Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
The War of 1812 is the war between America and Britain during 1812-15. The War of 1812 to most Europeans meant the invasion of Russia by Napoleon's Grand Army. To Americans it means the war with Britain, a kind of second revolutionary war. The War was indeed influenced by the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. The War of 1812, however, was primarily the outgrowth of domestic issues. The primary international issue was the impressment of American sailors by the Royal Navy. Both the British and French impressed American saiolors, The impressments grew out of the war between France and England than act aimed at the Americans. After Trafalgur (1805), it was the Royal Navy that was primarily responsible. President Jefferson hoped the Embargo Act (1807) would end this, but the Act adversely affected the American economy and had little impact on the British. While impressment was important, it was probably British actions on the frontier, especially the North west Territory that was the major cause of the War. Amerucans moving west wamted land. This could only be obtained from the Indians. And the British were supporting Indian tribes as part of a policy to hold Amerucans in check. The War Hawks and moderates debated war and finally the War Hawks gained the upperhand in Congress. President Madison asked Congress to declare war. Congress declared war (June 1812). The principal American action was an effort to seize Canada. The British adopred a three front strategy. In studying the situation, the Duke of Wellington advised operations along the coast that could be supported by the Royal Navy or at least along waterways. Welingtom was mindful that Britain during the Revolution lost two field armies when they were cut off from the Royal Navy.
Cornwallis' surrebder at Yorktown ended the military phase of the Revolutionary War (October 1781). Britain had lost two entire field armies and was unwilling to continue the War. Just what the political settlement would be and the boundaries would be, however, was still unsettled. The western boundary in particular was at issue because they had never been clearly drawn even before the Revolution. The British at first wanted a settlement that would have provided a degree of autonomy, but left the colonies within the Empire. This could have prevented the colonists, but after the Revolutionary War was no longer acceptable. The British made a secret offer of autonomy to Benjamin Franklin in Paris (April 1782). Franklin rejected the British peace feelers insisting that Britain fully recognize American independence. Franlkin also rejected the idea of a separate peace. America had not fought the British alone. The French and Spanish had joined America and the French in particular had played a major role in the War. The Continental Congress appointed John Adams and John Jay as peace commissioners to assist Franlkin in the neogtiations. Formal negotiations with all beligerant countries opened in Paris (September 27). The final treaty was very favorable to the Ameeicans. They did not acquire Canada, but they got all the formerly British territory west to the Mississpi River. This proved to be a nobe of contention after the War because the British were not anxious ro turn over forts in the Northwest Territory.
France after the Revolution (1789) found itself at war with much of Europe. The Revolutionary Wars merged in to the Napoleonic Wars. Much of the land fighting had Austria and Russia at it core. Napoleon's victories over time forced these powers to seek peace with Napoleon. Protected by the Channel, Britain was the one country Napoleon could not come to grips with. From 1793 with only a brief interlude, Britain and France were at war until 1815. The Napoleonic Wars included naval wars between Britain and France. Both countries struggled for supremecy and one aspect of this was the difficulty in recruting men to man the ships. The British resorted to bress gangs at home, Both countries impressed American silors from merchant vessels stopped at sea. After Trafalgur (1805), the Channel became an unsurmountable obstacle for Napoleon.
Napoleon never had a clearly conveived objective. Most of the Napoleonic Wars were declared by the other European powers, not by Napoleon. He was a French patriot and one objective was to recover the French Empire lost in the Seven Years War (1756-63) to Britain. This meant North America. After invading Spain, he was able to regain Louisana which had been ceeded to Spain (1763).
The first step was to dispath an army to Haiti and defeat a slave rebellion there. Next the army would be moved to Louisiana. It is not clear what Napoleon would have done with an army there. Both the United States British Canada would have been potential targets. Napoleons plans, whatever they had been were undone in Haiti. A combination of the Haitian rebels and tropical diseases decimated the sizeable French army. This caused Napoleon to reconsider his Americams plans. One factor on his mind was that the Royal Navy might be able to seize New Orleans and with it all of Louisiana.
