War Of 1812 Essay, Research Paper

offered better

food and pay. The life of a English navy sailor was not good. They were

constantly

working and the food was terrible. Meat, when available was almost always

rotten and

covered with mold. “Ships biscuit” a type of bread that was rock hard, was

frequently

covered with maggots. English sailors often ate in dark corners to avoid

seeing what bugs

might be on their food. American merchant ships offered 10 times the pay

and although

the food was not fancy it “stuck to your ribs”. The English Navy responded

by stopping

American ships and taking sailors and forcing them into service in the

English navy. It

was hard to tell who was English and who was American because many

Americans were

“English-Americans” and also many had false papers saying they were

American born.

The result was many true American born natives were “impressed” into the

English Navy..

The United Sates tried many times to get England to change the English

policy toward

neutral shipping and also the policy of impressment. In April, 1806, the

United States

Congress passed a new law. This law was called a Non-importation Act which

band

English goods from American markets. This law was not really put into

place until 1807,

after the “Chesapeake” incident. In June of 1807, the English warship

“Leopard” stopped

a smaller American warship the “Chesapeake” and claimed the American ship

how four

English deserters. The English captain demanded to board the American ship

and search

for them. When the American captain refused , the English ship opened fire

killing three

and wounding eighteen others. The American ship had rushed out of port and

had not

properly stowed the gunpowder and rope matches(fuses) and could not return

fire.

Americans called for stronger penalties and the Embargo act of 1807 was

passed. Thomas

Jefferson said, “England has become a den of pirates and France has become

a den of

thieves”. Now all land or seaborn trade with foreign nations was made

illegal. This act

primarily hurt the New England region which had heavily depended on trade

with

Europe. Hundreds of ships rotted at the dockside and thousands of sailors

were put out of

work. Public outcry by 1809 had grown so strong that a revised law was

passed called the

“Non-Intercourse Act. The law said, that Americans could trade with any

nation except

England and France and gave the President the power to allow resuming

trade with either

country if and when either country should stop violating American shipping

on the seas.

The act also opened American ports to all except English and the French

ships.

In the year 1810, congress passed a new bill called Macons Bill Number 2.

This

removed all restrictions on trade. This law said, that if either France or

England would

give up their orders or decrees, the United states would reinstate its’

nonintercourse rules

against the other nation, unless that nation would agree to abandon its

trade restrictive

policies.

Napoleon pretended to abandon his Berlin and Milan decrees and by doing so

he

hoped to promote war between the United States and England. James Madison

shut off

all trade with England. Unlike New England where restricted trade was

badly hurting the

economy, the West and the South regions of the United States were much

more in favor

of going to war because of their expansion plans and great fear of the

Indians. Since the

revolutionary war the English had inspired the Indians to constantly

harass the Americans.

The English wanted to protect the fur trade with the Indians and hoped to

keep the

Americans from it. In the summer of 1811 one more effort was made for

peace and it

failed. In November President James Madison put Congress on notice to

get ready for

war.

On June 1, 1812, President Madison asked Congress to declare war on the

English. Congress officially declared war on June 18,1812. The reasons

the President

gave were :

impressment of American sailors into the English navy

interference with United States trade

promoting trouble between the United States and Indian tribes on the

Northwest

frontier.

There were many important dates in the War of 1812. here are some of

them:

1812 (June 18) The United States declared war on England.

1812 ( Oct. 13) The English won the battle of Queenston Heights in

Canada.

1813 ( April 27) the Americans captured York (now Toronto) ,the capital of

upper Canada. They later burned some public buildings.

1813 ( Sept. 10) American forces under Master-Commandment Oliver

Hazard Perry won the battle of Lake Erie.

1813 ( Oct. 5) The Americans won the battle of the Thames River

Moraviantown, an Indian village in Canada

1814 ( Aug. 24 ) English troops invaded Washington, D. C., and burned the

capitol and the White House.

1814 (Sept. 11) American forces won the Battle of Lake Champaign.

1814 (Dec. 24) The Americans and the English signed a peace treaty in

Ghent,

Belgium.

1815 ( Jan. 8) American forces won the Battle of New Orleans. News of

peace treaty(which had been signed fifteen days before) did not reach the

United States until after this battle.

Although the Battle of New Orleans was the major battle of the war it was

not the reason the war ended. The British people were tired of war taxes.

The Americans

feared disaster if the war continued. The Americans and the British signed

a peace treaty

in August 1814, in Ghent, Belgium. Although the War of 1812 was a war that

nobody

won, it was a turning point in our nation’s history. Peace brought a

better understanding

between England and the United States. England came to the realization

that the United

States was not just a break away colony, but had become a true