The War Of 1812 Apush

1. By: Josh

2. The United States greatly disliked the British
searching American ships to find sailors who
deserted the British navy in search of easier life on
American vessels.
Impressment, which forced Americans to join the
Royal Navy, also fostered animosity between the
British and America.
Another such cause of the war was the support the
British had for the Native Americans who used
armed resistance against the U.S to halt further
expansion into the Northwest (Such as Tecumseh)

3. Both Sides
Britain was heavily engaged
in the Napoleanic wars,
paying little attention to the
Americans
Britain maintained a
defensive strategy, and
could not give full attention
until Napoleon's abdication
The Americans were ill-
trained, ill-disciplined, and
widely scattered.

4. American attempts in Canada
Canada became one of the most
important battlegrounds, because
British forces were weak there.
If the Americans would have
launched a successful offensive into
Canada, they might have eliminated
British influence among the
Indians, but they did not.
Instead, they sent a trio of invading
forces from Detroit, Niagara, and
Lake Champlain, but they were all
forced to retreat shortly after
crossing the Canadian border.
The British and Canadians,
however, experienced more
success when they captured the
American fort of Michilimackinac,
which commanded the upper Great
Lakes and the Indian-inhabited area
to the south and west.

5. The Navy
The Americans
established control on
the Great Lakes under
Oliver Hazard Perry, a
superior naval officer.
When he and his men
captured a British fleet
in a furious
engagement, he said an
important slogan, “We
have met the enemy
and they are ours.” This
slogan and success
revived a drooping
American cause.

6. Invasion of New York
While the war with Napoleon had a
temporary halt, thousands of
Britain’s victorious redcoats poured
into Canada.
10,000 British were assembled, and
prepared for a crushing blow in New
York. Without roads, the British
were forced to bring supplies over
the Lake Champlain waterway.
The weaker American fleet
challenged the British under Thomas
Macdonough. The Americans
snatched victory from the jaws of
defeat, and forced the troops to
retreat, resounding in an important
victory for the Americans.

7. Battles in Washington
In August 1814, a force of four
thousand British forces landed
in Chesapeake Bay.
These invaders rapidly
proceeded on Washington, and
they managed to disperse the
6,000 militia-men.
These British soldiers then
began to set fire to most of
the public buildings, including
the Capitol and White House.
While this took place, Francis
Scott Key anxiously watching
the battle, wrote the Star
Spangled Banner, our National
Anthem.

8. The Treaty of Ghent
◊This treaty, was signed
on Christmas Eve of
1814, and was
essentially an armistice.
◊Both sides agreed to
stop fighting, and to
return each other's
land.
◊This, however, did not
solve for the previous
grievances in which the
war was fought for;
thus, the war was
declared a draw.

9. The British aimed their
third attack in 1814 at
New Orleans.
However, Andrew
Jackson and 7,000 sailors,
regulars, pirates,
Frenchmen, and some
militiamen successfully
defended New Orleans.
The British had 8,000
men, and lost near 2,000
men in thirty minutes, as
compared to the
defenders seventy.
This success struck
Americans like a “clap of
thunder,” but it was on
January 8, 1815, after the
date of the Treaty of
Ghent.

10. Although the war brought
few actual gains, it
produced a strong sense of
nationalism.
America at first may not
have fought the war as one
nation, but by the end,
America was united.
This gave birth to a
distinctive national
literature, an expanded
army, and a more
successful navy.