French jurisdiction over Louisana was unsettling in America. The Federalists were especially concerned with Frech radicals, but even for the more French orinented Republicans led by Jefferson who won the presidency (1800), French control of Louisiana was disturbing. A militarized France dominant in Europe was itself a threat. And if France was deefeated, the British might acquire Louisana in the peace settlement as they acquired Canada. Either alternative was a threat.
President Jefferson was especially interested in gaining control of New Orleans which could have blocked the production of America's western territories from reavhing marlets. In need of cash for his constant wars, the purchase offer of the United States proved very tempting. And Louisana without New Orleans was worthless to Napoleon.
Not since King Charles the second of England had signed the Charter of Hudson's Bay Company had such a huge territory changed hands in North America by peaceful means.
For the price of fifteen million dollars, the Americans bought a territory stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, from the Mississippi to the Rockies. Here was a land area, approximately one third the size of the present United States, which in time was to be divided into new vigorous states. In 1803, the purchase of the Louisiana Territory actually doubled the size of the United States.
Some historians argue that the Louisana Purchase was the single modst important event in American history. [Kukla] The Lousiana Purchase alone would have made Thomas Jefferson one of the great American presidents. Fremch and American diplomats signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty (April 12, 1803). Jefferson, by a stoke of the pen, he doubled the size of the country, made America a tans-connitental power, and radically changed the economics of the West by providing an outlet for the ecomic production of Western farmers. The price was relatively modest, abour $24 million. Spain in an effort to restrict American expansion had closed the Missisippi River to Americans. This effectively closed the only realistic route for Western farmers to market their produce--an huge economic limitation. Once France acquited Louisana, America sought to buy New Orleans. French control of the interior was infeasible without New Orleans and thus Napoleon decided to sell all of Louisana. The Frnch may have had larger designs, but the French suffered such loses in Haiti fighting Toussaint l'Overture that the resources were not available for Louisiana. Napoleon was not sure he could hold Louisana if the British attacked and needed monet for his operatioins against the British. America was concerned about the long border with a powerful European country. Purchase removed the potential danger. Jefferson'd purchase forvere changed America. The United States entered the 19th century surrounded by the great European powers, England, France, and Spain. Americans still clung precariously to the Eastern seaboard. Very few Americans had crossed the Alleganies into the West. Ohio, Illonois, and Indiana were still contolled by Native Americans, secretly supported by the Briish. Other Native American tribes still controlled much of Alababa and Mississppi. Jefferson by purchasing Louisana removed a major impediment to American expansion and changed a struggling republic which few Euopeand even thought would survivre into a potential new world power. [Kukla]
The United States and Great Britain were at peave after the Revolutionary War (1775-83). That does not mean that relations were friendly. It was widely believed in Britain that monarchy was the only workable gverment for a large country. The British believed that the when the end of the Revolutionary War, the american colonies would separate and that most if not all would eventully see the wisdom of union with Britain. For a while under the Articles of Confederation, it looked like this might happen. Many Americans for their part continued to resent the Britih. Some believed that all of British North America should have been included in the new Republic and still hoped to add Canada to the United States. Other Americans resented British support of Native Americans on the Western frontier. Some British officials hoped to hem in the United States by supporting Native Americans. This impaired the American movement west which was a primary concern of the American nation in the early 19th century. Some Americans were also disturbed by Britain's seeming unwillingness to sign acceptable commercial agreements.
The War of 1812 is the war between America and Britain during 1812-15. The War of 1812 to most Europeans meant the invasion of Russia by Napoleon's Grand Army. To Americans it means the war with Britain, a kind of second revolutionary war. The War was indeed influenced by the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. The War of 1812, however, was primarily the outgrowth of domestic issues. The principal international issue was the impressment of American sailors by the Royal Navy and related trade restictions. Both the British and French impressed American sailors. In fact American came close to war with France over the impressment issue. The impressments grew out of the war between France and England rather than an act aimed at the Americans. After Trafalgur (1805), it was the Royal Navy that was primarily responsible. The British war measure "The Orders in Council" authorized the Royal Navy to stop foreign vessels to search for deserters. When seamen suspected of being deserters were found, they were pressed into British service. There were British deserters on American vessels. Many British sailors were press-ganged into service and working conditions were brutal. Both pay and working conditions were much better on American ships.
