The War of 1812: America and Britain

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RnIn June of 1812, President James Madison asked Congress for a declaration of war on Britain. Following years of neutrality under the leadership of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson, the United States’ conflicts with Britain and France finally went into a war. President Madison had tried to create a diplomatic solution for three long years, but all attempts were unsuccessful. The War of 1812 was caused by the impressment of American sailors and the seizure of ships and their cargo, problems on the Western Frontier and greediness for land, and a growing sense of party politics and patriotism.

The biggest problems with Britain came on the high seas. British naval vessels had been stopping American cargo ships for years before 1812 and impressing American sailors. British officers boarded the American ships in search of British deserters. They left with American citizens with no connection to the British navy. The number of American men who had been impressed by the start of the war was close to 10,000. Document 1 is a congressional report that describes Britain’s violations of our right “to use the ocean, which is the common and acknowledged highway of nations, for the purposes of transporting, in their own vessels, the products of their own soil and the acquisitions of their own industry,”

In 1800, John Adams agreed to the Convention of 1800. This ended the alliance America formed with France during the American Revolution, which threatened to put America into Europe’s wars. The next president, Thomas Jefferson, continued to stay away from war with France and Britain. But when Europe violated American trading rights – Britain destroying American ships, seizing cargoes, and kidnapping sailors – Jefferson enacted the Embargo Act on American trading. This prevented trading with foreign nations, but failed to make Europe respect our rights and put many merchants, shippers, and sailors out of work, which severely affected our economy. For example, Boston was a huge trading port a the time, after the Embargo Act was in affect, Boston trade was shut down. When James Madison became president, the United States continued to deal with the problem of impressment. This along with many other forces led Americans to declare war on Britain in 1812. The other issues leading up to the war were the political party of President Madison and the United States’ desire for expanding.