Unit Six: Chapter TwelveThe Second War for Independence

Background:Great Britain and France at War

GB issues Orders of Council 1806 Napoleon ordered the seizure of all merchant ships that entered British ports.USA having difficulty trading with either country

Chesapeake-Leopard Affair 1807; British ship the Leopard fired upon the Chesapeake after she refused to submit to a search for British deserters -- The Chesapeake was boarded and four men were impressed into the British navy

“Remember the Chesapeake!”

Jefferson issued EMBARGO Act of 1807Non-Intercourse Act of March 1809The Giles Enforcement Act of 1809 issued

Madison takes office

March 4, 1809

Congress passes Macon’s Bill Number 2

Permitted trade with all nations but promised that if either Britain or France lifted its commercial restrictions on American trade, the USA would stop trading with the other

Madison accepted Napoleon’s promise to recognize America’s rights in 1811 and resumes trade with France…a major foreign policy mistake

Britain in return, pounced on American ships headed to French ports

Madison’s reasons for going to war against Great Britain

1. The British were arming hostile Natives2. War Hawks in his own party3. Wanted to restore confidence in the republican

experiment

War Hawks reasons for war (include Speaker of House, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun)

1. The British in Canada armed Natives and incited them to raid frontier settlements2. British impressment policies 3. British Canada and Spanish Florida were attractive

and thought to be easily obtainable prizes (gain territory)4. The British Orders in Council stopped the flow of

Western farm products to Europe 5. Defend American rights

War Hawks thought GB would quickly capitulate, due to its war with Napoleon… would notwant a two front war…. WRONG!

Those for the war included people in the West and the South, who wanted

1. To add land, British Canada and Spanish Florida2. Export goods to European nations

New England opposed the War of 1812 because

1. Northeastern Federalists sympathized with England

2. It resented the Republican’s sympathy with Napoleon

3. Federalists opposed the acquisition of Canada 4. Adding land could result in more agrarian states

and potentially give more votes to the Democratic-Republicans

New England states would lend more money and send more food to the British army than to the American army!

“Mr. Madison’s War” – The War of 1812“The Second War for Independence”

Madison = ”Father of the Constitution”

Causes of the War of 1812:

Indian resistance to U.S. expansion (the British were arming the Indians and inciting them to raid frontier settlements)American rights were not being recognized (British use of “impressment”)Revenge for the misuse of American sailorsInterest in gaining more territory “land hunger” (British Canada and Spanish Florida)Defense of American shipping rights *Britain’s Orders in Council, which stopped the flow of Western farm products to Europe (At the very moment Madison called for war, June 1, 1812, the British government was in the process of suspending the Orders in Council!!) *Napoleon’s Continental system

Advantages/Disadvantages

U.S. – unprepared to fight a war•Soldiers: ill-trained, and ill- disciplined•Widely scattered•Most generals were leftover from the Revolutionary War•Sense of urgency, unity, and purpose was not great•Navy in better shape than the army•Did know the terrain!

British – prepared for war•Well-trained, experienced troops•Small in number•Distance from Great Britain•No knowledge of the terrain•Contemptuous, overconfident attitude

•United States – Invade Canada – 3 prong attack from Lake Champlain to Montreal – across Niagara area – upper Canada from Detroit

Strategies:

•Great Britain-Sever New England through New Orleans to control Mississippi River and move to Chesapeake

Military and Civilian leaders

U.S: President James Madison, *Henry Clay, *J.C. Calhoun (*War Hawks)Capt. Oliver Hazard Perry (“We have met the enemy and they are ours” after capturing British fleet on Lake Erie), Andrew Jackson (hero of the Battle of New Orleans), William Henry Harrison (hero of Battle of Tippecanoe and Battle of the Thames)

Clay

Calhoun

Perry

British: King George IIIMajor Gen. Sir Isaac Brock (fought along side Tecumseh at Battle of Thames) Sir George Prevost (troops in Canada)Major General Edward Packenham (New Orleans)

Packenham

PrevostBrockGeorge III

Turning PointsBattle of Thames, Oct 1813 – removed Native American threat, death of TecumsehWashington, DC burned, Aug. 1814 – Dolley Madison made sure the portrait of Washington was removed and stored before the President’s Mansion was burned by the British.

Battle of Lake Champlain, Sept. 1814 – US Naval victory…destroyed British shipsFt. McHenry, Sept. 1814 – (outside of Baltimore, after Washington, DC was burned by British) U.S troops held strong and defended the city. “Star Spangled Banner”, written by Francis Scott Key about this battle

New Orleans, Jan. 1815 – *British force was destroyed after Sir Edward Packenham, British General in charge is killed (Britain lost over 2,000 men) small casualties for the U.S (about 13 dead); *(this battle actually takes place after the Treaty of Ghent)

General Jackson

Pirate Jean Lafitte

Hartford Convention 1814, organized by a group of Federalists:

•New England began to call for secession from the United States (the Gov of MA even secretly contacted the British about a separate peace)

•Wanted states to have the right to declare federal laws unconstitutional•States should be responsible for own defense•Removal of 3/5th Clause•One-term limit on the president•Ban on residents from one state succeeding one another in the office of president (aimed at VA)•Prohibition of naturalized citizens from holding federal positions

Once news of the Treaty of Ghent arrived, all these proposals fell to deaf ears.

Treaty of Ghent, Dec. 24, 1814 in Belgium

The delegates for the American side included:  John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Albert Gallatin, Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell while the delegates for the British included Admiral Lord Gambier, Henry Goulburn (Parliamentary Under-secretary of State for War and the Colonies) and William Adams a Doctor of Civil Law. 

Significant in that nothing changed…G.B. refused to discuss the topic of impressmentsFighting stopped

Significance of the war:Freed the United States from its “junior” status among nationsMade American’s feel and act more as a nation and gave rise to nationalismFederalist party would “die”, in part due to the Hartford ConventionUS could expand westward with little concern over future invasionBritain repulsed US efforts to invade Canada

USAbout $105 million and 2,260 dead and 4,505 wounded soldiers; 1000 civilian casualties and 205 deserters executed

GBAbout $3.7 billion and casualties exceeded the US

Costs:

The Rush-Bagot Agreement

• 1817– severely limited naval armament on the Great Lakes• Brought about due to Canadian concerns• Between US and GB