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WAR OF 1812 & MADISON
Complete the WARM UP on your Google Doc
The War of 1812
These excerpts from President Madison’s Declaration of War were
read to Congress on June 1, 1812.
“We behold our seafaring citizens still the daily victims of lawless
violence… We behold our vessels… wrested [taken] from their lawful
destinations… in [to] British ports… We behold, in fine, on the side of
Great Britain a state of war against the United States…”
In 2-3 sentences, according to this excerpt from President Madison’s
Declaration of War, what seemed to be the primary reason for the
War of 1812?

James Madison • Secretary of State under Jefferson • Had a wealth of experience but was
not a good public speaker

Election of 1808 • Madison & two other D-Rep vs. Charles Pinckney (Fed) • Madison wins
the majority • Federalist won back some of the seats (still a D-Rep majority)

From 1807 to 1811 the Democratic-Republican administrations of Thomas Jefferson and
James Madison attempted to change British policies by economic coercion, restricting
British imports as well as American exports to Great Britain.

Embargo Act of 1807 • Repealed at the end of Jefferson’s Presidency • Caused Economic
Dep

The most severe of these measures was the Embargo Act, passed in December 1807,

This Act banned all exports and confined American shipping to the coastal trade.

When neither economic coercion nor negotiation changed British policies, war sentiment
built in the United States.

Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 • U.S. could trade with all nations but France and Great Britain
MADISON

Causes: • France and England violated U.S. shipping Neutrality • Britain continued to
cause problems on the Western Frontier

Although both France and GB seized ships, only GB impressed soldiers • GB stood in the
way of Canada and helped supply natives

Tecumsah • Shawnee Tribal Leader • Attempted to unite the tribes of the Midwest against
the settlers

Gov. of IND. General William Henry Harrison took action • Battle of Tippecanoe 1811 –
Destroyed Shawnee Headquarters

Warhawks • New young Republican congressmen from the 1810 election • Name comes
from eagerness for war

Henry Clay (KT) and John Calhoun (SC) • War with GB is the only way to defend U.S.
honor, gain Canadian land, and destroy the threat of native American resistance

Election of 1812 • Regional split • North-Federalist & Anti-War Republicans. Clinton (Fed)
NY • South & West-Warhawks. Madison (DRep) • Opponents called it “Mr. Madison’s War”
CAUSES AND BEGINNING OF WAR

Invasion of Canada • 3 Invasions of Canada by a weak U.S. Army • Britain easily
repulsed the invasions

U.S. Naval Victories • U.S. Constitution sank a British ship off the coast of Nova Scotia
– 1812 • 1813 – Lake Erie – Capt. Oliver Perry. Big victory. “We have met the enemy,
and they are ours”

British in Washington D.C. - 1814 • Napoleon had been defeated so Britain increases
their military strength • Marched through Washington and set fire to the White
house

1814 Fort McHenry’s bombardment led to Francis Scott Key writing “The Star
Spangled Banner”
 General
Andrew Jackson – Southern Campaign • March 1814 –
defeated the Creek Nation in Alabama • Battle of New Orleans –
Jan 1815 – Controlled the Port
 Treaty
of Ghent – Dec. 25 1814 • Halt the fighting • Return all
property to pre-war status • Recognize the prewar boundary
between Canada and the U.S.
 Results
of the War of 1812 • The U.S. had successfully fought GB
twice, won global respect • Canada-U.S relations improved •
Federalist party disappeared. Didn’t support the war and were part
of Hartford Conv.
 Without
British support, Native Am. surrendered more Western land •
Lack of British imports sparks U.S. Industry • Am. Nationalism grows.
The future of the U.S. looks to the West

Important battles were fought at Lake Erie, Detroit, Horseshoe Bend, Washington,
D.C., and Baltimore.

After their defeat at Plattsburgh, British leaders decided that the war was too
costly and unnecessary, and American and British representatives signed the
Treaty of Ghent in 1814.

Before word of peace could reach America, however, General Andrew Jackson
led his troops to a decisive victory over the British at New Orleans.

Causes of the war included British attempts to restrict U.S. trade, the Royal Navy’s
impressment of American seamen and America’s desire to expand its territory.
The United States suffered many costly defeats at the hands of British, Canadian
and Native American troops over the course of the War of 1812, including the
capture and burning of the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., in August 1814.
Nonetheless, American troops were able to repulse British invasions in New York,
Baltimore and New Orleans, boosting national confidence and fostering a new
spirit of patriotism.