and Expansion

The War of 1812

James Madison, Republican

Charles Pinckney, Federalist

v.

Election of 1808

Election of 1808

Non Intercourse act

• Repeals Jefferson's embargo act

• Opens trade to all nations except France

and Britain

• This act reopens foreign trade but

maintains US stance against alliances with

France or Britain

Causes of the War of 1812

• Continuing warfare in Europe between

France and Great Britain that drew the

United States into the conflict.

• Westward expansion of American

settlement that collided with a native

population determined to protect its lands.

Neutral Rights

• France: Continental System

– Closed the European continent to British trade

– No British or neutral ship that had first touched a British port could land a cargo on the European continent.

• Britain: Orders in Council

– Blockaded the European coast

– Any goods shipped to Napoleonic Europe must be carried in British ships or landed first in England.

British policy of “impressment”:

•Britain claimed the right to stop and search any

American merchant ship and re-impress deserters.

The USS Chesapeake and HMS Leopard

The “Indian Problem” and the

British

• Jefferson’s

solution:

– Assimilation, or

– Migration west of

the Mississippi

River

British Policy

• Northwestern Indians looked to Great

Britain for protection from expansionist-

minded Americans.

• Britain looked to the Indians as partners in

the lucrative fur trade and as wartime

allies.

Tecumseh and the Prophet

• Urged tribal unity to

oppose U.S.

expansion.

• Sought to unite all

tribes of the

Mississippi River

Valley.

•Argued that the

treated negotiated by

Harrison were

invalid. Tecumseh

Battle of Tippecanoe

• William Henry Harrison Defeats Tecumseh

and his Indian Confederation

Lure of Canada and Florida

• Because of the British

support given to

Tecumseh, northern

frontiersmen believed

that only by driving

the British out of

Canada could the

frontier be made safe

for American

expansion.

Lure of Canada and Florida

• Southern

frontiersmen coveted

Spanish Florida

(present state of

Florida, and southern

parts of Alabama,

Mississippi, and

Louisiana).

War Hawks

John C. Calhoun of

South Carolina Henry Clay of

Kentucky

Early Battles of the War of 1812

An attack on Canada by way of Detroit failed, and

Detroit and Fort Dearborn (Chicago) fell to the British.

Early Battles of the War of 1812

Against the northern Indians, William Henry

Harrison won the Battle of the Thames, killing

Indian leader Tecumseh (Jan. 1813)

Early Battles of the War of 1812

Against the southern Indians, Andrew Jackson led a

Tennessee force against the Creeks and defeated

them in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (Mar. 27, 1814).

New British

attacks in 1814:

•Chesapeake

Bay

•Lake

Champlain

•Mouth of the

Mississippi

River

August 1814: a British fleet sails up

Chesapeake Bay and lands an army that

threatens Washington D.C.

American forces are routed—the flight of the

Americans is known as the “Bladensburg

Races.”

President and Mrs. Madison quickly left

Washington as the British entered the city.

The British burn Washington, including the

President’s House.

The bombardment of Fort McHenry guarding

Baltimore, Sept. 1814.

Fort McHenry National Historic Site

American lawyer

Francis Scott Key

watched the

bombardment.

The next morning,

“by the dawn’s

early light,” he

could see the flag

on the fort still

flying.

Francis Scott Key and the real “Star-Spangled

Banner”

The Battle of New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1815

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWkOe

K5AmI8

British General

Edward Pakenham

led battle-hardened

veterans of the war

against Napoleon

who landed south of

New Orleans and

moved up the

Mississippi River.

Andrew Jackson led the troops protecting the city

of New Orleans.

New Orleans battlefield

291 British dead; 1200 wounded; 500 captured.

13 Americans dead; 39 wounded.

The Treaty of Ghent was signed on Dec. 24, 1814,

before the Battle of New Orleans!

The Treaty of Ghent

• All lands taken by either side would be

returned to the previous owner;

• The United States retained fishing rights

off the Newfoundland coast;

• All outstanding debts and property taken

was to be returned or paid for in full.

Hartford Convention

• Convention of New England merchants

who opposed the embargo and the War of

1812

• Strong states rights

• Propose amendments to constitution

Results of the War of 1812

• The United States gained international

stature by battling the British Empire to a

standstill.

• American morale and pride increased after

the Battle of New Orleans.

• The Federalist Party disappeared and the

U.S. entered an “era of good feelings.”

Results of the War of 1812

• Increased emphasis on military professionalism and the training of military officers—West Point Military Academy founded.

• Transportation problems during the war encouraged road building afterwards.

• Dramatic effect on manufacturing in the U.S., as American manufacturers replaced British imports.