Was the war of 1812 a second war for independence?

Question

By using specific information about the problems that led to the war and the the Treaty of Ghent and its aftermath, comment at length.

Answer 1

Not really, but in some ways it was. Britain was trying to damage the U.S., possibly to revenge their defeat in the Revolutionary War, but they were also trying to find ways to beat Napoleon's France. The U.S. and France were trading partners, and Britain was at war with France. Britain captured some American sailors and forced them to fight for the British, and also disrupted U.S. trade with France - both to help Britain and hurt France. Britain was also supporting Native Americans, who were impeding the spread of settlers from the newly formed U.S.

Basically, Britain was trying to maintain its control over world affairs by whatever means necessary, and it made a lot of people in the U.S. angry. Some of those people called it a second war for independence, mainly to get us in a war to get rid of what they saw as British imperialism for good.

Check out the Wikipedia page for more info, it should have all you need and more.

Answer 2

The British and French were fighting at the time and the British still looked at the US as a colony where US citizens were really Crown subjects. They were stopping ships flying a US flag and removing seamen to serve on British warships. The war of 1812 was fought to once again declare that we were independent of British rule, hence, the "second war for independence".