rights. According to Madison, in a message to Congress in 1812, "British cruisers have been in the continued practice of violating the American flag on the great high-way of nations, and of seizing and carrying off persons sailing under it" (Madison, 1812). This shows that to the President himself, the British policies violating rights of American sailors was one which was important to the American cause of eventually going to war with Britain. This culminated in the fact that Britain not only looked to defeat France, but retain their naval commercial supremacy, and thus they could not accept any challenger. American commercial interests were strong, and relied on trade with France, and this therefore interfered greatly with British interests. More problems arose as British captured American vessels "within sight of the U.S. coast" creating animosity from the Americans towards their former colonizer. As commercial interests involved America with Britain's wartime policies in Europe, Great Britain and the United States began to near closer to a war. Furthermore, to counter these difficulties oversea, the American's led by Jefferson, created an embargo in the hopes of a peaceful resolution to the problems. However, this embargo led America closer to war as it left war the only alternative. The Embargo Act of December 1807 was, "Jefferson's attempt at 'peaceful coercion' (that) resulted in economic disaster for merchants" (Feldmeth, 1988). The embargo severely crippled American trade, particularly in the Northeast, while it did little to hinder the British who still could trade with other places in the Americas (Harney, 1989). The disaster of this embargo, which only hurt America and helped the British, meant that "war or absolute submission to England" were the only remaining alternatives (Horsman, 1962, p. 266). Depression as a result of British policy and American mismanagement of the problem was a cause that contributed to the War of 1812 as economic warfare was becoming a reality. The American frontier posed another contributor to the war, however its direct cause of the War of 1812 can be disputed. Nevertheless, it did heighten tensions that would lead to war. According to Horsman (1962) "the frontier that separated the United States and Canada presented its own problems to the harassed governments of the two countries," thus reflecting the general tendency of American settlers to expand on the frontier with little regard for those in their way (p. 158). These American expansionist tendencies, as well as the threat of American aims on Canada led to "a policy of cultivating the support of the Indian tribes" which surely antagonized American interests (Horsman, 1962, p. 204). However, it is generally accepted that taking over Canada and ridding the British of the continent would only be an aim to achieve the greater goal of economic freedom on the seas. "The desire to annex Canada did not bring on the war," Hickey (1989) argues, showing that the war was caused by forces greater than expansionist tendencies. This is reflected in James Madison's 1812 confidential message to the Speaker of the House which talks in detail of Great Britain's harms towards America (Madison, 1812). In this message Madison is very specific in outlining the economic mistakes of Great Britain towards the United States, while noticeably excluding the continental land problems. This means that the land issues were of lesser importance to the greater economic dilemmas facing American merchants and American rights at sea, and in a larger perspective, America's sovereign rights to trade freely as a neutral nation. This set the stage for war between Great Britain and the United States, one which a result of America reacting to British policies- policies that were not made in a vacuum, but that were made in the context of a greater European war (Horsman, 1962, p. 263). Even though expansion may appear as a cause of the war, it is not the true cause, and although War hawks in politics contributed to the war, this does not mean that the causes were not within British policy towards America (Feldmeth, 1988). In the larger, picture, I shall argue that the causes of economic interests are rooted in British lack of respect for American sovereignty, as their policies were not in respect for an independent an neutral nation in a conflict. British policies towards America were harsher than the French towards America, and perhaps this is a reflection of British attitudes towards a nation they feel is still their colonizer. It is this, then, that reflects the true outcome of the war, as the actual war ended in a stalemate on paper. It did, "once and for all confirm American Independence" and thus because that is the outcome, the cause of the war must be a lack of American independence (Thinkquest, 1998). On paper, the war appears to have ended in a stalemate as there were no official territorial changes (Thinkquest, 1998). The United States failed to capture Canada, and the British failed in their attacks on Baltimore and also New Orleans (Thinkquest 1998). The Treaty of Ghant in the end of 1814 witnessed "British and American diplomats agree on status quo ante bellum" (Feldmeth, 1988) meaning there were no changes to the status quo. The Battle of New Orleans, in which Jackson defeated the British by a route establish America as a power on the level of the British. In the Battle of New Orleans, 700 British were killed compared to only 8 Americans (Feldmeth, 1988). There were also smaller naval engagements won by the American Navy that helped prove them superior to the British. The outcome thus was not so much a military outcome, but one which had other significance to the United States. Perhaps the outcome militarily is more important in terms of what was not accomplished, and that was that there was no major land changes and the United States would not take possession of Canada. Ultimately, American independence was entrenched by the war of 1812 as any previous encroachments on American independence, such as impressments, came to an end. Firstly, the United States was able to quell Native American resistance which was largely a problem at the urging of the British. Furthermore, while it established Canada as an independent nation, it also established America. As a war over its previous colonizer, America can be said to have won a second war of independence. This is further reflected in considering President Madison's war message to Congress. Madison appeals to the "honor" of his country, as if Britain has violated it and it is America's responsibility to retain it (Madison, 1812). Although the war was fought primarily for economic reasons, the "honor" Madison is referring to was regained during the war as Great Britain was unable to dominate the United States. In fact, the United States did more than a good job of fighting the British. Thus, it appears that the war was fought somewhat over honor, and the United States maintained their honor in the war. This means that the United States established itself, and its pride, in the war, and this can be considered an outcome of the war. The war of 1812 had numerous causes, the most important that were economic in nature. The United States, in order to maintain its economic vitality, was forced to go to war, especially after the failed attempts to avoid war through the embargo. The expansionist reasons for the war were more of consequence to engage in war with Britain. Great Britain, because of its war with Napoleon in Europe, looked to interrupt economic interaction between the United States and continental Europe. The way Great Britain went about this policy, by capturing American's, boarding their ships, and taking vessels close to American shores means that there was a definite lack of respect for the power, clout, and sovereignty of their former colony and the new nation, the United States. Furthermore, the United States was establishing itself as a commercial and naval power, and this would be reinforced through the war. To Great Britain this was unacceptable, and to America, for Great Britain to interfere so severely with America's economic interests was a problem. Attempts to resolve the conflict peacefully ended in failure as with the embargo, and thus set the stage for the War of 1812. The outcome of the war was an actual stalemate, however I believe it was a success for the United States. As a new nation, the United States established their "honor" and their power against a major European naval power. While there would be no northbound expansion, this was of little consequence to the more pressing issues of America's economic interests and economic sovereignty. Ultimately, by stopping the British objectives, America satisfied their own as a sovereign nation.