War Of 1812 DBQ

The reasons for the War of 1812 were twofold. First, the impressment of American sailors challenged American neutrality and national pride. Second, War Hawks, such as Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, wanted to use the war as a means for expansion into British Canada and for the removal of the prevailing Indian threat. Even though the war resulted in an indecisive victory, Americans celebrated because they survived their second war with the British and even defeated them at naval duels and at the Battle of New Orleans. This victory immediately led to a rise in nationalism. However, the war’s lasting effects included a rise in sectionalism, which ultimately contributed to the Civil War. Because the lasting effects had a longer and more profound
This is reflected by John Krimmel’s “Fourth of July Celebration” (Doc C), in which people are celebrating the anniversary of their nation’s independence. According to Document H “Diary of John Quincy Adams,” because the U.S. survived their second war with Britain, Adams didn’t feel that the U.S. should “take a position subordinate to that of Great Britain”; instead, it should “take a stand…to the decline of the overture of Great Britain.” Furthermore, the U.S. developed the notion that it was destined to expand across all of America (Manifest Destiny), which is later reflected in the migration of Americans into the territory of the Louisiana Purchase. Lastly, the American Industrial Revolution led to an increased demand for cotton from the south. This shows how Northern and Southern economies were thus strongly interconnected (which alludes to a unified country and a heightened sence of nationalism. Even though these immediate effects of the War of 1812 mostly demonstrated the rise of nationalism, the immediate effects gave way to the later, more enduring and influential
Following the War of 1812, Henry Clay’s American System was implemented. Part of Clay’s American System involved the creation of roads and canals. In Document B, part of a speech in Congress, John C. Calhoun expressed his support for the American System when he said, “Let us, then, bind the republic together with a perfect system of roads and canals.” Because Calhoun and Clay were both War Hawks, it is not surprising that they would likely support each other’s political initiatives. It is important to note that even though a system of roads and canals, in theory, unify the nation (nationalism), in reality, this proposal is part of Henry Clay’s controversial American System, which only increased the rise of sectionalism, because it benefited the North more than the South and because it challenged States’ rights. In addition, Document A, an excerpt from John Randolph’s speech in Congress in 1816, addresses sectional differences between the North and South: the North’s economy is based on manufacturing and industry, while the South’s economy is based on agriculture. This difference in the basis for the economy in the North and South gave way to sectionalism. Also, document F, a letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Randolph discusses something that “awakened and filled [Jefferson] with terror…considered it at once the [death] knell of the Union.” Something that can cause the demise of the U.S. would be sectionalism.