Thus many British sailors deserted to work on American ships. The British saw this as a necessary act of war. The Americans as an affront to the country and a lawless act akin to enslavement. As the British badly needed men, there is no doubt that Americans who had never served in the Royal Navy were impressed. Public outrage culminated in the Chesapeake affair (1807). nt.
The Royal Navy frigate Leopard fired on the American warship Chesapeake which refused commands to stop. The British raked her decks with broadsides, killing 3 men and wounding 18 more.
The British then boarded Chesapeake and seized 5 men who they claimed were deserters. It was later determined that only one of the men was a Royal Navy deserter. The Chesapeake Affair came close to war, but Jefferson resisted thec calls for war. Napoleon after Trafalgur sought to attack the British with a trade blockade--the Continental System. The British responded with a naval blockade. Napoleon's Continental System required Russia, Prussia, Austria, and other Europeans under Napoleons control or influence to cease trading with Britain. The loss of European trade adversely affected the United States. This varied regionally. The northeastern states werecable to accept the situation because of the valuable trade with Britain. The southern states were more adversely affected.
President Jefferson hoped the Embargo Act (1807) would end both trade issuyes and continued impressment incidents. The Act prohibiting any ship from leaving American ports for any foreign destination. It soon became apparent, however, that the Act adversely affected the American economy and had little impact on the British. American trade was devestated. Some tried to evade it by prtending to sail to other American ports and then meet British ships at sea and transboard the cargo. In some cases entire ships were handed over. The Act was so unpopular un Anerica that Congress repealed it (1809). While impressment was important, it was probably British actions on the frontier, especially the North west Territory that was the major cause of the War. Americans moving west wamted land. This could only be obtained from the Indians. And the British were suppirting Indian tribes as part of a policy to hold Americans in check.
James Madison was elected president (1808). While respected, he did not have the prestige of Washibgton, Adams, and Jefferson. The election ushered un an era of Cogressional government that dominayed the 19th century, with two noticeanle excetions (Jackson and Lincoln). The Congressional election of 1810 was a substantial shift in generations. Several older Comgressmen of the Revolutionary era were replaced by younger more nationalistic and less cautious men. Western representation was becoming more important. Many of these new Congressmen wre outraged with British actions on the highseas as well as support for native Americans on the Western and southern frontier. Many also thought that Canada by rights should be part of the United States. This new generation became known as the War Hawks and became the dominant faction in Congress. They would dominate American affairs until the Civil War. Their leaders included Henry Clay (Kentucky) and and John C. Calhoun (South Carolina).
America and Britain were not the only two nations involved in the War of 1812. Native Americans were also involved, although there was no unity among the different tribes. Native Americans had been among the groups more adversely affected by the American victory in the Revolution. Americans had during and immediately following the Revolutionary War driven Native Americans out of Kentucky and across the Ohio River into the Ohio Territory. In the early 19th century Americans began moving down the Ohio River into Ohio itself. Here they came into conflict with Native Americas resisting ebcroachmebts on their lands. A series of generally localized incidents occurred involving quarrels, kidnappings, murders, scalpings, thefts, and raids. Native Americans had some fire arms. American settlers were convinced that they were being armed by the British in Canada. Here I am not sure of the British policies and the extent to which they back the tribes. The British were slow to withdraw from American territory along the Great Lakes as required by the Treaty of Paris.
Some British officials saw Native Americans as a way of impeding America's westward expansion. Most historians believe that the settler charges of British support for Native American tribes were widely exagerated.
