War of 1812
A mere thirty years after the end of the Revolutionary War -- which saw the American colonies separate from and defeat the British empire -- the fledgling United States found itself once again face-to-face with the world's greatest military power in a struggle to secure for the new nation, a mark of international status. The War of 1812 began with a "secret vote on June 4th, in which House members endorsed going to war 79-49…and a Senate vote on June 17 favoring war 19 to 13" (Langguth, A.J. 2006). How though had the U.S. arrived at this precarious position and what would the confrontation invariably mean for American interests going forward?
Causes of War
America's "second war of independence" (Langguth, A.J. 2006) had three primary causes: the impressment of American sailors, the British trade and embargo and blockade of U.S. ports, and the "incitement of Native American's to violence...
2011), particularly in the Northwest Territories and into Canada.
The impressment of U.S. sailors by the British, "the practice of forcibly inducting men into military service" (U.S. History.com. N.D.) had occurred intermittently since the end of the revolutionary war and had not been stopped even with the signing of the Jay Treaty in 1795 (Langguth, A.J. 2006). The impressment issue however, was forced into the American consciousness on June 22, 1807 when an American frigate, the U.S.S. Chesapeake was fired upon, crippled, and boarded by sailors from the British ship, the Leopard; resulting in the seizure of four American sailors and an ignominious humbling for the young nation (Langguth, A.J. 2006). "At that moment, the nation's fury might have supported immediate war with Britain, but President Jefferson preferred to follow the lead of Washington and Adams in not challenging…
