War of 1812

1. War of 1812

2. Election of 1800 • Jefferson and Adams at each others throats • Jefferson helped finance anti- Adams literature • Alien and Sedition Acts made it illegal to speak badly about the Government • Did not cover the Vice President • Republican Jefferson v. Federalist Incumbent Adams • Aaron Burr helped immensely and it was planned that he would be the VP • Each elector got 2 votes, one would not cast the second for Burr • The election ended in a tie between Jefferson and Burr • Adams was 3rd • Burr does not step aside and seeks the presidency • Congress breaks the tie and elects Jefferson after Hamilton supports him • Feared Burr more than Jefferson

3. The Setup • British and French at war in Europe • Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) • The French defeated a coalition of European countries seeking to restore the monarchy in France despite civil unrest • Mass conscription • Great Britain was the only country that did not accept the terms of peace and remained at war with France • Convened multiple coalitions

4. The Setup • Seizure of U.S. ships • Impressment- The British were in great need of sailors • The U.S. allowed for British deserters to crew their ships • British felt they were still British citizens • Chesapeake- Leopard Affair • American Citizens were enraged and wanted war • Jefferson chose a diplomatic approach • Embargo Act • U.S. trade in the South fell by 85% • 30,000 of the 40,000 U.S. sailors were laid off • Smuggling • Non-Intercourse Act • Reopened trade with everyone except Britain and France

5. The Setup • Americans were moving west en mass without much regard for the native inhabitants • British Aid to Indians on the Western Frontier • Weapons, encouraging them to attack settlers • Supporting and eventually allying with Tecumseh • War Hawks • Speaker of the House, Henry Clay of Kentucky • John C. Calhoun of South Carolina • Enraged by Great Britain’s naval exploits and their supposed support of Native American rebellion

6. The Setup • U.S. was not ready to fight a war • Jefferson had reduced spending on defense • Only 16 naval vessels and a small army • The army offered cash and land for volunteers • James Madison now President • Recommends Congress declare war • British ships blockaded American ports • Almost the entire Eastern Seaboard • Americans lose Fort Detroit and control of Lake Erie

7. Invasion of Canada • War Hawks felt that Canadians would welcome the chance to get rid of British rule • Would be an easy conquest • Gen. William Hull moved into Canada from Detroit • Attacked and held the town on Sandwich • They were tricked into thinking that Red Coats and Indians were helping the Canadians and retreated • The U.S. failed in other attempts to invade Canada

8. Tecumseh Sides With the British • Retreat into Canada • William Henry Harrison gives chase • Americans win the Battle of the Thames • Tecumseh is killed here • Andrew Jackson fights the Creeks in the south • Wins the battle of Horseshoe Bend • The leader of the Creeks told Jackson “You have destroyed my nation”

9. Late War • 1814, British ships arrive at Chesapeake Bay • Soldiers scatter American troops and march on Washington D.C. • The British burned many buildings in the capital • Including the White House • Dolley Madison risked her life to save precious items from the White House including a famous picture of Washington

10. Late War • On the night of September 13th until the Morning of the 14th, 1814, the British bombarded Baltimore • Their objective was Fort McHenry • The Americans were able to withstand the attack • The account of that bombardment was written as a poem by Francis Scott Key • Later it was set to music and became the “Star Spangled Banner” • “Rockets Red Glare”, “The Bombs Bursting in Air” “Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there”

11. Late War • Andrew Jackson and his frontier fighters took Pensacola, Florida and Mobile, Alabama on their way to New Orleans • The British wanted to use it as a base to sail up the Mississippi River • Choctaw Indians aided the Americans • They were fierce enemies of Northern Tribes • Citizens of New Orleans also helped

12. Battle of New Orleans • January 8th, 1815 • The British attacked multiple times • The Americans were well dug in • Very good riflemen and cannons • Over 2,000 British died • Only 7 Americans died • Andrew Jackson became famous for this victory • The war had already been over for 2 weeks • Nobody here had yet received word of the wars end • Changed nothing

13. Post War • New Englanders were nervous • The British blockade had hurt trade • New land in Florida and the West would make the South and West more influential in government • Treaty of Ghent • Ghent, Belgium, December 24th, 1814 • Restored prewar conditions • Nothing was said about impressment or neutrality • Issues ended with the end of war in Europe • Border with Canada was established in 1818 • The war really didn’t settle much at all