The Americans by the 1810s had dricen Native Americans out of the Ohio Territory and into Indian Territory (Indiana). There is no doubt that Native Americans understandably desired to defend their land. And they did obtain some firearms through trade from the British. And one of the great Native American leaders rose at this time who attempted to unify the tribes--Tecumseh. He was a Shawnee chief and he attempted to form a condederation to resist the American settlement. Tecumseh traveled widely in the Mississippi valley as far south as Tennessee. He argued, pleaded, exorted, and demanded support in fighting the Americans. He was a gifted orator, but his goal of unifying tribes that were more acustomed to fighting than cooperating with each other was a challenging task. Another problem was that tribes not yet challengedby settlers were often unwilling to go to war to support the tibes that were challenged. Tecumseh's half brother was not an imposing warrior, but he gained a considerable following as a medicine man and became known as the Prophet. He taught that Native Amercans should reject white customs and return to their traditional ways. Tecumseh and the Prophet became a powerful force on the western frontier. The conflict came to a head it what was knien as Indian Territory--modern Indiana. Settlers claimed to have purchased 3 million acres in Undian Territory. There were a number of instances like this when small sums were paid to Native Americans who usually did not have authority to see land held by a tribe and not individual Native Americans. Tecumseh demanded the labd be returned, "These lands are ours, and no one has the right to remove us, because we were the first land owners; the Great Spirit above has appointed this place for us on which to light fires, and here we will remain. As to the boundaries, the Great Spirit above knows no boundaries, nor will his red people know any ... If my great father, the President of the Seventeen Fires, has anything more to say to me, he must send a man of note as his messenger ..." Warrior from many tribes gathered at Prophet's town on the Tippecanoe River. Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory became concerned with Tecumseh's growing strength and several ugly incidents. He assembled a force of militiamen and called for Federal troops.
He marched 1,000 mn toward the Prophet's town (1811). Upon pproachin the town, arrangements were made for a council. The Prophet decided to attack Harrison's force at night, hpoing to catch them sleeping. The resulting battle came to be known as the Battle of Tippecanoe and earned Harrison the nickname Tippicanoe and reputation as an Indian fighter. Despite the surprise attack, the Americans decisively defeated the Prophet. The surviving Native Americans fled and Harison torched the town.
Tecumseh was in the south and was shickked when he learned what happened. He was not only angry with the Amerucans, but with his brother for such an illconceived attack. The American victory made it difficult to convince waverung tribes to join the confederation and the warriors who had joined were now dispersed. Tecumseh with a small group of followers, left the Indiana territory and crossed the Detroit River to the Canadian side and join the British at Amherstburg (June 1812). This was hardly the army that he had hoped to assessmble for war with the Americans.
The War Hawks became a powerful force in Congress and came to dominate the national debate. They soon were demandung war with Britain and an invasion of Canada (Fall 1811). Henry Clay became a strident spokesman for war. Setting the issues aside, it seems difficult to understand how men like Clay with no real military knowledge could just assume that America would prevail with little difficulty against a major world power like Britain. We are not sure why Clay and the War Hawks were so sure of Amrica';s military prowess. His statements t the time seem to us today as nothing short of reckless, "Clay was so confident of an easy victory in a strike across the border that he said, "I trust I shall not be presumptuous when I state that I verily believe that the militia of Kentucky alone are competent to place Montreal and Upper Canada at your feet." He estimated that it would take the American troops no more than four weeks to overrun and hold the important regions of British North America." Apparently the War Hawks were basingbtheir assessments on the small British force in Canada. Britain's involvement in Europe may have also been a factor. The potenial importance of the Royal Navy seems to have been discounted.
The War Hawks generated considerable enthusiasm for the War. The United States was not, however, a united nation on the subject of war. Ironically, there was considerable opposition to the war in New England. New England, especially Massachusetts, had been the seedbed of the Revolution and independence. Yet only a few decades later, New Englanders wanted no part of another war with Britain. Here the issue of western expansion was of less interest and the economy relied heavily on trade with Britain. Few volunteers came from New England and there was opposition to expenditures for the War. And some merchants even sold supplies to the British. One of the most prominent voices on Congress oposing the war was Daniel Webster. Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin worked to prevent war.
Congress ordered the creation of a volunteer army of 50,000 men (Februry 1812). Conress did not, however, pass the funding to properly equip and maintain this army. Not only was the army poorly amed, but despite plans to invase Canada, the army was not properly supplied with winter uniforms. At the rime the United States declared war the country had a regular army of about 7,000 men. Not only was the Army small, but the officer corps was probably the most incompetent in American history. Senior officers tended to be old and junior officers with little experiece. Not only did Congress fail to properly equip the Army, but it actually rejected a bill to expand the Navy despite voting for a war pitting the pitifully small American Navy with the Royal Navy--the world's most formidable naval power.
