Download The War of 1812 - HRSBSTAFF Home Page

War of 1812
The War No Really Wanted
External Factors
British Stubbornness and French
Frustration
Historical Context
 Late 1700s – French Revolution = chaos

From that emerged the French Republic (later taken over by
Napoleon)

Americans were empathetic to France because of this
 Early 1800s Napoleon takes over France and much of Western
Europe.
 Could not defeat the British Navy.
Tit for Tat - Embargos
 November 1806, Napoleon orders all European ports closed
to British ships.

He later extended this policy to neutral ships who have entered
a British port before arriving at the continent.
 Britain retaliates with the a series of Orders in Council.

all neutral ships to acquire a license in a British port
before they could sail to Europe.

Anyone failing to comply would be stopped
 Many of the ships stopped were American.
The United
States of America was angry:

felt they should be allowed to trade with France as a neutral
country.
By 1812, the British Empire had been at war with France
under Napoleon. Part of the British strategy was to use their
Royal Navy to blockade French ports in an effort to ruin the
French economy.
The Chesapeake incident of 1807
 Off the Virginia Coast
 USS Chesapeake was approached by HMS
Leopard (British), which asked to board and
reclaim 4 deserters.
 When the Chesapeake refused, the British
vessel opened fire, in violation of international
law and outraging the entire United States.
Internal Factors
Natives and Manifest Destiny
Battle of Tippicanoe
 Indiana in 1811:
 Led by Shawnee chief, Tecumseh
 The Shawnee were defeated and many fled to
Canada
 Believed if they could get help from the Canadians
and the British, they would be able to keep their way
of life.
Many in the United States also believed in Manifest Destiny, the idea that the United
States should control all of North America.
War Hawks
 American politicians who wanted war.
 Their Reasoning:
 take land from the Aboriginals.

Conquest of British North America would
eliminate native / British threat once and for all

would be easy to do: border long, soldiers
limited, population small, British focused on
Napoleon in Europe.
In 1812 with most of the British army was tied up fighting
Napoleon in Europe.
Many Americans thought it would be easy, a “mere matter
of marching” to quote Thomas Jefferson.
List of Grievances
Madison’s Issues

Impressments of American
citizens into the British navy

British stopping and searching
American vessels

British naval blockade,
 British Orders in Council

British inciting of Amerindians
against the United States
General Sir Isaac Brock
Was in charge of defending
Upper Canada (Ontario
today).
He spent years planning for
an American invasion.
- built defences
- made plans
- developed relationships
with First Nations
Peoples; Tecumseh.
Tecumseh
 Wanted a separate Indian
country.
 Helped Isaac Brock capture
Fort Detroit.
 Americans were able to gain
control of Detroit and the
surrounding areas.
 The British and the Natives
fell back into Canadian
territory. Tecumseh was able
to convince the British to
take a stand at Battle of the
Thames
 The United States Army: greatly
outnumbered the defenders of
Upper Canada
 Primarily a defensive force
 British, Canadian and allied First
Nations forces defeated the
American invaders time and
again.
 All of the invasions of Canada
ended in failure, though there
were many close calls and many
sacrifices would be made: Both
Brock and Tecumseh were killed
in action.
Laura Secord
 Summer 1813
 USA attempt to invade Canada.
 American soldiers stopped at Laura Secord’s home.
 She overheard them talking about a surprise attack on the British and
Canadian force at Beaver Dam.
 Her husband was still suffering from wounds at the Battle of Queenston
Heights.
Laura walked 23km through fields and forests. In less than a day, she arrived with her
message at the headquarters of the British commander, James FitzGibbon.
 In 1814, Napoleon was defeated and the war
in Europe was coming to an end. Britain was
then able to send many more ships to North
America.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2sXXwIE
hsQ&feature=related
The Peace
 Ghent, Belgium.
 signed on December 24, 1814.
 Rush-Bagot Agreement of 1817.
USA and Britain: not to put gunboats on the
Great Lakes. Each side was allowed to keep
one armed ship on Lake Champlain and Lake
Ontario and two on the other Great Lakes.
•At the end of 1814, both sides agreed to peace.
•For the Americans, the war had been a dismal failure.
•For the British, the financial and human costs of decades of
fighting France were piling up and no advantage was evident to
continuing the war with the United States.
The Americans repaired the president’s house and painted it white
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLjBOHskEpw&feature=relate
d
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGKwgmyEAJs&feature=relat
ed
Blacks Participating in the War
 Freedom, equality & in Canada to all
American Blacks who fought against the
USA.
 Thousands of blacks volunteered, particularly
the Blacks from Chesapeake Bay area.
 William Hammond trained the slaves in
combat. They were known as the Colonial
Marines.
 Slaves proved they could fight.
The Arrival of the Chesapeake Blacks to
NS
 1812-1815: 2,000 Black refugees arrived in
NS.
 As part of the peace agreement in 1814, the
British gave the United States £250,000 (app.
1 million dollars US) in compensation for the
slaves they lost.
 In 1815, the economy in NS dropped and the
first to lose their jobs were the Refugees.
Settlements in NS
 Preston and Hammonds Plains were chosen as the
sites for the major settlements. These were isolated
communities
 Others were Refugee Hill (Halifax), Cobequid Road,
Preston and Middle Sackville
 A lot of the land was too small and barren
 Most of the homes were poor quality.
 Lord Dalhousie (Lt. Gov-NS): offered them seeds for
potatoes, cabbage and turnip.
 The former slaves found it difficult to adjust to the NS
harsh winters, as they were from the south: suffered
many illnesses (colds, flu and pneumonia).
 Crops fail due to cold.
 Felt trapped in NS, because they could not leave as they
feared being put back into slavery
 In 1821, the government had sent approx. 100
Refugees to Trinidad, where they would not be
put back into slavery.
 Some had volunteered and some were sent due
to an outbreak of scarlet fever in Hammonds
Plains.
 Those who stayed kept farming and sold their
products in the Halifax market
 Many women in Hammonds Plains sold crafts in
Halifax
 Others remained as unskilled labourers