Download Name: Date: History: Lesson 10.4 – The War of 1812 Period

Name: _____________________________________________________
History: Lesson 10.4 – The War of 1812
Date: _________________________________
Period: _______________________________
Directions: Read the following passages and answer the following questions in complete sentences.
It wasn’t very long after the American Revolution that England and France were at war again. Both
nations began to use force to regulate American trade. They each wanted to stop the United States from
trading products to its enemy, so both nations attacked our ships.
1. What are some of the goods that one country would not want its enemy to import during a war?
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Jefferson thought that he could convince England and France to leave U.S. ships alone by prohibiting the
shipment of American goods to their countries or any other country in Europe. To carry out his plan,
Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807. He assumed that if U.S. ships were not on the seas, there was
no way they could be attacked.
The embargo was a failure. It hurt the United States far more than it hurt England or France. Business
was so poor that tens of thousands of people in the port cities were out of work. People from all over the
county, and especially the New England merchants, protested against the embargo. Finally, in 1809 the
embargo was discontinued.
2. Based on what you have read, what is an embargo? Why did this embargo fail?
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Examine the cartoon below and answer the question that follows.
3. How does the artist feel about the Embargo Act of 1807? What do you see in the picture that helped
you form this decision?
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James Madison, who followed Jefferson as President, also tried to keep the country from going to war
over freedom of the seas. At times it seemed that the United States should go to war against both England
and France. However, the British were much harder on the Americans than the French were. The British
actually fired upon U.S. battleships. They often impressed, or forced, sailors from American ships to work
in the British navy. Furthermore, Native Americans from Canada were still raiding American settlements
in the Northwest. The British who controlled Canada received much of the blame for the raids.
Some American congressmen known as War Hawks pressed hard for war. They said that war with Great
Britain would give the United States a good reason to invade Canada and capture it. In this way, Native
American raids would be stopped and Canada would provide cheap land for American settlers. Madison
asked Congress to decide the question of war with England. In June 1812, they voted “Yes.” The fighting
that took place during the next three years in known as the War of 1812.
4. What are two ways that the British navy acted against the United States ships and men?
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5. What are two reasons the War Hawks wanted war with Britain?
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The American plan for the war was to attack Canada. In 1812, American forces attacked British forts at
Detroit and Niagara. A third force advanced on Montreal. The Americans were beaten back by British
soldiers, the Canadians, and their Native American allies. The Native Americans saw the war as a way to
keep American settlers from moving into Indian territory.
American forces made a second attempt to invade Canada in 1813. The American forces won some
important battles. Toronto, the city where the Canadian government met, was taken but not held. In
spite of all the United States’ efforts, the end of the year saw Canada still in the hands of the Canadians.
6. What was the result of the first time the U.S. invaded Canada? What happened the second time?
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In 1814, the British invaded the United States. After years of fighting in Europe, they had finally defeated
the French. Now they could devote their full energies to the war with the United States. First, they
planned to separate New England from the rest of the country, as they had tried to do in the
Revolutionary War. But the result was the same – failure. An American fleet on Lake Champlain,
commanded by Captain Thomas McDonough, destroyed the British fleet as it tried to sail south on the
lake.
7. How does this paragraph prove that it is sometimes important to study history? Use the text to
support your answer.
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The second part of the British plan called for attacks on American cities and villages along the coast.
These places could offer little resistance to the British. The British were quite successful, and even
Washington D.C., the capital, was captured and burned. Among the buildings set ablaze were the Capitol
and the president’s mansion. President Madison and his wife, Dolley, were forced to flee from the city,
but not before she had packed up many valuable items, including a painting of George Washington, and
other priceless valuables. Fortunately, a thunderstorm put out the fires before they could completely
destroy the buildings.
8. How was Dolley Madison brave? Why do you think she did this?
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The British did not try to hold Washington, D.C. Instead, they headed north to Baltimore. They attacked
that city in mid-September, but the people of Baltimore were ready and held firm. A determined defense
and fierce artillery fire from Fort McHenry in the harbor kept the British from entering the city.
As the bombs burst over Fort McHenry during the night of September 13, local attorney Francis Scott Key
watched. The next morning he saw the American flag still flying over the fort. Deeply moved, Key wrote
a poem that became known as “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Congress designated “The Star Spangled
Banner” as the national anthem in 1931.
9. What achievement did the United States make at Fort McHenry? How did the Battle of Baltimore turn
into propaganda for the United States?
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The third part of the British plans was to capture New Orleans. This would help to control the Mississippi
River. The battle was a huge defeat for the British, who lost more than 2,000 soldiers, while the
Americans lost no more than 75 troops. The redcoats were no match for General Andrew Jackson’s
soldiers, who hid behind thick cotton bales. The bales absorbed the British bullets, while the British
advancing in the open provided easy targets for American troops. The great irony of the battle is that
neither Jackson nor the British troops knew that a peace treaty, called the Treaty of Ghent, had already
been signed. This treaty ended the War of 1812, but it did not change any borders, nor did not mention
the impressment of sailors or neutral rights
Americans felt a new sense of patriotism and a strong national identity after the War of 1812. The young
nation also gained new respect from other nations around the world.
10. What was ironic about the Battle of New Orleans?
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11. Look at what the Treaty of Ghent accomplished. Then read the final paragraph about America as a
whole. Was the War of 1812 worth it? Explain your response with evidence from the text.
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