The British at the time the United States declared war had only a small force in Canada with limited military stores. The British had 4,450 men to defend the 1,000 mile border between Canada and the United States. The British did have, however, a competent commander, General Isaac Brock.
The British had been fighting the French since 1793. Thus the old, incompetent officers had been weeded out and both men and officers had a great deal of experience. Ad the British had a very large, experienced army in Europe. The question became how quickly the British could spare thevmen from the fighting in Europe abd where they woulf ve deployed. Canada also had a very small population and a much smaller economy to support a war effort. The British at the onset of war were also unsure about the loyalty of French Canadians.
The War of 1812 was fought all over the United States. Roads even in settled areas wrevery poor. In frontier areas they were virtually non-existeant. As a result, rivers and lakes played a major role in defining the battlefield. Along the coast, naval support became critical and of course here Britain with its emense Rpyal Navy had an unsurmoutable advantage.
American diplomats strongly protested British actions against American shipping and the impresment of Ameican and other sailors authorized by the Orders in Council (1807). The British finally decided to end the practice. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Lord Castlereagh told parliament that the Orders in Council would be Suspsanded (June 16, 1812). News of the announcement would take weeks to reach the United States. Lord Liverpool who headed a new British Government formallly repreived the Orders in Council (June 23). Lord Liverpool did not learn until weeks later that the United States had declared war (July 29).
The impetus for war came from Congress, not President Madison. Congress repealed The Embargo Act (1809), before Madison was inagurated. The Act had severely damaged the American economy. Congress tried a novel response to Nritish and French actions against american shipping. Congress authorized trade with both Britain and France, but authorized the President, if either would accept America's neutral rights, to prohibit trade with the other (May 1810). Napoleon with a weak navy had little to lose. He pretended to accept American views in neutral rights. Thus President Madison proclaimed non-intercourse with Britain (late 1810). The War Hawks (Clay, Calhoun, and others) demanded the President persue a more forceful foreign policy. Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin attempted to use tariff policy to prevent war preparations. The War Hawks and moderates debated war and finally the War Hawks gained the upperhand in Congress. Madison who was not ebthusiatic abourt war with Britain finally gave in to Congressional pressure. Clay threatened to work against the President's second nomination. Congress in the 19th century was with few exceptions the dominant branch of government. Presidents Washington, Adams, and Jerrerson had all oppsed cries for war against Britain and France. Madison finally gave into the demands for war, despite the danger to the flefgling nation. Madison asked Congress to declare war (June 1, 1982). (Under the Consitution, Congress has the power to declare war, but only after receiving a presidential request.) Congress after heated debate passed the war resolution (June 18, 1812). Ironically, Britain revoked the restrictions on American commerce (June 23). This had been one of the issues that led to war, but the British action came too late to prevent war.
The initial British action was restrained. They were not sure if this was a protest or if America actually had decided to fight a war. ThThee Government was suprised that a small, militarily weak country, with a miniscule navy would attack Britain. The first British response was meerly to order its ships to sail in convoy and prevent American ships in British ports from leaving (July 31). It took even longer for President Madison to lear of the British repeal of the Orders in Council. He learned (August 12). He could have asked Comgress to halt hostilities, but declined to do so, primarily because of the strident support for the War in Congress. Also he had no information on how the British were going to respond to the declaration of war. [Vogel, pp. 20-32.]
The British had no interest in a war with America at the time. The War Hawks wer very much intent on fighting a war. The War of 1812 was fought from June 1812 to the spring of 1815, although the Treaty of Ghent ending the war was signed before the final battle in New Orleans (December 1814). The main land fighting of the war occurred along the Canadian border, in the Chesapeake Bay region, and along the Gulf of Mexico; extensive action also took place at sea.
