The War of 1812
American History
The War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a war that was fought between the military of The United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans were the first to declare the war against the British Empire. There were several reasons for the War of 1812, for instance, trade restrictions because of the ongoing war between Britain and the French, imprisonment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, British support of American Indians tribes against American expansion, and over national honor after humiliation on the high seas. As Risjord noted, “an unstated but powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold national honor in the face of what they considered to be British insults.” In 1807, Britain announced a series of trade restrictions to American trade with France, during which Britain was at war with at the time. Americans saw how busy England and saw how it was growing weak then decided to declare war. The British wanted to delay American trade with France. The American merchant marine had come close to doubling in the years of 1802 and 1810. The British public and press became spiteful of the growing mercantile and commercial competition. The United States' view was that Britain's restrictions violated its right to trade with others. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy expanded greatly. The Royal Navy could man its ships with volunteers in peacetime, in war, it needed more powerful sailors. British deserters boarded American ships, the United States strong believed that British deserters had the right to become American citizens if strongly desired to. Although, Britain did not agree of this, so in addition to recovering deserters, it considered United States citizens had born British liable for impressment. American anger at impressment grew when British ships stationed themselves just outside U.S. harbors in U.S. territorial waters and searched ships for contraband and
The War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a war that was fought between the military of The United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans were the first to declare the war against the British Empire. There were several reasons for the War of 1812, for instance, trade restrictions because of the ongoing war between Britain and the French, imprisonment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, British support of American Indians tribes against American expansion, and over national honor after humiliation on the high seas. As Risjord noted, “an unstated but powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold national honor in the face of what they considered to be British insults.” In 1807, Britain announced a series of trade restrictions to American trade with France, during which Britain was at war with at the time. Americans saw how busy England and saw how it was growing weak then decided to declare war. The British wanted to delay American trade with France. The American merchant marine had come close to doubling in the years of 1802 and 1810. The British public and press became spiteful of the growing mercantile and commercial competition. The United States' view was that Britain's restrictions violated its right to trade with others. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy expanded greatly. The Royal Navy could man its ships with volunteers in peacetime, in war, it needed more powerful sailors. British deserters boarded American ships, the United States strong believed that British deserters had the right to become American citizens if strongly desired to. Although, Britain did not agree of this, so in addition to recovering deserters, it considered United States citizens had born British liable for impressment. American anger at impressment grew when British ships stationed themselves just outside U.S. harbors in U.S. territorial waters and searched ships for contraband and