The principal American land action of the War was an effort to seize Canada. This was the initial campaign of the War. At the time the British Army was in Europe fighting Napoleon. Only a small force was deployed to protect Canada. The American invasion plan called for a complicated three-pronged offensive which was beyond the capability of American commanders to coordinate and execute and worse dispersed the American force. The three prongs included: 1) an eastern prog from Lake Champlain to Montreal; 2) a central prong across the Niagara frontier; and 3) and a western prong into Upper Canada from Detroit. Clay's assessment of an easy American victory soon proved to be an illusion. In the east the American force moving north along Lake Champlain the American forces withdrew as winter weather closed in without any major contact (November 1812).
The center prong at Niagara had to turn back when the British prevailed at Queenston (October 1812). The western prong faired even worse. Gen. William Hull had surrender Detroit to the British (August 1812). The U.S. Army and militia were clearly unprepared for war and the initial engagements were not with the hardened, experienced and well-armed troops that the British would soon be shifted from Europe as the threat posed by Napoleon receeded.
The one bright spot for the Americans was the performance of the fledgeling United States Navy. The British victory at Trafalgar (1805) was so overwealing that few in America thought America could challenge the Royal Navy. It would assume that America could easily conquer Canada in a land invasion, but a war at sea would be hopless. President Madison was about to lay up the American frigates when some of the captains met with him and convinced him to let them sail. The Royal Navy was shocked when American frigates won a series of single-ship engagements with British frigates. This was in part because American frigates were designed as slightly larger vessels. The Admiralty had to eventually issue the embarassing order to its frigate captains that they should refuse to give battle in single ship engagements. The captains and crew of the frigates Constitution and United States were lauded as herps. The U.S. Navy was very small, however, and no match for the Royal Navy. The British thus gradually were able to effectively blockade the major American ports making it impossible for the American figates to sail. While the American frigates lifted the morale of the American public, it was privateers that had aeal impact on the British. American privateers harassed British shipping, seizung large numbers of merchant vessels and driving up insurance rates. The United States had a very long coasline. And while the Royal Navy effectively botteled up the american figates, it did not have the capability of blockading every small port. Thus large numbers of privateers continued to defy the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy did, however, cut off American trade with Europe and the Caribbean and had a serious impact on the American economy. It drove New England to consider secession and would have bankrupted the Federal Government if the War had continued another year. (Import duties were the Federal Government's principal source of incomd.) The Royal Navy also gave the British the ability to stike at will anywhere along the coast. A force landed in Chesapeake Bay burned Washington. A force landed near New Orleans, howver, was decimated by the Americans.
The British adopted a three front strategy. In studying the situation, the Duke of Wellington advised operations along the coast that could be supported by the Royal Navy or at least along waterways. Welingtom was mindful that Britain during the Revolution lost two field armies when they were cut off from the Royal Navy. The British were committed in Europe to fighting Napoleon. The Russian destruction of Napoleon's Grand Army (October-December 1812) changed the military picture in Europe. Napoleon suffered grevious losses in Germany (1813) and was forced to surender and exiled to Elba (1814). This allowed the British to deply military forces to North America.
One impact of the War of 1812 was to make it virtually impossivle for the United States to cooperate with Britain to end the slave trade. The United States until the Civil War (1861-65) was still a country in wgich slavery was not only permitted, but was an important part of the economy. Even so, Congress anolished the slave trade (1807). While ilegal, the United States did not have a Navy which could ebforce the law. Onkly the Royal Navy had the capacity to do this. Yet because of the impressment of U.S. citizens before the War of 1812, most Americans opposed allowing the British to stop American-flg ships.
Berton, Pierre. Flames across the Border (1981; repr. 1988).
Berton, Pierre. The Invasion of Canada (1980; repr. 1988).
Caffrey, Kate. The Twilight's Last Gleaming: The British against America 1812-1815 (1977).
Coles, Harry L. The War of 1812 (1965).
Horsman, Reginald. The War of 1812 (1969).
Kukla, Jon. A Wildrerness so Immense: The Louisana Purchase and the Destiny of America (Knopf, 2003), 430p.
Mahon, John K. The War of 1812 (1972).
Tucker, Glenn. Poltroons and Patriots: A Popular Account of the War of 1812, 2 vols. (1954).
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